So. Cal. Winery Review
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SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WINERY REVIEW

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Introduction
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Welcome to Southern California Winery Review!  I started this website in late 2017 because I kept finding really bad wineries getting rave reviews, while some very, very good wineries were totally ignored.  So, I've spent quite a bit of time visiting wineries in Southern California (over 60).  Of these I've found about 40 pretty good wineries, certainly worth my taking the time to write them up.  I know what you are thinking -- it's a dirty job, but someone has to do it....  These are summarized in the Wineries section of this website. 
Now wineries in Southern California  are rapidly becoming the centers of social activities.  Not just for special events (weddings and the like), but as a place to go on weekends with friends, to enjoy good wine (ok, that's pretty obvious), good food, and even good entertainment.  While most wineries have some sort of wine club, no two are run the same.  Some wineries have restaurants.  Some have entertainment on weekends.  Some even have hotels.   So I have included information on all of this, both in the Wineries section and in the Winery News section.
If you are looking for specific varietals, you can find long lists at the beginning of the About section.  Not just what varietals are available in Southern California, but which wineries are offering them.  The About section also includes info on wine storage, corks, the Sommelier test, how to cool your wine to proper serving temperature, and other little tidbits.

Wine quality determines which wineries I review, though I also pay attention to the wine tasting room, personnel, location, view, et al.   I should add that I am very much a red wine enthusiast....
And speaking of red wine, I shall now expound on my pet peeve -- namely, drinking red wine at "room temperature"!  Red wine should be stored and drunk at a temperature below 65 F.  If you don't believe me, I suggest you run a little experiment -- I like experiments, in fact I'm a retired experimental physicist.  Pour red wine into two glasses in a warm room.  Chill one to below 65 F (put it in the fridge for about 20 minutes) and let the other glass warm up.  Then taste them both.... 
See picture below for recommended drinking temperatures.  By the way, what you see in the picture is the back of a wine temperature gauge, one of many wine-related paraphenalia in the Gadgets section.
IMPORTANT NOTE:  At the end of each post is a small Facebook Like box....  Would really like a lot of likes....

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 NEWS FLASH:  Worried about brown-outs ruining your wine?  Well, Chateau 55 has added a generator so your wine will always stay coo.  Mention our name and get the first month of storage free and a 5% discount for the next 11 months storage.  To check them out  click the link below. 
Link to Chateau 55 Website
33% Discount!  Save $20 on a $59.99 Priority Wine Pass by using the link below and entering the code scwr.
Link to Priority Wine Pass

  • So Cal Winery Review has joined the American Institute of Wine & Food, San Diego Chapter.  AIWF was founded in 1981 by Julia Child, Robert Mondavi, and others.  Read more about it in our About section.
  • I got another gadget for Father's Day.  See it in the GADGETS section.
  The Latest Blog
New winery:  Bastian's Vineyards in Escondido, subject of my latest blog.
Site News​​
Links to special blogs:​
  • The Italian Connection
  • Purchasing Wine
  • Tasting Wine
  • Tastes like Marsala
  • And the beat goes on
  • We are the future
  • To taste or not to taste
  • Three years
  • Doc Ed's Excellent Adventure
  • Wine, food, and music in Ramona 
  • The Guadalupe Valley -- First Visit
  • Halloween 2021 -- Revenge of the Spirits




Vineyard Grant James

5/19/2019

2 Comments

 
​I have discovered a great winery!  Well, I really didn’t discover them – ok, truth is I should have visited them a long time ago, but you see they didn’t get on my list because every time I tried to pull up their website my computer crashed, and then I had a phone call from a telemarketer, and then the dog ate my homework….
The winery is Vineyard Grant James, located on Old Julian Highway in Ramona.  As seen in the poster pictured below, Vineyard Grant James has been selected as the second-best winery in the country!!!  So, yeah, I really should have visited them a long time ago.  To think of all that great wine that I did not get to drink.  Woe is me!
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Vineyard Grant James, like most of the wineries in Ramona, is classified as “boutique”.  They do not have an indoor tasting room – tasting is done outside on a very nice patio (see pictures that follow).  Note the coolers behind the bar – yes, they do their best to serve the wines at the correct temperature!  Munchies and water available, and on occasion they have a cheese tasting.  Oh, and various special events – more on this at the end.  Like most boutique wineries in Ramona, they are open only Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Unlike most boutique wineries in Ramona, they have live entertainment.
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Doc Ed and I were the only ones there, so we had the great fortune of spending time with the owner and winemaker, Susanne.  Their tasting “menu” is shown below, but Susanne really didn’t work off of it.  She pulled wines out of the cooler for us to taste, starting with two white wines, a Viognier and a Chardonnay.  Egad, I actually liked them both.  Then we hit the reds, including Sangiovese, Nebbiolo, and Zinfandel.  Wow.  One little warning – they have very little Nebbiolo left.  One bottle, actually.  I should point out that they do not list their Sangiovese on their website, but it is really good….  Nice pepper in the Zinfandel.  Oh, normal tasting fee is $10 for six tastes.
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I could go on and on about their wine, but I need to move on.  They have a wine club, minimum three bottles/quarter with a 20% discount on all wine and 50% off wine tasting, and, of course, wine pickup parties.  Ho, hum…
But then there are the special events.  First off is a river cruise in Portugal, visiting the Portuguese wineries – see picture of the flyer below.  They have a series of lectures from Sommeliers, including a Master.  You can also get a private tour with Susanne.  Perhaps the most exciting is a series of wine pairing dinners with chefs from all over the place.  As these are scheduled, I’ll try to post them on this site.
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2 Comments

Cordiano Winery

5/8/2019

0 Comments

 
Last February, Doc Ed, my wife and I visited Cordiano Winery on Highland Valley Road in Escondido.  We ordered some pizza, then stepped up to the bar to taste their wines.  The first wine we opted to taste was a Pinot Noir made from grapes grown in Paso Robles.  The wine had a very strange color, sort of orange.  The taste was worse than the appearance.  Doc Ed, a level 1 Sommelier, casually asked the server if they stored their wines on site.  He was proud to say that, yes, they stored them on site in a temperature-controlled facility – keeping the temperature at a steady 74 F.  When we returned to our table, Doc Ed theorized that the wine had oxidized too rapidly because of the high storage temperature, and was ruined.  As it turned out, all of their wines had the same orangey hue and none were drinkable.
This was a great tragedy.  You see, Cordiano makes some really great pizza, and I know pizza, so if I say it is really great, it is really great!  They have a very nice facility as well.  See for yourself in the pictures that follow.  So, last weekend I decided it was time to see if they had corrected the problem.  I am very, very happy to report that all is now well with Cordiano Winery.  The wines are all red and all pretty good.  And the pizza, well, it is even better!
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The great pizza is not an anomaly.  The Cordiano’s were big in the restaurant business – indeed, they owned several restaurants in the San Diego area which they sold to start the winery.  Hence, it comes as no surprise that Cordiano Winery is more like a restaurant with a winery rather than a winery with a restaurant.  For example, you are greeted on entering by a host or hostess who seats you at a numbered table.  There is no tasting room, just the open-air restaurant area, though there are two tasting “bars”, one where you order your food as well as your tasting.  In addition to the food and wine, you can purchase other beverages, including beer on tap.
While they are a restaurant with a winery, they handle the wine tasting part better than most wineries with or without a restaurant.  For me that means the wines are served at the proper temperature, with the bottles kept in individual bottle coolers as shown in the picture below.  Water is readily available, both to rinse and to keep you hydrated.  Of course, it is a restaurant, so munchies are not a problem – in addition to pizza they have a full menu of pastas and salads.  I have no idea if their other foods are any good, and may never find out – did I mention that they make really good pizza?
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They have two levels of tasting:  four tastes for $10 or seven tastes for $15.  I went with the four-taste offering but wound up tasting six of their red wines as their Sicilian winemaker who insisted I try his Cabernet Franc and Tempranillo.  Now I really do not like Tempranillo, but I have to admit his is pretty good, maybe the best I have ever tasted.  The latest tasting menus follow.  Really liked the Pinot Noir and the Sangiovese.
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​Their wine club is a 12 bottle/year affair at a 20% discount, three per quarter.  The winemaker selects the wines, but members have the option to choose replacements.  Members get two free tastings per visit, and they have special events for wine club members.  Now, here’s the clincher – the 20% discount extends to the restaurant!  Did I mention that they make some really good pizza?
Important note:  Cordiano Winery is open five days a week (closed Monday and Tuesday) from 11 am to 7 pm.  Please enjoy more pictures of their facility, including their bottle pyramid.
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0 Comments

    Jim Treglio

    retired physicist and wine lover

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