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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




Frangipani Estate Winery

3/30/2019

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I really don’t like to do my wine tasting standing at a bar, and really, really wonder why so many people make it a point to do so when they can readily find a nice place to sit and enjoy the wine in their glass.  So, I am happy to introduce you to Frangipani Estate Winery in Temecula.  Located on the dePortola wine trail next door to Cougar, you do not stand at the bar for your wine tasting.  You sit at a table inside or outside and in the Ramona boutique winery manner they bring the wine to you.  As you can see in the pictures that follow, it is a great place to sit outside and sip a nice glass of wine.
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The wine tasting room is rather large, but, as you can see the pictures that follow, does not have any real bar.  In other words, even if you wanted to stand at the bar and taste their wines you couldn’t do it.  Me like.
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Below is the tasting menu.  Tasting is $15 for six wines.  We tried six of their reds, and, well, sometimes you just have to eat crow.  The server talked me into tasting their Merlot.  It’s not that I dislike Merlot – I mean, it isn’t Tempranillo – but it is always somewhat uninteresting.  OK, very uninteresting.  But this Merlot was not uninteresting.  How much so?  Well, we went home with a bottle….  Also left with bottles of their Petit Sirah and Syrah.  In other words, this is a winery worth visiting but with an understanding that you may find it very difficult to leave empty-handed....
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They have two levels of wine club.  The lowest level requires you to purchase three bottles of wine per quarter, selected by the winemaker at a 15% discount.  You get free tasting for four twice a month.  The high level requires four bottles per quarter, but you can choose all red or mixed.  All red gets you two bottles each of the wines selected by the winemaker.  If you go with mixed, you get one bottle of each of the reds for that quarter plus two bottles of the white wine.  Discount is 20%, and you get four tastings four times per month.
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    Jim Treglio

    retired physicist and wine lover

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