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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've extended my reach to another website!  www.winesmarties.com/blog has just published a blog I wrote about the rare wine varietals found in Southern Califonia wineries.  Great writing by a great author!  And yes, I did sprain my shoulder patting myself on the back...
  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




Family Winemakers of California

3/20/2019

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Rather than visiting a crowded Irish pub and getting smashed on green beer, this St. Patrick’s Day we went to the Del Mar Fairgrounds to a crowded wine tasting event (see picture below), getting smashed on wine.  The wine tasting event was put on by the Family Winemakers of California and entailed some 60 wineries from all over California.  It is worth noting that this included only one winery from Temecula and one from San Diego county, the latter an urban winery at that.
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Once inside, tasting was free and they had some free food as well – bread and cheese as well as some munchies at the booths.  Let me add that our Priority Wine Pass got us 10% discount off of the normal $60 entrance fee.  Anyway, we made sure that we got our money’s worth, but try as hard as we could we only managed to visit about half the booths in the three hours of the show.  Needless to say, we depended on Uber to get us to and from the Fairgrounds.
So, you ask, how were the wines, or, more specifically, how did they compare to wines made in our part of the state?  For starters only about a third of the wineries whose tables we visited offered wines that I would consider good enough to write a review about.  In comparison, I’ve reviewed about two-thirds of the wineries I’ve visited in Southern California.  In terms of specific wine varietals (keeping in mind that we focused almost exclusively on red wines), only one was significantly better than we’ve found in Southern California, namely Pinot Noir.  This was not a surprise – for the most part, we don’t have the climate for that particular grape, though I have had a pretty good Pinot made from grapes grown in Fallbrook.  I’ve made a little table comparing different wine varietals from the show versus my visits to wineries I’ve reviewed in Southern California.  It shows that the Southern California wineries are competitive with the rest of the state, and superior for some wine varietals.  Note, however, that we did not see any Nebbiolo, Montepulciano, Refosco, Lagrein, Nero D'Avola, Aglianico, Aleatico or Negroamaro at the show.
Wine Varietal
So Cal vs Family Winemakers
Pinot Noir
Family Winemakers -- by a lot
Cabernet Sauvignon
not enough samples
Cabernet Franc
About equal
Zinfandel
Southern California
Sangiovese
Southern California -- much better
Barbera
Family Winemakers
Syrah
Southern California
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    Jim Treglio

    retired physicist and wine lover

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