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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




Fazeli Cellars

1/12/2019

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When we visit wineries we often meet people who have been visiting other wineries.  Sometimes they have good things to say and sometimes they have bad things to say – and, on rare occasions, they rant and rave about how great such-and-such winery is.  One winery that received such a recommendation was Fazeli Cellars.
Fazeli is a Temecula winery, sitting on a hill above de Portola (next to Robert Renzoni).  A little dirt road takes you up to their dirt parking lot, which sits below their absolutely magnificent facility.  You walk up winding steps to a great patio (see pictures).  Now, Fazeli is a Persian winery, with a Persian restaurant.  I don’t know how good the food is – we didn’t eat there – but it sure smells good!  So we followed the aroma of Persian food into their rather large tasting room.
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The tasting room is largely a bar-type affair.  The patio that we passed through to get to the tasting room was loaded with tables, and there is a second patio on the other side of the tasting room with tables as well.  Great views from both patios, of course.  I need to mention that the restaurant (Baba Joon) is integrated into the tasting room and patios.  If you’ve read my previous reviews, this is something I really like, being able drink your tasting samples while you eat.  Wine tasting is $20 weekends, $15 Monday through Friday – and they offer a 2 for 1 tasting with Priority Wine Pass.
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OK, so far so good.  But how about the wine?  I mean, yes, the Fazeli facility is exceptional (maybe the best in all of Temecula), and the food sure smelled good (and, according to the couple that ranted and raved about the winery, tastes as good as it smells), but if the wine wasn’t any good, well…  So we tasted six red wines.  Now sometimes a winery just doesn’t get the message that they exist to produce good wine, so all of the wines are, shall we say, not up to snuff.  Where they get the message, they seldom bat 1000.  Well, Fazeli bats 1000!  Six wines, and all ranged from pretty good to very good!  See the tasting menu below.
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So naturally we asked about the temperature that they serve the wines at.  Ours were a bit warm, so this was a concern.  Well, in the summer, they keep the tasting room at barrel temperature.  In the winter, they just don’t turn on the heat.  As we were visiting on a particularly warm winter day….
They have two wine clubs, Turquoise and Diamond.  Both entail purchase of 12 bottles a year, two every other month, but the Diamond members by the more expense wines.  Both get 20% discount on wine, 10% on restaurant, with 25% discount for Turquoise members on cases and 30% for Diamond members.  Free tasting for 8 per month for Turquoise, 12 for Diamond.  Diamond members also get two complementary tickets to winery events, including their masquerade ball.  Yes, they have a masquerade ball!
They also have a private patio and room for wine club members – their Ruby Lounge.  See picture below.  Oh, I failed to mention that they offer entertainment Saturdays and Sundays (starting at 1 pm).
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    Jim Treglio

    retired physicist and wine lover

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