Winery News

Earth Day ~ April 22

Each year, Earth Day – April 22  – marks the anniversary of what many consider the birth of the modern environmental movement.  The idea was that of Earth Day founder, Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, who was devastated after witnessing the ravages of a 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Inspired by the student anti-war movement, he realized that if he could infuse that energy with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution, it would force environmental protection onto the national political agenda.

As a result of his efforts, on April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans took to the streets to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness and the extinction of wildlife, suddenly realized they shared common values.

Earth Day 1970 achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, and led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts.

Today, it is celebrated by billions of people around the world and is observed in over 190 countries. Worldwide Earth Day celebrations utilize educational programs to inform people of ways they can help protect the environment and our natural resources.

Earth Day worked because of a spontaneous response at the grassroots level. No one thought they would organize 20 million demonstrators!  Just think what could happen if we garnered that kind of response to a few simple tasks that each of us could easily do in just ONE day.  Think about it.  What a difference we could make!

A few simple things that provide huge impacts might include planting a tree every year, switching off lights when not in use and using recyclable bags for grocery shopping.  Easy enough, huh?  Check out our Recork and Recycle Pinterest page for some great recycling ideas.

Or you could always “save water and shower with a friend” like they did in the 70’s…

April is Down to Earth Month!

April is California Wines: Down to Earth Month and it’s an ideal time to check out earth-friendly Temecula Valley wines made with sustainable winegrowing and winemaking practices.

Wineries from around the state are celebrating Down to Earth Month throughout April.  Here in Temecula, the Temecula Valley Winegrowers Association is hosting its 32nd Annual Grape Day on April 23.  The event fortifies the commitment of the local wine industry to keep abreast of current – and new – efforts and studies conducted throughout the state aimed at keeping the wine industry sustainably conscious.  We invite anyone interested in winemaking and winegrape growing to join us.

Being good neighbors and good stewards of the land are important values in the California wine community. The state’s growers and vintners have been using sustainable winegrowing practices for decades, with educational efforts beginning as early as the late 1950’s. Today, the Temecula Valley is home to three wineries who have made an even stronger commitment to sustainability and transparency.  Through self-assessment and certification programs created by the Wine Institute, the California Association of Winegrape Growers and the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance, Palumbo Family Vineyards & Winery, Ponte Family Estate Winery and South Coast Winery Resort & Spa have each conquered the next step, which is to become a Certified Sustainable Winery.  And more are on their way to certification!

Some super, easy to spot examples of sustainable practices in Temecula Valley include:

• The use of beneficial birds to control pests (look for hawk perches and owl boxes)
• Cover crops (no, we didn’t forget to mow between the vines!)
• Drip irrigation systems to manage and monitor water use (as well as deficit irrigation techniques)
• Composting:  the recycling of grape “must”, skins and seeds back into the vineyards as fertilizer.

Come check it out.  And if you can’t make it here in person, just open a bottle of Temecula Valley wine and toast our commitment from green grapes to glass!

World of Wine Weekend is here!

If the weather doesn’t WoW you, the wines surely will!

Let’s face it, there’s just no other place on earth where Mother Nature delivers sunshine like in SoCal!  And this weekend promises to be an absolutely beautiful one.

What?  No plans??  Come on out for our annual World of Wine barrel tasting event.  Thirty member wineries will be supplying ticketholders with some very fine wine along with some complementing tasty bites.  The event is scheduled for both Saturday and Sunday from 10a to 4:30p each day.  There are a limited number of tickets still available online at www.temeculawines.org.  And at $99, it’s a great deal!  Hurry up though, we don’t want you to miss out.

We promise lots of sun perfectly paired with fabulous wine!

It’s National Drink Wine Day!

Yep, you heard it right.  Today is National Drink Wine Day!

Just think… an entire day designated to drinking wine. I am so in!   And yes, we’ve all seen the studies that show drinking a glass of wine a day improves heart health, reduces forgetfulness, boosts immunity, and increases bone density. So, it’s healthy, right?  But really, days like today are just one more reason to enjoy a great wine with some great people.  So pop a cork and raise a glass!

And just for fun, here’s a few fun facts to share with your friends while you’re sharing that bottle of Temecula Valley wine.

 1.  Italy produces the most wine.

2.  California produces the most Chardonnay.

3.  Very few wines improve with age.

4.  The term “bouquet” refers to the scent of the wine; “aroma” is the scent of the grapes.  Together they equal the “nose”.

5.  There’s about 100 calories in a glass of wine.

6.  The word “wine” is mentioned 521 times in the Bible.

7.  Marilyn Monroe is said to have bathed in champagne. It took 350 bottles to fill her bathtub.

8.  Swirling “aerates” your wine by releasing the compounds which combine with oxygen to create the bouquet or aroma.

9.  Three glasses of dry red wine have less calories than one Twix bar.

10.  In California, wine country tours are second only to Disneyland in popularity with tourists.

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Dream Big, Temecula Valley Winemakers!

This week we’re at the Unified Wine and Grape Symposium in Sacramento for a yearly industry event that helps keeps us all “in the know”.  Apart from pouring a sampling of fabulous Temecula Valley wines to some of the 14,000+ attending wine lovers, we caught up with a few of our own to find out what they were dreaming about while walking through the chock full convention center.

Arturo Villareal, winemaker at Danza del Sol was looking for some new barrels.  But what he’s really dreaming about is a new, much larger wine cellar.  Sorry, Art!  I don’t think they actually sell those.

We caught up with Damian and Marcello Doffo who were in the midst of purchasing a water treatment system for Doffo Winery. While it’s a much needed purchase, there’s certainly much more fun things to buy…

Nick and Cindy Palumbo were looking for some portable stainless steel tanks.  And dreaming of a cold beer! As Nick always says, “it takes a lot of beer to make wine.”

BJ Fazeli, who’s winery is being built as we speak, needs everything for his new winery.  He brought along his wallet and is definitely dreaming BIG.

The Wiens brothers are in the market for a new de-stemmer but are dreaming about a new optical sorter that will separate and remove the less than perfect grapes from the sorting table.  It’s a winemaker thang!

JD Harkey and Chase Drake, of Drake Enterprises are dreaming REALLY big and hoping Ben pops for a machine harvester this year.

Jon McPherson and Javier Flores, the dynamic duo of winemakers at South Coast, were searching out some “state of the art” lab equipment for the new Carter Estate Winery which is scheduled to open in just a few weeks.

All in all, I’d say the Temecula Valley winemakers, while truly dreaming big dreams, were pretty down to earth.  Except for Art and that new cellar…

World of Wine Barrel Tasting 2015

Hey kids, what time is it? It’s World of Wine time!

And that means it’s time to visit Temecula Valley wine country for WoW, our Winter Barrel Tasting event, coming up on March 7 and 8, 2015.  It’s one of just two times per year when the wineries open their cellar doors for the weekend, allowing guests to enjoy a multitude of wines paired with scrumptious snacks.

The 2 day event offers ticket holders a self-guided wine country tour that allows visits to all of our member wineries.  You’ll receive a map of Temecula Valley Wine Country, a passport which allows a visit to each participating winery, and a souvenir glass.

The event is held from 10am to 4:30pm. 2 day tickets are regularly $99 per person.  BUT, purchase your tickets before February 8 and SAVE $10 per 2 day ticket. Informs the sports portal “Bet On” mobile sports betting guide.

All tickets are Will-Call and are available for pick-up between 9:30am and 1pm ONLY on the day(s) of the event. Guests will be notified via email as to their pick-up location. Local, Sunday Only and Designated Driver tickets are also available.

So plan to join us in March. And get WoW’d!
For additional information, visit www.temeculawines.org/events or call us at 800.801.9463.

Dream Big ~ Rosie and Gerry Wilson, Wilson Creek Winery

Check in every month where we feature a new interview with a Temecula Valley winery owner. You’ll learn where they came from, why they chose Temecula – and what keeps them passionate about the sometimes not-so-glamorous life of a winery owner.

When the motivating factor for starting a winery was “togetherness”, you must know that we’re talking to Gerry and Rosie Wilson, owners of Wilson Creek Winery!

 So, how did this all start?
Our family had spread out, Bill was working in San Diego, Mick was in Sacramento and Libby was in Solvang.  We were trying to figure out where to retire to when Bill came up with the idea of starting up a small family business where we could all come together to live and work as a family.  We thought it sounded fun; our friends thought we were nuts! But we came together as a family, scraped up every dime we could find and each chipped in what we could to make it happen.  And it’s been a blessing since day one.

Why Temecula?
For us, it was – and is – all about the lifestyle.  We’d visited Temecula many, many times over the years as a weekend golf getaway from our Pasadena home and we’d always loved the area. Where else do you get to wake up to balloons flying overhead and go to sleep with hundreds of stars in the sky?  Or walk down from our home with our dogs to go to work each day?  And I can’t think of any place on earth where a call for a “sunset alert” is a common occurrence.

What keeps you going?
In the beginning, it was a LOT of work.  We did as much of the manual labor as possible ourselves.  We dug the ditches for pipes, ran wires for the electrical, planted trees and roses and anything else we could to save money.  Thank goodness we were all younger then!  We used to laugh and say we all worked half days; which 12 hour shift we worked was up to us!  But we were committed to support four families – and we did.  We ate lots of peanut butter sandwiches back then, but they taste great with wine.

Wilson Creek Winery is known for its philanthropic efforts throughout the valley, why is that so important to you and your family?
We really never really thought about it in the beginning, that’s just the way we’ve always been.  When you don’t have a lot of money, but you have a product that people love, it’s a great fit.  We could always go and pour wine and in doing so, it really helped us to build our brand.  We believe that when you give, what you get in return comes in spades. And now that we have such a beautiful place, it would be a shame not to share it when we can with those in need.

It seems that “niceness” around here starts at the top…
We’re just so darn lucky!  We have a wonderful team of people working with us that we just love.  From our winemaker to our vineyard manager and from our chef and restaurant staff to our tasting room staff; they’re all just such a pleasure to be around every day.  We consider ourselves one big, happy family.

Wine For The Holidays

Grandma’s stuffing, Aunt Susie’s cranberry sauce and your sister’s sweet potatoes.  Menu: done!  But what about the wine?  Choosing a bottle (or two!) of wine to bring to the holiday table can be tricky.  Appealing to not only your menu, but to a cross-section of practiced palates and novice wine drinkers may seem challenging.  But don’t stress out over one of the simplest tasks of the holiday season. Make it simple.  Any wine you enjoy is a good wine!

One certainly doesn’t need to look to others to rate, score or direct you to make a particular wine choice.  Bring a wine you’re familiar with to the table.  Chances are it’ll be just fine – and maybe even sublime!

First and foremost, don’t worry about pairing with the herbaceous, the tart or the sweet accompaniments to your turkey, ham or prime rib.  It’s much simpler to match the wine to the main protein dish.  Here’s a few tried and true varietal selections for some classic holiday main dishes:

Wines to Serve with Ham
Ham just begs for a something lightly sweet.  Look for wines with a touch of residual sugar like a Baily Vineyard & Winery Riesling or a Maurice Car’rie Winery Gewurztraminer.  Both are lighter in style, a bit lower in alcohol and still offer plenty of food-friendly acidity and crowd-pleasing palate appeal.  If you’re looking for an easy to pair red, go for a lighter style like Tempranillo.  Great examples can be found at both Miramonte Winery and at Danza del Sol Winery.

Wines to Serve with Turkey
Although an array of whites work perfectly well, Sauvignon Blanc is an all-time, hands-down favorite pick that holds up well to turkey – and all it’s side dishes. Temecula Valley provides the perfect playground for growing this varietal, so you’ll find many great examples of it here.  Beautifully aromatic offerings from the musqué clone can be found at Hart Winery and at South Coast Winery Resort & Spa. Soft red varietals like Syrah also make suitable partners; you can find some fabulous ones at Falkner Winery and Leoness Cellars.

Wines to Serve with Prime Rib
White wines will have a hard time keeping up with the likes of Prime Rib, but there are so many reds to choose from that make impressive cohorts, you’re sure to find one you’ll all enjoy.  Choose an affable Cabernet Sauvignon from Callaway Vineyard & Winery, a food friendly Italian varietal like Montepulciano or Sangiovese from Cougar Vineyard & Winery or an amazing Super Tuscan blend, Due Rossi, from Palumbo Family Vineyards & Winery.

Happy Holidays!

10 Fun Things To Do This Holiday Season

10 Fun Things To Do in Wine Country This Holiday Season

Hanging out in Temecula Valley’s wine country is always fun.  But with the holiday’s fast approaching, there’s even more reason to visit!

A bit of art, shopping, music and of course – a visit from St. Nick – are just a few things that await you this month.  We hope to see you in Wine Country!

1. 12/03, 12/09, 12/18, 12/22 – Bottles n Brushes – A Paint Class with Wine at Mount Palomar Winery.  11-2p; $45pp
2. 12/04-12/07 and 12/11-12/13 – Shakespeare in the Vines presents “Every Christmas Story Ever Told (and then some!)”  at Baily Winery.  7pm; $25pp
3. 12/07 –  Santa Sunday & Barrel Tree Lighting at Callaway.  Photos with Santa; cocoa for the kids and wine for the adults.  3-5pm; complimentary admission
4. 12/10 –  Temecula Chilled, Wine Country style!  Late night shopping from 5-8pm.  Stock up on your holiday wine and gifts at: Baily Winery, Callaway Vineyard & Winery, Chapin Family Vineyards, Danza Del Sol Winery, Doffo Winery, Hart Winery, Leoness Cellars, Lorimar Winery, Lumiere Winery, Oak Mountain Winery, Palumbo Family Vineyards & Winery, South Coast Winery Resort & Spa, Thornton Winery and Wilson Creek Winery.
5. 12/11 – Annual Winemaker Dinner at Leoness Cellars.  Hang out with winemaker Tim Kramer for a wine-filled evening.  6pm; $125pp
6. 12//12 –  Wine Down Friday with Will Sumner’s smooth jazz at Cougar Winery. 5-8p; complimentary admission
7. 12/13 –  Christmas Luncheon in the Barrel Room at Falkner Winery.  Buffet style with 8-10 wines. 12-4p; $30pp
8. 12/16 – Menorah Lighting at Lorimar Winery.  6pm; complimentary admission
9. 12/18 – Ugly Sweater Holiday Party at Lorimar Winery.  6pm; $1pp
10. 12/31 –  New Years Eve Masquerade Ball at Wiens Family Cellars.  8pm; $65pp

Dream Big ~ Jim Carter, South Coast Winery

Check in every month where we feature a new interview with a Temecula Valley winery owner. You’ll learn where they came from, why they chose Temecula – and what keeps them passionate about the sometimes not-so-glamorous life of a winery owner.

Jim and Dawn Carter, owners

Today, we’re sitting down with Jim Carter, owner of South Coast Winery Resort and Spa, at the winery’s restaurant, Vineyard Rose. Never one to sit still for long, the energetic father of 13, grandfather to 27 and great-grandfather to 4 is a man on a mission!

South Coast Winery opened in 2001 and has grown exponentially since then, was that always part of the vision?
I knew what I wanted to build way before I started construction.  I’d visited wine regions throughout the state and knew that ultimately I wanted to have a place where people would want to come and stay amongst the vineyards. We built in phases, starting with the production side and the tasting room.  Phase 2 was the villas, phase 3 the Vineyard Rose restaurant, phase 4 the conference center and finished off with phase 5, the Grapeseed Spa. I think there was about 10 or 11 wineries when I started.  Who knew it was going to develop as quickly as it did?

But that really wasn’t what I had in mind when I bought my first Temecula vineyard property back in 1981.  I wanted to grow grapes. And I planted a lot of them beginning back in 1995 on a 400 acre piece of property that I’d purchased years before up along the east side of Mount Palomar. It’s a spectacular vineyard we named Wild Horse Peak and it produces some fabulous grapes.  My kids and I would spend weekends and summers up there digging and planting.  I just fell in love with the farming side.  The winery is the vehicle that allows me to be a grape grower.

The winery has quite an extensive menu of wines, was that also part of the plan?
We just kept planting to see which clonal varietals grew well here and we ended up liking pretty much everything we grew.  So we’re in a unique position in that we can now make a wine that suits just about anyone’s palate.  There’s a wine for everyone – and I want to make sure that visitors can discover what they love right here in our tasting room.  

So what’s next?
Carter Estate Winery and Resort.  The first phase of our family’s next adventure is set to open in January.  It’s a completely different concept from this winery.  Our production will be quite limited.  We sourced the fruit for these bottlings from some of our best vineyard blocks and have used the best barrels on the market to hand craft 4-5 different wines that we’ll be releasing under the Carter Estate label.  And we’re also really excited to announce that we’ll be showcasing some new “methode champenoise”, traditional style sparkling wines over there too.  We’re really anxious to share these small lot wines that we’ve been bottling and cellaring for awhile now.  

And we’re also breaking ground on a winery/brew pub in the Texas hill country, just outside of Austin in a town called Johnson City.  

Sounds like crazy talk to me! Do you ever sleep?  What keeps you awake at night?
I have a good life.  About the only think that keeps me awake is praying for rain! We sure need us a good rainy winter.