​Right next door to Shadow Mountain in the Warner Springs area is Sierra Roble Winery and Vineyard.  This relatively-small winery with magnificent views in all directions specializes in Bordeaux-style wines.

​The facility itself is small, with most of the seating outside.  Note from the pictures below how nice it is.  Also note the fans in the ceiling, which I am sure really help on hot summer days.  The tasting room itself in very small.  To make it easier to sit outside and just enjoy the wine they have a “serving” window from the tasting room to the porch so you don’t have to go back inside to get the next pour.  Very nice!  See pictures below.

​Red wines are kept in individual chillers, though they could be a little colder.  Of course, they have water available.  As mentioned above, and seen in the following tasting menus, the winery only deals with Bordeaux varietals.  The best red, as one would figure, is their Cabernet Sauvignon.  It is a pretty rare find – a good local Cab at a decent price.  Of course, if you have a good Cab, you should have a good Bordeaux blend – ergo, their second-best wine is their Ava’s Cuvee, with 60% Cab.  And, yes, I came home with a bottle of the Cab…  An important note should be added here, namely, the Cabernet Sauvignon available is a 2014 vintage.  Unlike most other Cabs sold in Southern California, it is ready to drink, i.e., the tannins have been nicely aged.

​Now a word of warning.  Most wineries in our area are pretty generous in their pours.  Advertised one ounce pours average closer to 1.5 ounces.  Some wineries will get a little carried away, with pours closer to 2 ounces.  Well, they were a bit more generous than that.  How much more?  Let’s just say that it was a good thing I wasn’t driving – and that was after skipping one pour!!!
Their wine club is 3 to 4 shipments per year of 2-3 wines selected by their winemaker, at a 20% discount, 25% off cases, and 10% off other merchandise.

​From the pictures below of Forgotten Barrel Winery you would think it was located somewhere out in the country.  It is not.  It is located only a few blocks from the center of Escondido in a residential neighborhood, just off of Upas.  Just a winery, no vineyard, i.e., they make their wines from purchased grapes (though they do have some vines along their driveway).  Does that make it an “urban” winery or a “suburban” winery?  Well, their wine is pretty good so who cares!
​There are several nice outside areas to sit and drink wine.  The tasting room itself has only a small seating area reserved for wine club members, but they do have a large indoor facility to hold weddings and the like.  Pictures follow.

​As you can see from the tasting menus below, they bring grapes in from all over the place – Napa, Fallbrook, Valley Center, San Diego, Santa Rita Hills.  Wine lots are often pretty small – sometimes as little as five barrels of a specific varietal.  Hence, they depend on selling small amounts of a lot of varietals vs. large amounts of a few varietals.  Tasting is either $10 per person or $15 per person, depending which menu you want to follow.  Pictures of the tasting room follow.

​I am happy to report that they served the red wines at a good temperature -- I would hope that this was not just because it was a cooler day.  Given that the young man who served us is a level 3 Sommelier it seems like a given…  Anyway, water was readily available, and while they didn’t serve any munchies, they were also available.  No restaurant, of course, but they were setting up for entertainment when we left. 
Now to the wines.  Of the wines on the tasting menus, the best, by far, is the Syrah.  It is really good (bought some).  Below I’ve posted their price list with some wines not on the tasting menu.  The one outstanding wine on it is their GSM – also bought a bottle of it.  But that is not all!  Doc Ed had visited this winery a few days before the two of us dropped in and he got them to let him taste wines not on either list – a Pinot Noir made from grapes from the Alexander Valley, bottled but not yet released, and Tannat made from grapes sourced locally, still in the barrel.  According to Doc Ed, these are really, really good wines.  On the down side, as is the case in many small wineries, they reserve their best wines for their wine club so neither of these wines may become available to the public.

​As for their wine club, it is a 3 bottle per quarter club with a very nice 25% discount, and 20% on other wines and anything else they are selling (mostly food items – munchies and the like).  Complementary wine tasting is limited to two per month.