Altipiano is another winery that we visited as a result of a recommendations from NextDoor Scripps Ranch Fallbrook Estates, though my wine expert had been there before.   Another great recommendation.  Thank you, neighbors!
Located off of Highland Valley Road in Escondido, visiting Altipiano is more like visiting someone’s home rather than a winery.  I guess it’s because you are visiting someone’s home!  That’s right, the owners have converted the grounds around their 6,000 sq. ft. home into a winery, and, as you can see in the picture below, their patios as well.

Avensole has a restaurant in a separate building up the hill from the tasting room.  I’m not fond of the separation – it makes it very difficult to combine tasting with food.
The wines are good – if they weren’t, I wouldn’t be reviewing this winery – but generally overpriced.  Pictures of the wine tasting room and patio are shown below.  On weekdays, the fare is $17 for six tastings; $20 on weekends.  One disappointing note is that the tasting room was not cooled – it was around 75 F – and so we were not getting a good evaluation of their red wines.
Their wines are in three groups – Explore, Venture, and Discover – with Explore the lowest-priced wines and Discover the highest-priced wines, as seen in the pictures below.  Now, you don’t join the Avensole wine club.  Rather, you join the Explore, Venture, or Discover wine club.  If you join the Explore wine club, you agree to buy 3 bottles of Explore wine a quarter (12 for the year) at a 20% discount.  You also get free wine tasting for two per month and a 10% discount on other items they sell and the restaurant.  However, you only get a discount on Explore wines.  Venture works the same way, except you get 8 free tastings per month and the wine discount extends to both Explore and Venture wines.  Only if you buy into the Discover level do you get a discount on all of the wines that they sell.  In addition, they have a separate building with a tasting room and its own patio for Discover wine club members only, open only on weekends.  One quirk, which perhaps I misunderstood, is that Discover members only get two tastings per visit, not nearly as generous as the less expensive Venture level is afforded.

The wine club does allow substitutions.  They send out an email each quarter telling you which wines have been selected for the club.  If you want to replace any of the wines, you email back the changes you want to make and they’ll have the correct wines ready for you when you come by to pick them up.
What particularly stood out in our visit to Avensole was what were not in the tasting room – water to rinse one’s pallet and remain hydrated, water to rinse one’s glass between tastes (and a place to dump the water), and munchies.  I don’t see these things as amenities.  Rather, all three improve the quality of the tastes, making the customers more likely to buy their wine.
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Now for something completely different….
This next winery is about as far removed from Ponte, Orfila and Robert Renzoni as is possible.  A very small, little known winery, Principe di Tricase is one of the new wineries recently opened in the Ramona and Highland Valley regions of San Diego County.  Located on Highland Valley Road in Ramona, Principe di Tricase was started just a few years ago by an elderly Italian immigrant who came here from Naples with no wine making expertise at all.  Nonetheless, he produces a number of very interesting wines.
This is a family-run winery lacking in any frills.  The facility is pretty rustic, not really set up for visitors.  Wine tasting is not done by menu.  Rather, you sit comfortably outside of the very small barrel room, or inside during the summer heat, and they bring the wine to you, describing the wine’s history and attributes.  They pick the wines, of course.  Music is often a part of the experience, provided by a family member playing guitar and singing Italian folk tunes.
While many of the small wineries do not have a wine club, Principe di Tricase does.  You can join one of three levels.  On the lowest level, you pay $35 per month for a bottle of wine, with a 10% discount on any other wine you buy and four tickets to their harvest party.  Next level is $64 per month for two bottles, 15% wine discount, and four tickets.  High end is three bottles at $87 per month, 20% wine discount and twelve tickets.   Additional 5% off if you buy 12 bottles of wine.  At every level you get two wine tastings per month when you come to pick up your wine, and invitations to members-only events.  While this may not seem like a great deal, they have a lot of members-only events, including monthly wine-pickup pot luck and pizza parties.  Their harvest party is a full day affair.  It begins with breakfast at 8, then to the fields to pick grapes, followed by an Italian lunch, then the start of making wine from the grapes.
The foci of their wine making are the ancient wines of Rome and southern Italy, using aglianico, nebbiolo and aleatico grapes.  Wine tasting is on two levels, $5 and $10, but free if you buy a bottle of wine.  Like many of the Ramona wineries, wine tasting times are limited.  They are open Thursday through Sunday from noon until sunset, though you have to call in advance for Thursday.  Also, they are not open to the public the third Sunday of the month – that’s reserved for their wine club party.
I apologize for not having pictures at the present time.  I haven’t had a chance to get out there.  Too busy drinking wine….