Comments on: A Temecula Wine Tasting – Episode #573

By: Kirk from Temecula

Kirk from Temecula — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:28:02 +0000

We’ve lived in Temecula since 1996 and moved to Temecula Wine Country in 2005. We just had our first harvest of our 2 acres of Cinsault. It got barrelled yesterday. It’s gone from a dozen or so wineries to a very touristy 30 or so. I agree that most of the wineries, larger ones especially, either cater to or just attract (mostly female) people more interested in copping a buzz than tasting. We’ve been sticking to the smaller, family run wineries lately. The larger ones have a circus feel to them.

As sar as the quality goes, you have to be choosy. Now I’m no wine expert. I just started taking wine seriously about six months ago. I’m in the early stages of my journey. To me, the stand outs are Briar Rose, a very small outfit; South Coast, one of the biggest; Doffo, another small one with an Argentinian ex-patriate owner of Italian descent.

I’m afraid that the emphasis on tourism is going to keep the Temecula Valley from achieving it’s potential. Also, it seems odd, considering all the money made from the tourism end of things that the wines are priced as high as they are. Maybe the fact that we’re close to Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego convinces that higher prices equates to higher quality.

By: G

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 02:02:18 +0000

Just came back from my second trip to Temecula today, so I dialed this up. A year ago, Keyways was the only winery I liked. Tried 4 more today and was mostly puzzled. Miramonte had a couple drinkable reds that seemed to be priced about right. Baily was mostly a pass. Weins did alright, but I’d read a label, take a sniff and shake my head. The cab came across as a zin on the nose. Just odd. Then made Wilson Creek where the Legacy was drinkable and they offered that in the 05 and 06 versions. 06 worked better for me. But what an odd area this is, ‘very touristy’ is dead on. Comments next to me ranged from “Why do you do that swirly thing” to “Don’t they have any sweet wines?” Was thinking this was the Wal-Mart shoppers AVA, but Wal-mart shoppers have a good sense of value and there were few value plays here. So this is the AVA for people who don’t have the taste and sense to shop wal-mart.

Didn’t try any whites, but the reds were more often than not just puzzling. I was drinking Gigondas the prior week back in DC. While they are much different than northern CA wines that I’m more accustomed to, those wines made sense. Across the board these wines were just puzzling as to where they were going. At times it seemed they had to make a concerted effort to make the grape on the label and the flavor in the bottle unrelated.

By: Dessert Wine Nerd

Dessert Wine Nerd — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 04:24:35 +0000

QOTD1: Steelers pound Cardinals in Super Bowl, Arizona falls apart next season.
QOTD2: Dont know anything except what youve talked about. Will look into more.

By: yowens

yowens — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 00:46:41 +0000

QOTD: Steelers in Superbowl. QOTD2: Hadnt heard of it.

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 11:26:42 +0000

If you have a chance to check out Temecula try what they call the backside on De Portorla Rd. There is 7 smaller winerys that have a variery of wiens. Cougr has an Aglenaico, Cortese, Arnies, and a few other Itilain varitals.

By: CarinaG

CarinaG — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 05:17:26 +0000

I’ve lived in Temecula for over 5 years now. Check out Palumbo Family. Best reds in the valley.

By: JayZee

JayZee — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:11:01 +0000

Interesting show, but I wasn’t impressed with the wines as you described them. I mean, if Temecula wants to play with the Cali Big Boys, they are going to have to bring some thunder, right? I didn’t get that sense. As for Temecula as a region, I think I’ve had something from Thornton in the past, but I cannot recall what type of wine it was. Apparently it wasn’t that memorable.

By: Kristen

Kristen — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:31:01 +0000

I was very surprised you liked the Sauvignon blanc! This must be a first!

QOTD: no football predictions, sorry. But I did see Temecula spotlighted in a Cooking Light article on wine regions across America to visit.

By: MattUD

MattUD — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:23:53 +0000

Haven’t had any Temecula yet, and a little late on the predictions, but it worked out for the Jets!

By: CraigG

CraigG — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 11:52:18 +0000

I used to support a branch office in Temecula where I used to work. Damn, I didn’t think they made wine there back in the day. Prediction = Rams will lose, whoever they play.