​On the last day of our journey we rode through strawberry fields that seemed to go on forever to reach our final winery of the trip:  Cambria.  Cambria Estate Vineyard and Winery, located in Santa Maria, is not a boutique winery.  It is not a small winery.  It is a very big winery.  The strawberry fields became vineyards that stretched as far as the eye could see.

​Doc Ed had visited Cambria on his recent trip up to Santa Barbara, and highly recommended it.  At the end of the long drive we found a relatively small tasting room.  A bit of a surprise – I would have expected a larger facility for such a large winery.  Anyway, one large table filled a good part of the room, which was good because we had a large group and brought lunch.  See pictures of the tasting room below.

​We were there for the wine, of course, and, as you can see in the tasting menu, the only red wine they make is Pinot Noir.  Note that three of the five are pure clones of Pinot Noir.  Now I must confess that I cheated.  Yes, you heard me right, I cheated.  You see, Doc Ed brought back some of their wine, and, well, I tasted their Clone 23 Pinot Noir a few days before the trip.  Well, more than tasted it – I guess “guzzled” fits better.  More about Clone 23 below, but first a little bit about clones.

​Vineyards don’t start by planting seeds – just takes too much time for them to grow and you don’t really know what you are getting.  Rather, they plant vines.  If all of the vines have the exact same DNA – they all came from the same plant (usually by grafting) – then they are said to be “clones” of the original plant.  You can probably see where this is heading.  If I grow the vines from seeds, they will all have different DNA.  Some will grow well, but not produce good wine.  Some will struggle, but produce very good wine.  Others will grow well and produce good wine.  It all depends on the growing conditions.  Anyway, the best vines are cloned, and, if the clones are particularly good, given a name or number and made available to other vineyards.
Getting back to Cambria, they had five Pinot Noirs on their tasting menu, three of which were pure clones.  The first two mixed clone offerings were good.  Then we hit the third Pinot Noir, Clone 4, an outstanding example of a more-or-less classic Pinot Noir.  Clone 2A proved to be pretty good, though I really liked Clone 4 better.  Then we went to Clone 23.
Pinot Noir is a light red wine.  Indeed, I was told by one expert that you can tell if a Pinot Noir offering is pure Pinot Noir by trying to see your thumb at the bottom of the glass.  If you can see your thumb, it is a pure Pinot Noir.  He never met Clone 23.  It is a dark red – no way you can see your thumb.  Whatever the case, Cambria’s Clone 23 is outstanding.  But wait, didn’t I know this before I arrived at their tasting room?  Well, not exactly.  You see, Doc Ed had the 2015 vintage.  We were tasting the 2016 vintage.  The 2016 vintage is a bit fruitier, maybe even darker.  Honestly cannot say which I like better.  Anyway, we bought bottles of Clone 4 and Clone 23 2016 vintages, and some Clone 23 2015 vintage for Doc Ed.  Oh, and some of our group tasted the whites – and loved them.
Wine club is a three-tiered system, requiring 12, 18, or 36 bottles per year in three shipments for 15%, 20%, or 25% discounts, respectively.  All memberships include free wine tasting for up to six people.  Members can customize their purchases.

​After our experience at Babcock, we headed up the road to Paso Robles and set up camp.  Well, not really set up camp.  I mean, it was a pretty nice air bnb we stayed in.  OK, so we didn’t rough it….  Anyway, the next morning we resumed seeking out more altars to Bacchus, more of the nectar of the gods.
Seeking clues to the native habits, our first stop was at a farmer’s market in the center of town.  It was raining a bit (just a drizzle, actually), but as were still in California it was enough to keep the natives indoors.  So we headed out to seek liquid sustenance.
Our second stop was at a place called Seven Oxen.  Much to our surprise, she was ready for us! How could she know we would be stopping there?  Someone had to have tipped her off.  Could it have been someone from the farmer’s market that we visited?  Not likely – we were the only ones there on that cold, rainy morning.  Perhaps someone from the first winery we visited?  No, they were too busy trying to sell us their mediocre wine.  No, it had to be someone from our group of intrepid explorers.  But who?

​And was she ever ready – not only did she have wine ready, but cheese and salads and flat bread pizzas (delivered from the distillery next door), individually to our order!  And there is was – right on the wine pairing menu.  A name – Frances.  It had to be one of group, Frances, aka, Charo, who had blown our cover – and, by the way, placed our lunch orders.  We were shocked!  OK, we weren’t really shocked – we had given her our orders -- but it makes for a good story, no?

​Seven Oxen is an Estate winery, but the winery itself is far removed from the vineyards, located in a commercial park.  The facility is nice, but lacks the nice outdoor seating and view of “country” wineries.

​As for their wines, the Grenache is quite nice – and this comes from someone who really doesn’t care for Grenache.  The others were good as well, and then there was the Tannat.  This was my first time tasting this particular varietal, and, well, I really, really liked it.  Bought some!

​They have two levels of wine club.  Level 1 requires purchase of 6 bottles every six months (12 bottles/year) at a 15% discount.  Level 2 is double that number of bottles at a 30% discount.  The discounts are good for other purchases from the winery, and for both levels wine tasting for two is complementary.

​We left Melville with the feeling that we needed more, but could we, dare we, go off the beaten path? Only a short deviation, perhaps, just across the way?  Yes, we would do it…
And there we were, standing in front of a large barn-like structure, an open doorway to another world.  Then we read the sign on the giant door – “Carpe Diem” – and we had to enter.  In front of us, on the far side of the room, was an altar to Bacchus.  Another altar sat far to our right.  We neither walked forward or turned right.  Rather, pulled by the allure of some strange music, we turned left into what could have easily been Pan’s Labyrinth.  And soon we found what was pulling us into this maze.  No, not Pan’s flute or the call of the Sirens, no, it was something far more powerful.  You see, they had taken those old records off the shelf!!!

​Reminiscing about those days of old, we wandered the maze.  Finally overcome by our great desire to again taste the nectar of the gods, we made our way to Bacchus’ altar on the far side of the room.  The nectar was there, and we tasted of it – Chardonnay, Grenache, and Pinot Noir, lots and lots of Pinot Noir.  We retreated to a comfortable nesting place not far from the altar, leaving only to refill our drinking vessels.

​But I was not satisfied.  I knew there had to be more, so I begged the priestess serving us for more.  More she had, poured from a black bottle, a dark red elixir, complex, fruity, with nice tannins, smooth as silk.  Cabernet Sauvignon was the name on the bottle.  I called over my fellow explorers, and they in turn tasted this wondrous liquor.  So good it was that we made an offering of plastic to the priestess, and she, in turn, gave us many bottles to help us along on our journey.
You may ask what god made these wondrous elixirs?  Well, his name was on the bottle:  Babcock.  Fortunately, Babcock is not stingy with his elixirs.  One can make offerings of gold, silver or plastic to obtain 2-6 bottles per quarter of a year, with savings of 20 or 25%.
Our thirst satiated, we left the wonders of Babcock, stopping only to take many, many pictures.  Then it was on to dinner and then northward, to explore other venues where we might find more of the wonderful nectar of the gods….

​Doc Ed did some scouting for us, hitting the wineries in the Santa Barbara area.  One of the wineries that he loved was Melville Winery, so we stopped there first on our way north.  As expected, it was well worth the visit.  Melville is located in Lompoc, on a main road going through the northern row of Lompoc wineries.  Very nice facility, with outside seating and a nice view – see pictures below.

​The tasting room is quite comfortable, but only had high chairs for seating – not my favorite set up.  Water available, but one had to buy munchies if so inclined.  Pictures of the inside follow.

​All of their wines are estate.  You can select tasting from one of two menus, a $15 dollar one and a $20 dollar one, though they don’t necessarily hold you to either one.  Menus are shown below.  I must admit to being a little perturbed by the winery.  You see, here they had some really great wines – in particular one super Pinot Noir – yet they served them at room temperature, which, while nice for the visitors was not particularly nice to the wines.  I just don’t understand why they didn’t serve them at the right temperature, especially their Pinot Noirs which really need to be served in the 55-60 F range.

​Now on to the most important thing, the wine.  Unlike many wineries, they pay particular attention to the clones, both of their Pinot Noir and their Syrah.  Attention to such details results in some pretty good wines.  For example, their Anna’s Pinot Noir is a mix of two clones – 667 and 114.  And it is fermented with the stems!  The result is a very, very good wine – which, not surprisingly, I am not the first to notice.  It was rated 96 by Wine Enthusiast!
But it wasn’t the highest rated.  That award goes to their Donna’s Syrah.  A mix of two clones – Estrella and 1 – it has a nice high black pepper, and was rated a 97 by Wine Enthusiast!  Bought some!!!  I really like the black pepper in wines, but to date only had Zinfandels with such high black pepper notes.  Also of note is their mixed clone Estate Pinot Noir – really good wine for the price.  Bought one of those as well.
The winery has three club levels – Premier Cru, Grand Cru, and Monopole – requiring purchase of 9, 18, and 36 bottles a year (in three sets), with 15, 20, and 25% discounts and 2, 4, and 8 free tastings per month.  Grand Cru membership limited to 600, Monopole limited to 200, so there is some exclusivity in joining the higher-level clubs.

​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.

I first found Winderlea Vineyard (winderlea.com) over ten years ago.  At that time I was searching for Oregon Pinot Noir to ship home to my Chicago cellar to contrast with my collection from California.  Right from the first tasting at Winderlea, I knew I had found my wine!  Since then, I have returned many times, and happily referred friends who were visiting the area. 
Compared to California Pinot Noir, grapes grown in Oregon produce wine that are similar to the French “burgundy” style.  Growing in a cooler, more northern location, Oregon wines will have less of a fruity nose and palate.  They will taste more earthy, and have a bit more acid to provide structure to balance the alcohol and tannins.  The end result is a lighter, more elegant wine that provides a pleasant alternative to the more fruity, bold and assertive California wines.

The wine club at Winderlea ranges from six to twelve bottles per shipment, which are released three times per year.  While they suggest the composition of each wine shipment, they permit substitution to customize the order.  Price discounts range from 15% to 20% depending on the level of club membership.

​Speckle Rock Vineyards are located on Highland Valley Road in Escondido.  They’ve done a great job on the tasting room and near exterior, with a great view on one side and some nice picnic grounds on the other side.  Now here’s the kick – it’s all temporary!  They have plans to replace this facility in a couple of years.  Some pictures below.

​Speckle Rock is one of the newer wineries in San Diego County, and, with 25 acres planted, one of the largest.  I’ve known about them since before they opened their tasting room a year-and-a-half ago but held up visiting while they got their act together.  And did they ever!  We planned on dropping in for a brief wine tasting and wound up spending an entire afternoon there, with absolutely no regrets.

​To begin with, this is a very innovative winery.  How so, you ask?  Well, most wineries first age the wine in active oak casks, then move them to neutral oak casks.  Speckle Rock does the initial aging of their red wines in concrete vessels – see picture below.  The concrete obviously does not add oak flavors to the wine, but what it does do is mellow out any acids while allowing oxidation similar to oak casks.  After six months in the concrete “eggs” the wine is moved to oak casks to complete the aging process.  As far as we could tell, this really works.

​Tasting is $15 for five pours, i.e., a taste of the five wines that they have available for tasting.  The three reds on the list shown below are superb. We managed to also get a taste of their just-bottled 2018 Pinot Noir and their 100% Tempranillo.  The Pinot Noir, made from grapes grown in Oregon, will be  maybe the best available at any winery in Southern California, so watch for its release.  The Tempranillo was, well, Tempranillo, and, well, I really, really don’t like Tempranillo…  As I learn of their releases I will report them in the Winery News section.

​Their wine club calls for the purchase of 6 bottles every four months so 18 bottles per year (my wife’s a Math teacher, so I have to get that right).  They are a little stingy on the discount at 10% and complementary wine tasting at only 6 per year, but do offer their wine club members wines that are not available to the general public.

Solena Vineyard (solenaestate.com) is a delightful destination in Willamette Valley.  Their grapes come from their 80 acre property, as well as multiple vineyards throughout Oregon and Washington.  They offer Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, and Cabernet Sauvignon.  Most of their Pinot Noir offerings are blends of popular clones such as Pommard, Wadenswil, and Coury, however it can be difficult to determine which clones are offered in the bottles. 
The welcoming and well-decorated tasting room is open daily from 11:00 to 5:00.   The Solena staff were friendly and very knowledgeable about their product.  I appreciated that they checked each new bottle before serving it.  Several groups of guests were present when I was there, and all seemed to get an appropriate level of attention.

​The wine club membership levels are either three or six bottles every quarter.  Membership brings a 15% to 20% discount, along with free tastings.  Because Solena owns Hyland Vineyard, membership at Hyland brought free tastings at Solena.
In addition to the main tasting room, Solena also had a separate room for tasting which included an impressive kitchen area.  I could picture bringing a group for wine and food pairings!  Also, according to Solena’s website, they have a cottage on the property which is available for convenient overnight accommodations.

​Correcaminos Vineyards is a boutique winery located in Ramona, not far from the center of town.  We arrived there late in the day, close to sunset, which worked out great – we had the opportunity to spend time with the owners.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get pictures of the view from their winery.  Suffice it to say it is pretty nice.
The wine tasting is done in a tent, seen below.  We sat at a fire pit table (with fire going – it was cold that afternoon), and they brought the wine to us.  The wine bottles for tasting are held in individual coolers (see picture below), so you can be sure that you’ll get wine served at the right temperature even in the summer -- and they give you munchies!

​Wine making is a complex process, and not everyone approaches it in the same way.  The standard for making red wines is to age them in oak barrels, the best being French.  Oak works well because it allows a small amount of air into the barrel to oxidize the tannins, adds oak tannins that improve the complexity of the wine, and, of course, gives the wine an oaky flavor.  The problem with oak barrels is that they are very expensive to purchase (upwards of $2,000 per) and are used only two or three times, adding significantly to the cost of the wine.  After two or three uses, the interior of the barrel becomes so inactive that it is said to be neutral, i.e., it adds neither oak taste or oak tannins to the wine.
Now suppose you don’t want to add oak flavors or tannins to your wine.  Well, you can age the wine in stainless steel, plastic, or even concrete.  Or you can age the wine in neutral oak barrels – after all, not all used barrels can be turned into tables.  As you can probably guess, this is exactly what they do at Correcaminos Vineyards.  And because the wine is aged in neutral oak barrels there is little chance of “over-oaking” the wine – they can leave it in the barrel until it is at its peak.
The wine tasting was the $10 for six tastes from the menu shown below.  One interesting byproduct of neutral oak barrels is that the cost of making red wine is not significantly higher than white wine.  Hence, Correcaminos charges the same for reds and whites -- $30 per bottle.

​The big surprise for me was that my favorite of their wines was their First Note, a white wine.  It is made from the Symphony grape, a variety developed by UC Davis for growing in hot climates, i.e., Southern California.  Of the reds their Spaghetti Strap best, by far, a wonderful Super T blend.  Bought a bottle (see picture).

​They have a wine club.  Members are expected to purchase 2-4 bottles of wine per quarter.  Discount is 20%, and wine club members get two free tastings (or glasses of wine) per visit.