Bastian's Vineyard

​I introduced this website late in 2017, during which time I have observed a significant increase in the number of people visiting the wineries.  COVID slowed things down considerably, but in the last year or so the crowds have returned with a vengeance.  I attribute this entirely to my writing, but, alas, I am the only one to recognize my great contribution.  Nonetheless, I tirelessly explore the Southern California lands seeking to introduce the world to our fine wines and wineries.
My travels took me back to near one of the first wineries I reviewed, Espinosa.  Very near – next door in fact – you will find Bastian’s Vineyards, right there on Bandy Canyon Road a block or so off of Highland Valley Road in the Highland Hills region of Escondido.  Easy to get to if you don’t mind winding mountain roads, Bastian’s is a small boutique winery in a very nice setting.  Bastian’s is very new.  Like a few other new wineries, they planned on opening in 2020 but were significantly delayed by COVID.  See pictures below.  Note that there is no indoor seating, but there is plenty of seating outside with umbrellas for shade.

​Things are pretty informal at Bastian’s.  No printed tasting menu – just a listing on a chalk board -- except that the wines on the menu were not all available for tasting.  Bottles of the five actual wines for tasting (five for $15) were laid out on the main (small) counter.

​Now the owner/winemaker does know what he is doing, as he is WSET Level 2 (wine) qualified as is yours truly, also trained by Lindsay Pomeroy.  Hence, all of Bastian’s wines are served at the right temperature.  I should add that all of them are quite well done.  As with many of the boutique wineries, the wines are brought to you at the table – no wine bar, just as I like it.
As for the wines, their Viognier is excellent.  Also of note is their Syrah.  We had to work around this one – they had too few bottles to open any for wine tasting, so we bought a bottle.  Very worth it!  This seems to fit a bit of a pattern, as these two grapes are from the same area of France (northern Rhone Valley) and other wineries in the area have had success with this grape varieties as well.
Now for the bad news.  Bastian’s is a small winery and does not make a whole lot of wine.  To complicate things, they offer a fairly wide variety of different wines.  As noted already, Syrah was not on the tasting list because they did not have enough wine.  Bottom line:  wine availability is a problem.
As a final note, Bastian’s does not have a wine club, nor do they sell food.