Now I can assume that some of you are not football fans or are bitter ex-Charger fans, and therefore are interested in a place to hide away on Sunday during the Super Bowl.  I suggest you consider Casi Cielo Winery.
Casi Cielo is one of a half dozen wineries southeast of the 94/125 intersection that have opened wine tasting rooms in the last couple of years.  It is in the Jamul area on a side road off of 94.  This small winery was purchased by the Maness family a few years ago, which kept the winery name but added their name to the vineyard.  Hence, you would be visiting Casi Cielo Winery and Maness Vineyards.  The vineyards date back to the early 80’s, by the way.  You can see the front of the winery in the pictures below.

​So here’s the story on the Priority Wine Pass.  I’m a particularly difficult person to buy presents for – I don’t have a lot of hobbies, I’m not a golfer, and I’m not a do-it-yourself person.  But I do this blog and hence spend a lot of time visiting wineries.  So, not surprising, one of my sons bought me a Priority Wine Pass for my birthday last year.  In looking at their website, I noticed two things:  1) it provides savings at wineries throughout California, Oregon, and Washington, and 2) they have a concierge service, i.e., they help you plan wine tasting trips.  So I decided to try out their concierge service for an upcoming trip to Napa with my neighbors.
We gave the concierge basic information – travel info including where we planning to stay, types of wines we liked best, price we were willing to pay for a bottle of wine, and how long we were going to be in Napa.  We added that we wanted to include a visit to Stag’s Leap.  They came back with a two day plan for visiting eight wineries, seven of which offered Priority Wine Pass discounts.  We made some changes to the itinerary but still wound up saving $175 per couple for the five wineries on their list that we visited!  Needless to say, our friends went out and purchased passes.  I should add that the two wineries we liked the least on the trip were not on the concierge’s list and did not take the pass.
Since this website is all about visiting wineries, it was a natural to consider working with Priority Wine Pass.  They think so as well, to the tune of a $20 discount on the pass, dropping the cost from around $60 to around $40 – that’s a 33% discount!  Just go to their website and use the code scwr.  A number of Southern California wineries that I’ve reviewed offer discounts to Priority Wine Pass holders.  I’ve noted on the winery listing in the “Wineries” section of this website which ones take the Priority Wine Pass and what discounts they offer.  In other words, the Priority Wine Pass can save you money even if you never leave the area.
Now back to the gift issue.  Valentine’s Day is coming soon, and if you have someone special in your life that is a complete pain in the ass when it comes to buying gifts for, such as yours truly, who really loves visiting wineries, maybe you should consider a Priority Wine Pass.  Of course, it would also save a lot if you are planning on giving someone a romantic wine tour, in which case you buy the pass for yourself.  Actually, that sounds like a much better idea.  No wonder I’m so hard to buy for….

Located just diagonally across from their sister winery (South Coast) on Rancho California in Temecula, Carter has the full monte, so to speak – winery, restaurant, hotel, and pool.  It was designed this way from the start, so I did not expect that they would put much effort into the “Estate Winery” part of the name.  I expected something more on the line of a tourist trap.  It was not.
The tasting room sits alone near the front of the property.  The first thing that I noticed on entering is that it is close in style to the Charles Krug facility we visited in Napa, i.e., a large room with small bar and lots of tables, both high and low, rather than the more common tasting room with no place to sit, the room filled with merchandise and wine bottle racks, and extensive bar space.  See pictures below.

When we visit wineries we often meet people who have been visiting other wineries.  Sometimes they have good things to say and sometimes they have bad things to say – and, on rare occasions, they rant and rave about how great such-and-such winery is.  One winery that received such a recommendation was Fazeli Cellars.
Fazeli is a Temecula winery, sitting on a hill above de Portola (next to Robert Renzoni).  A little dirt road takes you up to their dirt parking lot, which sits below their absolutely magnificent facility.  You walk up winding steps to a great patio (see pictures).  Now, Fazeli is a Persian winery, with a Persian restaurant.  I don’t know how good the food is – we didn’t eat there – but it sure smells good!  So we followed the aroma of Persian food into their rather large tasting room.

So naturally we asked about the temperature that they serve the wines at.  Ours were a bit warm, so this was a concern.  Well, in the summer, they keep the tasting room at barrel temperature.  In the winter, they just don’t turn on the heat.  As we were visiting on a particularly warm winter day….
They have two wine clubs, Turquoise and Diamond.  Both entail purchase of 12 bottles a year, two every other month, but the Diamond members by the more expense wines.  Both get 20% discount on wine, 10% on restaurant, with 25% discount for Turquoise members on cases and 30% for Diamond members.  Free tasting for 8 per month for Turquoise, 12 for Diamond.  Diamond members also get two complementary tickets to winery events, including their masquerade ball.  Yes, they have a masquerade ball!
They also have a private patio and room for wine club members – their Ruby Lounge.  See picture below.  Oh, I failed to mention that they offer entertainment Saturdays and Sundays (starting at 1 pm).

Kohill is a great example of the adventurous spirit of Ramona boutique wineries.  In addition to Refosco, the owner and winemaker, Mike, has also planted Pinot Noir grapes.  Pinot Noir should not grow well in Ramona, but he has an area on his property that might just defy the norm, and he has the will to try.
Their tasting room is small and is also the barrel room, though when I first visited the barrels were in a back room and boxes in what is now the barrel room (see pictures).  They have added a small table and chairs inside – which helped considerably given how cold and rainy it was yesterday.