Petite Sirah

Petite Sirah

Highland Valley Vineyards

Highland Valley Vineyards is a boutique micro winery perched on the edge of beautiful Highland Valley in the San Diego foothills. On our hillside vineyards, we grow Bordeaux variety grapes and together with other fruit carefully selected, we hand style robust red wines.In 2007 we acquired our property in Highland Valley and in 2009 began construction on the winery and vineyard. Grapes have been grown in this valley for over a hundred years. As a nod to that long history, we named our vineyard/winery Highland Valley Vineyards and built the winery in 1920’s craftsman-style design.
We blend old craft with new technologies to hand style wines of character and distinction. Our special interest is big red wines with full body, a great finish but retaining nice fruit and nose. We have sourced our grapes from here in San Diego (South Coast), Mexico, Paso Robles (Central Coast), Amador County (Sierra Foothills), and Dry Creek Valley (Sonoma County North Coast).

Rutherford Grove Winery

The winery is beautiful and is a wonderful place to go on a nice day to enjoy the scenery, its history, and to bring family. Though not a large, famous winery compared to its 'Rutherford' cousin, it produces some splendid wines which make the trip well worth it by themselves. However, the experience would only be excellent if it were rounded out by commensurately skilled and friendly staff. A standout here was Bonnie, who, despite seemingly overwhelmingly large numbers of clients to serve, managed to serve them all--as far as I could tell-- with warmth and friendliness, a big smile, and an incredible amount of enological knowledge--both about this winery, but about wines in general. She seemed excited to share this information, and her joy in wines, and not just be a server.

The Terraces

This little hidden gem is very easy to miss while whizzing past on Silverado Trail. But don't overlook this one. You won't be disappointed. Some of the best zinfandel and very good cabernet sauvignon. It is a great value wine that will hold its own against some higher priced wines. This is a very small winery with limited production and only offers a few wines. You won't find this in too many stores so you will need to make a trip out there of go on-line. If you call in advance you can get a quick tour around the winery via golf-cart.

Mauritson Vineyards

A great choice for Healdsburg. The area is known for it's Zins and you'll find many decent wines at Mauritson. The tasting is free to Visa Signature card holders. The tasting room isn't terribly fancy but it's nice and there's an outdoor area for warmer days. The staff was quite friendly, helpful and knowledgeable.

Aaron Winery

Aaron Winery

Aaron Jackson’s path to winemaking began with a question. “How can we write a new story for Central Coast wine, and how do we unlock its potential?” To answer this, he found himself working in coastal Pinot Noir vineyards near his hometown of Cayucos, and working in cellars producing wines from Paso Robles’ westside, most uniquely Petite Sirah.

While studying wine at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, he pooled together the pennies from his weekend jobs and launched his eponymous label with the first vintage of Aaron Petite Sirah in 2002. His career continued to lead him to work with several acclaimed wineries in Paso Robles, along with earning his Master’s degree in Oenology from the University of Adelaide in South Australia.

In 2017, Winemaker Aaron Jackson took charge in leading the effort to create the San Luis Obispo Coast AVA (SLO Coast), which was approved in 2021.

Gershon Bachus Vintners

Gershon Bachus Vinters is located on De Portola Dr., across from Cougar Winery. Gershon Bachus is a wine producing estate that's located at the top of a hill, providing gorgeous 360 views of Temecula Valley. You drive up a huge hill and park your car in the gravel driveway. It's home to the "seated tasting." You walk in, are warmly greeted by Kenny and/or Christina, have a seat, and enjoy some of the better red wines I've found in Temecula. GBV is more spacious than the typical tasting room experience, so it's great for groups. Tastings are $22 each and the number of wines offered in the tasting is generous.

Idle Hour Winery Oakhurst

Idle Hour Winery logo

A hobby gone wild! That is how Idle Hour Winery, formerly Panoche Valley Vineyards, got its start. Winemaker Anna Marie dos Remedios began making wine as a hobby to relieve the stress of her day job as a newspaper journalist/business owner.  Anna Marie is focused on small lot, single-vineyard designated wines from some of California's best wine-growing regions. Anna Marie learned traditional winemaking methods from mentor and renowned Pinot Noir producer Josh Jensen at Calera Wine Company. At Idle Hour Winery the focus is on these traditional methods: native yeast fermentation, gravity flow racking and the use of neutral French Oak; all very gentle in nature, applying these to all the varieties Anna Marie ferments. While you will find all of the wines at Idle Hour Winery delightful, be sure to try the Reserve Tempranillo, Cabernet Franc and the Tannat Idle Hour Winery is located in Oakhurst, CA the gateway to Yosemite Park. Idle Hour was include in a short video we did featuring several Central Valley wineries you can view HERE *

Hours:

Mon-    11:00AM-6:00PM
Tues-   11:00AM-6:00PM
Weds-   11:00AM-6:00PM
Thurs-  11:00AM-6:00PM
Fri -      11:00AM-6:00PM
Sat -     11:00AM-6:00PM
Sun -    11:00AM-6:00PM

Neal Family Vineyards

The tasting room is only by appointment, and the location is quite far off the beaten path, but the wine is worth the trip. The tasting area is a bar in a foyer run by the owner of the vineyard. It's not fancy, but if you like Howell Mountain wines, this is a great place to taste.

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