So. Cal. Winery Review
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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




Kohill Winery

1/6/2019

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I mentioned some time ago that if you find a wine that you like in one of the Southern California wineries, buy it – it might not be there next time you visit.  Now I’ve been able to taste wines that are not yet ready for release, sometimes right out of the barrel.  Which leads to this corollary:  if you taste a wine that is not ready for release, keep close track of the winery – if it is good enough for you to want to buy it, it will sell out very quickly.  For example, Espinosa released it’s 2016 Zinfandel early – it sold out in three weeks!
Which makes for a good lead-in for our next winery review, Kohill Winery in Ramona (picture below).  Kohill is a boutique winery off Highland Valley Road not far from rte. 67, up a long winding road.  This was my second trip there.  My first was early in the summer, at which time I tasted a very unique wine made from the rare Italian grape Refosco.  It was not ready for release, so I figured I would wait until it was ready before re-visiting the winery.  Well, guess what?  All sold out.  I’m 0 for 2.
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Kohill is a great example of the adventurous spirit of Ramona boutique wineries.  In addition to Refosco, the owner and winemaker, Mike, has also planted Pinot Noir grapes.  Pinot Noir should not grow well in Ramona, but he has an area on his property that might just defy the norm, and he has the will to try.
Their tasting room is small and is also the barrel room, though when I first visited the barrels were in a back room and boxes in what is now the barrel room (see pictures).  They have added a small table and chairs inside – which helped considerably given how cold and rainy it was yesterday.
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As you can see in the tasting menu below, they don’t make a lot of different varietals.  Tasting price is $11 per person.  Last summer it was a cash-only business, but now they take credit cards.  No wine club.
One unusual aspect of their wines is a heavy oak odor and taste.  They age their wines in oak casks much longer than normal.  We also tasted their next batch of Refosco out of the barrel, and it is going to be incredible!  Which lead us back to the corollary…  Oh, and look out for the release of their Pinot Noir as well.
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    Jim Treglio

    retired physicist and wine lover

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