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 about two years ago 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.

I am not really qualified to review the wines themselves, though I will tell you what I like and maybe even what I don't like.  However, I have a wine collector (now a Level 1 Sommelier) who will provide us some insights into particular wines.  One word of warning:  both he and I are red wine enthusiasts....   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:  I HAVE ADDED LINKS FROM THE WINERIES​ PAGE TO THE SPECIFIC WINERY REVIEW.  Oh, at the end of each post is a small Facebook Like box....  Would really like a lot of likes....

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Red wine should be aerated, i.e., allowed to breath.  You can buy a simple aerator that will do the job, twirl the wine in the glass, or just let the wine sit for  awhile before drinking.  Of course, if the room is warm, see above....
One question you may be asking yourself:  why should I buy wine from a winery rather than Cosco, a supermarket, or a wine shop?  Well, for one thing, if you visit the winery you taste the wine before you buy it.  Then there is the fact that Cosco and the supermarkets don't store the wine properly, so even if you get a good wine the first time the next bottle you buy might not be as good.  That assumes they still carry it and you can remember what it was you bought in the first place.
But there is another reason -- wineries in Southern California make varietals that you are unlikely to find at Costco or a supermarket.  I list  a whole batch of white and red varietals I've tasted at the wineries I've reviewed.  Costco only carries around 15 red varietals.  You won't find three of my favorite wines:  LaGrein, Negroamaro and Montipulciano.  To make it easier to find a winery offering your favorite varietal, the wine varietal wine lists are now in the Wineries section .
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 NEWS FLASH:  Worried about the 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

The Latest Blog
Montepulciano is another Italian wine, but rather than being rare it is Italy's second most commonly grown grape, trailing only Sangiovese.
Site News​​
  •  I've deleted the About Red Wines and About White Wines from the About section, with the listing now in the Wineries section.
  • With reviews now coming in from Doc Ed on Oregon wineries, I've added a listing of reviewed Oregon wineries in the Wineries section, after the extensive So Cal winery listing.​
About Section Contents
The About section is getting a bit crowded, so I thought it might be worthwhile to list the contents, as follows:
  1. About Sommeliers
  2. About Chilling Wine
  3. About Southern California Wineries
  4. About the Lum Eisensan/San Diego Wine Competition
  5. About Corks
  6. About Wine Clubs
  7. About Wine Storage
  8. About Balsamic Vinegar

Europa Village

8/21/2019

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We must have driven by Europa Village a hundred times as it is located in the heart of the wine country on Rancho California in Temecula.  For some reason, we never stopped in.  Eventually my wife did some work with a fellow who had just joined their wine club and raved about the wine, so we paid them a visit.  And once again I must admit that I missed the boat….
Or did I?  You see, Europa Village is a relatively new winery (started in 2011) that has begun a major expansion.  They’ve added an Inn and are building three separate wineries – one for Spanish wines, one for Italian wines, and one for French wines.  In addition to the wineries, they are adding villas and a cave.  The Spanish winery will be the first to open, followed by the Italian and then the French.  The entire project is expected to be completed in four years.  Some pictures of the existing facility follow.  As you can see, the winery has a Mediterranean design – very modest exterior and a central courtyard.
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​The current tasting room is quite nice, though lacks any seating so it falls into the stand-at-the-bar category.  Of course, you can sit outside with your wine where they use misters to keep temperatures within reason.  I have to point out that the seats outside for the peasants, i.e., non-wine club members, are of the high table/chair design.  Tasting is done the right way – wines are reasonable temperature, water is readily available, they provide bread sticks to munch on, and they rinse your glass with the new wine to be tasted between pours.  Nice if they were to bring the wine to your table – maybe in the new wineries?
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​For $20 you get to taste six of their standard wines.  For $30 you get to taste six of their standard wines and two premium wines.  Well, actually, a bit more than that – they begin your tasting experience with a dry sparkling wine not on the wine list and not counted as one of your tastes.  Made the right way, using methode champenoise, it was quite nice.  We bought a bottle.
My wife and I split the $30 tasting.  This allowed for some interesting “parallel” tasting, much like one does with a flight of wines.  Now, as I mentioned above, they are splitting the winery into three separate wineries – Spanish, Italian, and French.  Not surprisingly, they label their Spanish wines “Bolero”, Italian “Vienza”, and French “C’est La Vie”.  I’m not a big fan of Spanish wines, so won’t say more about their versions other than I am still not a fan of Spanish wines.  On the Italian side we tasted in parallel their 2016 vintage Montipulciano and Sangiovese.  It is really amazing how different these two varietals are!  Both are really good, though the Montipulciano still needs a bit of aging.
​We moved onto the French wines.  Not being fans of Merlot, we tried their Syrah and a Rhone blend.  Unfortunately for the Rhone blend, their Syrah is really, really good.  For our last pair we tasted two of their premium wines, a Pinot Noir (not estate grown) and their premier Sangiovese.  Both were quite nice, though I liked the less expensive Sangiovese better.  See their tasting menu below.
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​If you join their wine club you get to sit in the nice area outside, as shown in the pictures below.  They have three levels of their wine club – Passport, Premiere, and Magellan.  Passport is a standard club – two bottles every other month, 20% discount, free wine tasting for two each visit, 10% merchandise discount, and a very nice 20% discount on rooms at the Inn.  The Premiere club ups the number of bottles to three every other month, with one from their Premiere listing.  Magellan ups this to four bottles every other month, with one from their Premiere listing and one from their Magellan listing.
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​Now all of the wines are selected by their Sommelier, not their winemaker.  Look on the picture of the tasting room shown earlier.  Behind the bar at the far end you see an elderly gentleman – well, maybe not as elderly as me, but that’s another story.  Dr. Doug, as he is called, is a Level 3 Sommelier.   I did get to speak with him a bit, enough to know that he really knows wine, which, of course, goes with the territory.
As a final note, you can rent a pretty neat  cabana for your group.  See pictures below.
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    Jim Treglio

    retired physicist and wine lover

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