So. Cal. Winery Review
  • Home
  • About
  • Wineries
  • Gadgets
  • Tasting Menus
  • WINERY NEWS
  • Home
  • About
  • Wineries
  • Gadgets
  • Tasting Menus
  • WINERY NEWS
• WINE wine Wine wINE•

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WINERY REVIEW

Picture
Introduction
​
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....

Picture
Picture
 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 got another gadget for Father's Day.  See it in the GADGETS section.
  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




Lorimar

2/11/2018

0 Comments

 
I received a lot of great winery recommendations from a posting on Nextdoor Scripps Ranch Fairbrook Estates.  Lorimar was one – thanks, Ken.
Located on Anza north of Rancho California in Temecula, Lorimar is just a great winery to visit.  If you haven’t guessed by reading my first three blogs, I consider Orfila, Ponte, and Robert Renzoni representatives of the best of the Southern California wineries to join.  Lorimar is right up there with those three.  To start with, they have a great facility, as shown in the photos below.  They have two unique features as well.  The first is a small art gallery (not shown).  They also have two stages, one in the back by their “restaurant”, just outside the tasting room, and the other in a field below where they most likely hold special events.  Needless to say, they have live entertainment on weekends.

Picture
Picture
Picture
You may note that I have placed quotation marks about their restaurant.  If you look closely in the photo below, you can see a food truck behind the “restaurant” counter.  I’m not sure why they use a truck, but we had lunch there and the food was great.
Picture
The wine tasting rooms are pretty nice (see below), and sell a lot of other things, very similar to Orfila in that they sell food items to snack on while tasting their wine in case you don’t want to get something from their “restaurant”.
Picture
Picture
As you can see from the menus below, they offer a wide variety of wines, with a standard six tastings for $17 weekdays and $29 weekends.  On the down side, they serve their red wines at tasting room temperature, which, like Avensole, was not really cool enough to get a really good feel for their wines.  We visited this winery with our wine expert, and one of the first things he did was ask to see one of their corks.  Apparently, he has learned that good wineries use high quality corks.  Didn’t see that coming.  Yes, they use high quality corks – and they have water available in their tasting room.  One other thing – they have a second tasting room in Old Town Temecula.
Like Avensole, they have three wine club options – red and white, all red, and premium wines.  Unlike Avensole, no matter what club you belong to the 25% discount extends to all of their wines (very nice), you get two free tastings per day at either site (not both in the same day), 10% off of everything else, special wine club events, and 25% off tastings for guests.  Definitely worth a visit!
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Jim Treglio

    retired physicist and wine lover

    Archives

    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.