Southern California’s up-and-coming Temecula Valley wine country has been getting a lot of attention lately, and rightly so. Just an hour from San Diego, Orange County, and Palm Springs and about 90 minutes from Los Angeles, it’s an easy day trip or weekend getaway with good wine and fun wineries to visit.
When we first traveled to and reported on Temecula Valley wine country in 2019, there were about 40 wineries. In just a few short years the region now has about 50 wineries, and more are expected to open. It’s a relatively compact area, with many wineries clustered near each other.
More than 30 grape varieties are grown in Temecula Valley wine country. Due to the Southern climate, the area focuses on Spanish, Italian, and other Mediterranean varietals.
Here’s how to choose a wine tour for Temecula Valley wine country and three great wineries to visit.
Not All Wine Tours Are Created Equal
While a number of recent articles have been touting Temecula Valley wine country, they mostly provide brief lists of some of the wineries. They don’t include information on the wine experience itself or the quality of the wines. The articles also don’t say how much the tastings are; they’re about $25-$30 each for the basic tasting, which can add up if you plan to visit more than one winery.
This is why it’s helpful to take a wine tour, which has done some of the research for you already, enables you to avoid driving, and may provide discounts on the wine tastings.
However, carefully research the wine tours before you make a reservation, as they vary considerably. Some are purely transportation; you do all of the legwork. Some of them are geared toward groups and parties, which is not for everyone, and many start and end in Temecula, which means you need to get to the region on your own. Some have set itineraries, which is fine if you’re new to Temecula and/or don’t really care which wineries you visit.
Since we wanted to visit wineries with high-quality wines and go to ones we hadn’t been to previously, we crafted a tour with Vineyard Limousine, which we were very pleased with when we last visited Temecula. The owner, Armando, recommended a customized tour tailored to our preferences (dry, high-quality wines, wine tastings only) and partners with an impressive list of wineries to choose from. Vineyard Limousine also services not only Temecula but also San Diego, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Orange Counties, so you don’t need to get to Temecula to pick up the tour.
We opted to visit three award-winning wineries producing boutique wine. I liked that all three tastings were guided bar tastings, not table flights, so we could ask questions and learn more about what we were sampling. We also chose to add in a nice lunch at one of the wineries. We had a great trip with our driver/guide Leon, who was both knowledgeable and very personable.
I was pleasantly surprised by two things in particular. Leon started the tour by giving us champagne to enjoy on the way there, which was a nice, unexpected touch. Also, all three wineries were exceptionally accommodating with the beer drinker in our group, suggesting wines that she might like and going off the menu for her. Impressive!
Bolero at Europa Village Wineries & Resort
The first winery we visited was Bolero at Europa Village Wineries & Resort. It’s a sprawling complex with three old-world style wineries on the premises (Spanish, Italian, and French-themed) as well as some accommodations. One can choose a village-specific wine tasting or obtain a “passport” to taste wine at all three wineries. I originally was concerned that the size of the premises would be off-putting, but each winery is separate, and the tasting rooms are intimate and comfortable.
We went to Bolero, the Spanish winery (it also offers craft beer and sangria).
We sampled:
Cava 😊+ (but we could have chosen to sample a sweeter wine)
Reserve Garnacha Blanca Duarte’s Vineyard, a premium wine 😊++
Diosa Roja, 85% Garnacha and 15% Petit Syrah 😊++
Libido, a red blend featuring Tempranillo 😊++
Reserve Tempranillo, another premium wine 😊😊
2016 vintage port, 99 points from Wine Enthusiast 😊😊
Falkner Winery
Our next stop was to much smaller Falkner Winery. Before the tasting, we had a fabulous lunch at the Pinnacle, the winery’s award-winning restaurant with pretty views, floor-to-ceiling windows, and a wraparound deck.
We then walked next door to the winery’s attractive tasting room, with a little whimsy (the Star Wars character Yoda is the unofficial resident mascot). We could choose which four wines to try (plus we were treated to the Meritage).
I sampled:
Viognier 😊++
Sangiovese 😊😊
Cabernet Sauvignon 😊😊
Syrah 😊😊
Meritage, a Bordeaux blend 😊😊
Fazeli Cellars Winery
The third winery we visited was Fazeli Cellars. The winery and the names of several of the wines are in tribute to the owner’s Persian heritage. We could choose any six wines to taste from the tasting menu, but our server gave us several that were not advertised.
We sampled:
Norooz, a blend of Muscat Canelli and Viognier 😊+
Yalda, a blend of Grenache, Shiraz, and Mourvèdre 😊++
Montepulciano (which was not on the menu) 😊😊
Baba Joon, a blend of Shiraz and Petit Syrah 😊++
Cabernet Franc (also not on the menu) 😊😊
Petit Syrah (also not on the menu) 😊😊
I hope this information on how to choose a wine tour for Temecula Valley wine country and three great wineries to visit helps you plan a trip there. Here’s to you!
Do you have any wineries in Temecula Valley wine country you recommend we visit? Let us know! We’re at info@winewithourfamily.com.
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