Avensole

Going back to Temecula, the next winery to be reviewed is Avensole, located on Rancho California on the right just before the de Anza circle.  The owners purchased the winery about four years ago and spent about two years renovating the property.  They improved both the buildings and the landscaping.  As you can see in the pictures below, it was a very successful renovation.

The winery has patio seating for wine tasting (see picture below), and there is live music on weekends.  The set-up is different from other wineries in that the patio view is off the beautiful landscaping, not the surrounding scenery.

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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