The Wine Region Next Door

It may still be summer, but the harvest is well under way in the Temecula Valley (about 60 miles north of San Diego). Growers of sparkling wines started picking in the middle of August. Now the whites are being harvested, with reds and then late-harvest varietals soon to follow.  By the beginning of October, it’ll all be over.

I’ve got oenophilic savvy friends who say Temecula will never produce great wine. They say the valley gets too hot and the wines will always be too sweet. They may be right. Palates are personal, and mine will never earn me a job as a professional taster. But after a visit to the region last week, I came away easily envisioning how this area could give Napa and Sonoma a run for their tourist money.

Certainly Temecula joined the wine world late.  The local convention and visitor’s bureau says Vicenco Cilurzo planted the first commercial vineyard there in 1968, and by the late 90s, there were still only a dozen or so growers. Since then,  however, winemaking wannabes have been flocking to the valley like swallows once did to Capistrano (where California winemaking supposedly started, more than 200 years ago). Now at least 30 wineries are operating in Temecula, and there’s talk of up to 20 more with plans to open. Older ones cluster along Rancho California Road, while newer ones have been popping up along De Portola Road.  The concentration is great enough that you couldn’t possibly see them all in a day. And you could potentially taste dozens of offerings that have won awards.

A number of the wineries have been pouring money into upgrading their facilities. Keyways, the only winery in the valley owned by a women, was thoroughly remodeled recently and now boasts plenty of cozy tables and chairs and a giant stone fireplace. The Thornton Winery’s Champagne Cafe has won a couple of restaurant writers’ awards in recent years for its contemporary fusion food. 

And the South Coast Winery bagged the prestigious Golden Bear Winery trophy at this year’s California State Fair — the first Temecula winery ever to get the award, for best winery overall.  South Coast expects to harvest about 800 tons of grapes from its 39 acres this year. It’s also a high-end spa (offering the likes of grapeseed and champagne facials and other tony treatments.)

Temecula wine boosters say the topography of the area has set it up for viticultural success.  Most of the vineyards are located at least 1400 above sea level, yet they’re surrounded by mountains up to 3000 feet tall. Heavy, cold air drains off the peaks at night, joining cool moist marine air that flows every afternoon through the Rainbow Gap, one of the only low spots in the Coastal Mountain Range.  Hot days counterbalance the cold nights, and rainfall during the harvest is almost unheard of, important for wine quality.

That said, even the Temecula growers acknowledge that warmer climate wines are the best choices for the region — Mediterranean varietals such as Viognier, Syrah, Pinot Gris, Sangiovese, Roussanne, and other Rhone Valley varietals.

An opportunity to assess how it all tastes will be this year’s Harvest Wine Celebration November 1 and 2.