Wine Tasting in Temecula, California
Tuscany Italy? No. Temecula, Californa.
“Accept what life offers you and try to drink from every cup. All wines should be tasted; some should only be sipped, but with others, drink the whole bottle.”
― Paulo Coelho
We certainly made some headway on cups and bottles in a delightful weekend in Temecula, California, east of Los Angeles. While Napa in Northern California is the best known for California wines worldwide there are many upcoming wine regions in California that are offering stiff competition.
So, Temecula? I was playing the mom card deciding to stop on way home from San Diego to visit my son and enjoy a spot of dinner with him in Irvine. That potential dinner date turned into a weekend of wine, dinner, gambling and more wandering. It worked out very well indeed.
Now that is what I call a curved ball with a wonderful flair.
The weather was perfect. A pleasant breeze keeping things cool and comfortable. Accompanied by @rajatheyorkie who has his own Instagram page, we visited all dog friendly wineries picked by @monicakapur. A side benefit was outdoor wine tastings that let us truly enjoy the wonderful weather and company as we made our relaxed way through the day. @Abstraktdj was kind enough to drop his mom at the front door and park the car since many of the parking spots were far from the entrance.
Our first stop of the morning was @Thornton Wineries with their beautiful herb garden and bright spot of color. I have to say all the wineries are so beautiful with flowers, lavender and herbs that welcome people.
Wine tasting done right. We were seated at a table on the patio as we decided which flights we wanted to taste. Of course, we all picked different ones and then had fun doing some cross tasting.
Since most of the wineries here in Temecula or at least the ones we visited all had attached restaurants we noshed along with sipping our wine. Between a little bit of food, a lot of water we got to layer the stomach well during the day and enjoy all the different wines that we got to taste.
Our next stop was the beautiful @Miramonte where we had a VIP private sommelier led wine tasting. I walked around in between taking pictures and met the most delightful family who were visiting for the day. The parents were from nearby Riverside with their daughter, son-in-law and daughter’s mom-in-law. I took some pictures of their family group and after a nice chat walked back to our private cabana.
Here we spent a delightful afternoon noshing and tasting some fabulous wines. Raja got to enjoy some water and snacks with us as well.
Even though we were pretty much wined out we make our last stop of the day @wilsoncreek where we tasted their specialty almond champagne.
Here we strolled around the property which was very crowded at this time of the late afternoon and dipped our toes into their very extensive gift shop, leaving us time for a spot of olive oil tasting, a quick nap and an evening spent in the casino.
Couldn’t leave Temecula without a quick stop in Olde town Temecula with its delightfully quaint shops and restaurants. It was quite busy with cars coming and going but I was lucky to have someone pulling out in front of me and safely parked I wandered as far as my legs could take me. Given that it was almost the end of the day it wasn’t far, but I managed to get some steps in while I browsed.
The quaint Temecula Olive Oil Company who has a wide selection of flavored olive oils. No reservations required for the olive oil tasting and you can leave with a nice collection of gifts for your cooking minded friends.
We stayed at the Pechanga Resort with its selection of restaurants and casino. We had grandiose plans of spending a couple of hours at the tables as a family but as it turned out the sun and wine took its toll and other than a little time desultorily playing slots while waiting for our dinner table, we did not gamble much at all.
It turned out that the weekend wasn’t quite over even as I headed for home and followed navigation across the various freeways. I had to do a double take, perhaps even a triple take as this scene emerged along the side of the road.
Was I in a Star Trek episode where Scotty had beamed me into an alternate universe? As it turns out I was neither dreaming nor a victim of technology. I happened to be crossing the Chino hills where there is a beautiful traditional Hindu temple called the Swami Narayan Temple.
My moniker is wandering Veena, of course, I got off at the next exit and detoured my way to the temple complex and walked (drove) around the huge complex.
What a great way to end a perfect weekend; living up to the motto of a true wanderer who’s prepared to detour and adjust based on what might come around the corner.