Wednesday, June 23, 2010

My new found LOVE!

Wine, vino, nectar from the gods... whatever your favorite term is I LOVE it! When I set the goal to tour 3 wineries it wasn't because I loved wine, I liked it and thought it sounded like something fun do do that I had never done. Touring wineries is one of my new favorite activities.

Let me explain why. The hubby and I drove down to Temecula for the Balloon and Wine festival. We assumed the wine would be the highlight of the festival, however we were sorely disappointed. After you paid an exorbitant "entrance" fee you have to pay extra to sample a small selection of wine. Needless to say we were in inland southern-cali and hot as heck at 10am. Standing around to pay more to "sample" wine was not going to happen.
On the drive into the festival we had driven past about a million wineries and decided to go try one of those since it was on my list anyway. We asked the tourism tent if they recommended a particular winery. After a long debate of not being able to pick just one they suggested Wilson Creek because they had a great Almond Champagne. That's right folks... Almond Champagne! And it was amazing!
Not only was it cheaper per taste but also air conditioned... and since we arrived at 10:30 (just 30 minutes after opening like true alcoholics) we got one on one service by a very sweet lady. She entertained all of our ridiculous winery touring virgin questions, poured us double the tastes we had paid for and took us back to the VIP tasting room! Yes folks we hit the gold mine on this winery. We stopped for lunch on site (mostly out of necessity) and headed back home.
Last weekend we "toured" San Antonio Winery. Not such a good experience. It was basically a liquor store where you could taste 3 wines for free. Free or not, it was not very good! Basically a Folgers experience after being served freshly roasted and expertly poured espresso in the heart of Italy. For me, winery touring is as much about the overall experience as it is the quality of the wine.
The last winery is not planned yet and am up for suggestions anywhere in the So-Cal area.
- K

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