Viognier

Viognier

Miner Family Vineyards

glass of red wine - Pixabay

Location: A delightful tasting facility perched on the hillside that feels spacious and has a great view. Service: Knowledgeable and friendly staff, although this is hit and miss. The first gentleman who poured for us was very helpful, but then a brusque lady came along and stole our spit bucket that we were using and gave it to the couple she was attending. Wines: We had a $25 flight of 5 wines that came with the flexibility to pick any combination of the wines they were pouring. Miner does not produce estate wines and their grapes are sourced from third party vineyards. It was fun to compare the difference between the two styles of Chardonnay, one of which (2008 Chardonnay, "Wild Yeast") received more oak aging & malolactic fermentation % than the other (2010 Chardonnay, "Napa Valley").

Alexander Andrew Murray Vineyards

grape cluster - Pixabay

Andrew Murray fell in love with the emerging Rhône varieties, Syrah and Viognier, in the late 1980’s while traveling through France’s Rhône Valley. Leaving his UC Berkeley paleontology studies behind, he pursued his new mistress, Syrah, with an internship in Australia. As Robert Parker, Jr. put it, “…Andrew Murray’s offerings are a breath of fresh air given their exceptionally high quality and realistic prices – reader take note.

McManis Family Vineyards

chardonnay grapes - photographer Randy Caparoso

Founded in 1990, McManis Family Vineyards is owned and managed by Ron and Jamie McManis, fourth generation winegrowers, and is located in the rich agricultural region of the northern California interior. Currently, the family grows a wide selection of grape varieties on 2600 acres of premium vineyard land.

Image - chardonnay grapes - photographer Randy Caparoso

Croze Wines

pouring a glass of wine - Pixaby

Croze Wines is operated by Gary Wooten, a long time resident in the Napa Valley. He has worked as winemaker with several smaller area wineries during their formative stages and helped them become established. He currently runs two labels; Croze wines which includes a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Sauvignon Blanc and the second label, Smith Wooten featuring a 100% Cabernet Franc (he originally made a barrel of Cabernet Franc to use for blending purposes but after tasting, found this wine to be excellent as a stand along varietal and ended up bottling it) and a Syrah. Croze ages their wines longer than many area wineries and as a result the current vintages are typically several years older than what you usually find on the market. The barrel aging program usually runs up to 40+ months and all the wines are tasted during this time and are removed from barrel when they are ready, in other words the barrel aging program is not locked into a certain amount of time like you may find with some of the larger wineries.

McPrice Myers Wine Company

grapes

Mac got into food and wine during his early twenties via his friends and coworkers at Trader Joe's in Southern California. He soon began taking trips up to the Central Coast to just to taste, but quickly found himself volunteering his time on his days off to help out at a number of wineries. After learning the process for a few years and spending more and more time on the Central Coast, Mac was ready to start making wine for himself.

Europa Village

people sharing wine

Europa Village winery is very charming and beautifully landscaped with indoor tasting bar, outdoor seating. Touring the winery is as much fun as tasting their exceptional wines. Enter the wrought iron gates into a center courtyard with an Olive tree, surrounded by outdoor seating and statues. Our tour-guide greeted us and gave us a brief overview of the winery. We were encouraged to taste the grapes right off the vine as we went and stopped every so often for a brief informational talk and to fill our glass with a different sample of wine. After the winery tour, we sat in the shaded outdoor seating area for a class about the '5 Essences' of wine tasting and enjoyed more wine tastings and covered basic stuff about wine, bread sticks and a *small* cheese, chocolate, crackers and grape plate that was offered part of the package we purchased. They also have an inn on the property where you can stay if you want. This Temecula winery could make for a nice base if you plan to visit Temecula Wine Country over a weekend. 

Berghold Winery & Vineyards

grapes

Victorian winery owners, Joe and Kay Berghold, are collectors at heart. For nearly two decades, the couple purchased and stored antiques from the American Victorian period (1860 – 1900) with a goal in mind – to build an architecturally unique winery and tasting room representative of the era of the pieces in their collection – and the same era of beginning of Lodi wine history.

Danza Del Sol Winery

wine pouring into glass - Pixabay

Winemaker Justin Knight’s story of becoming a winemaker is one of hard work, patience, and perseverance in achieving his goal. As a Temecula native, Justin began his journey to winemaking in 2011, right here at Danza del Sol Winery. Starting in the tasting room, Justin quickly realized the cellar and vineyard were where he truly wanted to be. With Old World approaches and years honing his craft, Justin is passionate about producing wines that are filled with tradition and simplicity, while incorporating new-age techniques to ensure great, high-quality wines.

Tasting Room
Open Daily
11:00 AM – 6:00 PM
 

Silver Wine

cluster of grapes

Who would have guessed that a kid from Amherst, Massachusetts, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Sciences (Pre-Veterinary) and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Italian from the University of Massachusetts, would end up in Santa Barbara County as an up-and-coming winemaker? Benjamin Silver did just that after catching the wine bug in 1993 at a summer job at Chicama Vineyards on Martha’s Vineyard.

Turnbull Wine Cellars

red wine pouring into glass - Pixabay

his is the perfect small-scale vineyard with just the right amount of unique character that makes wine tasting so charming and fun. Art, history, and vino. This is a triple threat of a vineyard. The tasting room is very simple but certainly warm and welcoming with lovely artwork on the walls and big french doors opening onto the winery with rows of grapes as far as you can see. The moment you pull in, you face a huge, regal barn and immediately feel welcomed by the beautiful grounds. Rob and Amanda led our tasting and both were very friendly and down to earth. Rob was very generous with his pours, giving a taste of the Cabernet Franc to both of us at the mere mention of the wine - the Cab Franc was a wine on the reserve tasting list, which was not the list we were tasting from.

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