My idea of a perfect afternoon is a visit to the Temecula Valley Wine Country. Yesterday afternoon, Laura and I headed south on Margarita Road and took a left on Rancho California. Our first stop wasn't at a winery, it was at the fabulous Baron's Market. Baron's is located at the gateway to the wine country. It's really a beautiful place with fresh breads, homemade soups, an amazing olive bar, beautiful produce and a fantastic selection of wine and beer.
The first winery we visited was Maurice Car'rie. I told Laura how delicious their Pineapple Champagne was, but she didn't believe me until she tasted it for herself. Yummmmm!
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From there we visited La Cereza, enjoyed their Pinot Grigio and Raspberry Champagne and had a nice visit with Tracey behind the wine bar. La Cereza gives back to the community and you can see their focus with wines like Michelle's Place HOPE & Miracles Happen, with proceeds going to the local breast cancer resource center Michelle's Place.
This was a fun day for me because I got to show Laura a lot of places she had never seen. The Castle is a sight to behold.
The Castle is a bed and breakfast and you really have to see it to believe it. You actually feel as if you're in a castle. The food is terrific and it's a great place to get married. I've got Laura thinking of all sorts of options now!
The pictures of grapes up top is from Palumbo Family Vineyards & Winery. Nick and Cindy Palumbo pride themselves on ultra-premium limited production wines. They only produced 60 cases of their Cote Rotie Rose. It's blend of Syrah and Viognier and is dry and delicious.
We had two stops remaining. We visited Filsinger Winery and we were fortunate enough to find Dr. Filsinger, the owner and winemaker behind the bar. They had a special on Fume Blanc and we took advantage of it. Our last stop was at the spectacular Leonesse Cellars. The last taste of the day was port with a chocolate truffle. Decadent!
With all that tasting we worked up quite an appetite! We decided to try a place we had been hearing raves about, Francesca's Italian Kitchen. We were greeted by Alessio, who owns the restaurant with his wife Francesca. The service was outstanding and the food was exquisite. We will definitely return.
Murrieta Real Estate Expert – Tom Plant, REALTOR® - Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage – Active Rain Ambassador – (951) 907-9701
It would be my honor to show you the incredible Temecula Valley, a place I’m very proud to call home.
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Love your blog. My wife and I love wine tours and if we find ourselves in the area we will take a day to trace your steps!
Dick - Thanks so much. Make sure you get in touch with me if you come out.
Tom: WONDERFUL post! I love this area. In fact, my AR photo is from a wine-tasting day in Temecula....
Great pic's!!!
Kat - Thank you. It was a very fun afternoon.
My aunt lives in Lodi... also win country. She keeps sending me zinfindel in the mail! It's quite a novelty to get a bottle of wine delivered to your door by ups....Beautiful country though and the climate of CA makes the grapes very happy!
Tom,
WoW, it looks like you had a fabulous day and packed so much in the short time you were out touring!
Beautiful photos....I can't wait to visit there some day.
Jo
Tom, love your photos, especially the first one! And pineapple champagne? Hmmmm.
Ruthmarie - Lodi is wonderful. I have a good friend who lives there. I love Zinfandel... lucky you!
Jo - The welcome mat is waiting for you ;-)
Pat - Thanks. It's really quite tasty.
Tom, thanks for the wonderful tour. You ABSOLUTELY cannot beat an afternoon touring around the wine country. Too bad all your AR buddies could not be with you but you painted a pretty good story with your photos and words. Great job!
Sounds like a good day! Pineapple champagne, that sounds very good. Thanks for all the great photos too.
Tom- What fun! My grandparents lived for years in Sonoma. My grandfather still does in his 90's, makes his own wine. And oh, the french bread is to die for!
That is my idea of a perfect afternoon too!
Tom -- I enjoyed the wine tour and I was glad I could participate fully clothed! (lol). I am glad you enjoyed your day.
Tom, great local blog. Almost felt like I was there.
Hi Tom- Great job on your Localism featured post! Our office went wine-tasting together in Temecula last summer. We had a wonderful day touring. Thanks for bringing back fond memories. Great photo's...
Tom-Tom, what a wonderful afternoon! Reminds me of the wonderful Sunday afternoon You, Don & I had in Fredericksburg. I'm looking forward to sharing a Sunday afternoon with You, Laura & Don visiting the wineries we missed.
Pineapple champagne and Raspberry champagne??? That sounds interesting. I love champagne -- can I find those here in San Antonio? Guess I'll have to try to find them or order them. :)
See you soon!
Tom.....I too live in the Temecula Valley, and my favorite is the Almond Champagne at Wilson Creek. Oh....and the chocolate port cups. Mmmm....maybe we will have a transaction soon. Great blog
Gary - Sometimes these things just write themselves. Thank you my friend.
Chris - Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed the photos. Pineapple Champagne is very good!
Nestor & Katerina - I lived in Santa Rosa for many years. The Sonoma wine country is incredible and the french bread is the best!
Mark - It sure worked for us!
Joan - I'm glad you were able to exercise some restraint ;-)
Eric - Thanks so much. I'm glad I was able to capture it fior you.
Denise - Thank you. i appreciate it. It does make for a fun day.
Judi - Doesn't it? We also tried a Strawberry Champagne (at Leonesse, I think) that was quite good.
Jean - Thank you. A transaction together sounds good to me.
Your grape photo literally made my mouth water! Nice shot!
This trip sounds so wonderful, I hope to be able to go there one day.
kk
Wow! Great pictures! I had never heard of Temeculah until one of your residents came to Indy to purchase a couple of investment properties. She was a lovely woman, but we did not discuss wine. Guess we will next time now that I know!
I hit our new local winery in Northern Virginia this weekend. Not anywhere near as much of an event as a day in CA wine country
Your post made me want to hop on the next flight...
Tom-Tom, I almost asked if there was a strawberry champagne. You read my mind! :) I'd like to try that one too. Will have to take a day to visit the wineries next summer. See you next month.
I visited the wineries several years ago--Temucla is a beautiful locale. A few years ago, we visited again and were shocked at how much development had taken place.
I've heard such wonderful things about the CA wine country. I want to see it in the worst way some day. Can someone who doesn't know the area have as good of an experience visiting as someone in the know? Or is it best to do some homework?
Kristal - Thanks. So nice to hear from you. In a couple months those grapes will start the process of becoming wine.
Pat - Thank you! Our wine country is gaining attention.
Cindy - I hope to visit your wine country someday. I love VA.
Kerry - Wow. I guess my work is done!
Judi - It's yummy, not too sweet. Rest assured we will go wine tasting when you visit.
Diane - It's really grown tremendously. Temecula and Murrieta both have more than 100,000 residents now.
Kathy - Absolutely you can. I would recommend some homework. You can always email me or call me, too.
Tom, this is an excellent looking post. Looks like a great place to visit!
Kathy - That's one of the great things about Active Rain... you can find local friends to ask about things like this. Also, my sister runs a limousine business and they do wine tours. If you find a company that specializes in this, they know all the wineries that people like, ones that are good while still on a budget, etc. They'll help you plan a trip also.
Hi Tom,
Your photography is incredible! I believe localism posts like this will bring big payoffs. Congratulations on a job well done.
Beautiful photos!
Hi Tom,
Beautiful shoots! I'll have to come out and take the tour with you one of these days. I've done a couple and it is a great way to spend the day or weekend.
I've been in that AR contest (till last week), so have been MIA with my comments and post, so making the round of my friends on the rain to catch up on everyone. Glad to see you always having fun and doing something interesting.
I'm headed to Vegas the end of the month for the Mike Ferry Superstar retreat, my 16 or 17th one. Always come home energised from being around that group of people too.
Talk to you soon, Liz
Jeremy - Thanks. Not only is it a great place to visit, it's a wonderful place to live!
Chris - Absolutely. That's a great suggestion.
Cynthia - I appreciate it. Thank you very much.
Justin & Keisler - Thanks!
Liz - Welcome back and thank you! Have a great time at Mike Ferry, and I hope to see you next month in Austin.
Tom~ what gorgeous pictures of a gorgeous area. One of my goals is to visit the wine area by you. I can't wait for my first sip of pineapple champagne.
Lisa - Thanks. When you come out, the first bottle of Pineapple Champagne is on me!
I love this place as well! You did a great job representing Temecula and showing us your favorite spots.
GREAT Localism post--I love how you had that fabulous photo of the grapes at the top of your post! And, oh how true is that sign?!!
Hey Tom,
What a beautiful post! You did such a great job, hopefully it's full of Google juice too!
BTW, I love Temecula wine country, spent a fair amount of time there since you're right down the road from the OC.
Tom - This is an excellent post, my friend. I got your voice mail about next month's gathering, and we will be having something on the 16th. Talk to you soon -
Tom - Thank you for taking us on tour. This is probably the only way I will ever get to visit. Your pic's are great.
Hi Tom,
Thanks so much for posting such an informative blog. I am your neighbor - I live in Murrieta. I will definitely have to check out some of your recommendations.
EliteMobileNotary
Wow--you make me wish I'd done some more wine country touring while I was there--I did Sonoma and Napa (LOVE the wine train!), but never did Temecula. Guess I'll just have to go back West...
~Loretta
Cool post again......scrumptious....congrats on being featured in the Newsletter as well!
Terrie - The pleasure is mine. Many thanks.
Debe - I'm very happy with the grapes photo, thanks. That sign is often too true!
Lynda - Thanks. I hope you'll return soon.
Jason - Thank you. Looking forward to seeing you next month.
Carl - I hope you and Ceil do make it out this way some day. I'd love to show you around.
Cynthia - Thanks, neighbor! Hopefully our paths will cross.
Loretta - I guess you will. Let me know when you come back.
Liz - Thanks so much. It sure feels nice getting recognition.
Hi Tom,
After reading your blog for the Localism contest, I started thinking about the wine-country up there (so close and yet I've never visited). I was going to send you an email and ask for a suggestion, but you have given great suggestions here in this post!! Thanks again, for doing such a good job. You sound like quite the wine connoisseur. What's your favorite wine?
Beautiful and informative post!
Deborah - Thanks so much. Feel free to ask for suggestions. I love Zinfandel and Rombauer is my favorite. I also like Earthquake Zinfandel from Lodi.
David - Thank you. I appreciate it.
Tom ~ Great post. We used to live near Lake Perris and I worked in Temecula about fourteen years ago as the Interior Design Manager in Temecula at a shop called Prestinge Interiors. Your post brought back fond memories of the area. Your pictures and interesting day long Wind Tasting sound like fun. Of course the charm and varied landscape of Temecula and the Murrieta areas are beautiful! Congratulations on your featured Localism post!
Have a Colorful Day!
Irene - Thanks! The area has really grown. You might not recognize it.
Featured in Week in Review! Congrats!
Eleanor - Many thanks. You did an excellent job putting it together.
Tom - that 'ZERO TO NAKED' woould have to be changed to half a bottle for me................... maybe that is why I only have a single glass..............
Barbara-Jo - At least you know your limits ;-)
Tom,
Great Post and Photos. My husband and I love Temecula wine country. One of my sons lives in Fallbrook and whenever we visited him, we went to the wineries. The wines and food there were out of this world. My favorite is Viognier. We have been to Ponte, Churron, Calloway and Wilson Creek. We always took couple of bottles back to New York.
Temecula is a great place!!
Rosalinda - Thanks for the kind words. You named some nice wineries! I agree about Temecula!