A walk in the clouds

This past weekend, Scott decided we needed a weekend away. He just got back from his 2 week business trip, and had a 4 day weekend to enjoy. I didn't have a 4 day weekend, but we decided to kennel the dogs and spend the weekend in Temecula wine country. We have been meaning to do this for a couple of years, and finally made it out there for a tasting.

We stayed the night at the South Coast Winery, and their villas were very nice. I loved how they were each separate rooms with no sharing walls. This means that you had no neighbor's walking heavy above you, or loud neighbors next door (like we do at home most nights...). There was a bottle of wine for us in the room, and Jacuzzi tub.

We started Saturday out with a wine tasting, and it shocked me how Temecula wine country has turned into the bar scene of he SD area. It was packed, and you had to fight for a place up at the tasting bar. There were people drunk, and loud, and just hanging out. Granted, I had a buzz going after our 5 tastings (and the 2 extras that she gave us), but I don't think I would just hang out in there. There is a separate area with tables for Wine Club members, which we were considering (and still are), and I could see myself hanging out there for a few hours on a nice day. If we actually lived in Temecuala (which we did find our dream started home out there 3 years ago), we would definitely be part of the wine circuit.

We then headed over to the restaurant for a little appetizer and a bottle of wine. After relaxing for a bit, we headed back later that night for a superb dinner. Scott had the Lamb chops, and I had veal and beef riggi's. It was excellent, and worth the drive out here for a nice dinner out (more reason to become a club member).

Sunday was our tour of the winery, and it has sparked the dream of having a vineyard in both of us again. We learned a lot from the tour guide, and ended the tour with a tasting and tips about pairing wine and food. We learned that the sweet wines I like (like the white Germans that we always buy) go really well with spicy food. Scott knew a lot of the workings of the winery because of his Gallo experience, and I think we should start looking for jobs or ways we can become active at the wineries in Temecula (it's not that far of a drive).

On our way back home, we stopped at one other winery for a tasting, and in comparison to where we just were, it was on a different scale completely (small, with 2 people working the tasting room, and nothing fancy about it at all) and the wine was not as great in my opinion either (I didn't say, let's buy a bottle to any of them). Maybe I was wine'd out by this point in the weekend, but I wouldn't want to go back there.

The man who owns the vineyard for South Coast bought the land only due to his father's pressure to buy it. It sat there for years, and he saw the movie "A Walk in the Clouds" and thought that his land looked a lot like that setting. So he went out and tested the soil and now has this thriving vineyard (the largest in Temecula).
I think I'm going to go out back and test our soil now :-)