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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




New York State

9/18/2018

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The oldest winery in the United States is located in upstate New York.  It is also the very first winery I ever visited – back in the 70’s.  My son lives not far from the winery, so he took us there as an anniversary present, and it gives me an opportunity to do a little national comparison.
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Brotherhood Winery was founded in 1839.  It produced wine for churches, so did not have to close down during Prohibition.  The first thing I noticed on driving into their grounds is the lack of grape vines.  Turns out they grow their grapes much farther north, in the Finger Lakes region of New York.  You can see their facility in the pictures below.
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New York state is substantially wetter and colder than Southern California, so they don’t grow the same grapes.  The winery specializes in German whites, sweet, sparkling, and fruit wines (see rating page below).  Well, at least that’s what they grow and bottle.  They also import wines from Chile and even California to allow them to offer a very wide variety of wines
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Their tasting is a bit unique, completely different from anywhere else.  We tasted in a group from the menu shown below.  As you can see, there are three lists. For each tasting you had your choice of one of the three wines nicely explained by the server.  At the end, everyone tasted their Riesling.  Six tastings per person.  By the way, the Pinot Noir was their product, grapes grown in New York state.  Dreadful.  The Riesling was great, though.  Oh, and please note that, as shown in the last picture, they keep all of their wines in a cooler for tasting….
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We also stopped at a winery/distillery/hard cider mill not far from Brotherhood, the Warwick Valley Winery, Distillery & Café.  The grapes again were grown in the Finger Lakes region, but the cider came from locally grown apples.  Nice facility, as shown below.
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For the tasting, you marked a menu, as shown below.  Some interesting wines, including a red made from Baco Noir, some sort of French-American hybrid.  I'm going to add that to my list of reds.   Note the prices.  Bottom line:  you get what  you pay for....
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    Jim Treglio

    retired physicist and wine lover

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