Oak Mountain Winery

The Cave.  Long and dark (actually, pretty well lit).  Deep beneath the earth (really!).  Barrels of some strange liquid (wine) covered with graffiti (names of Cave Club members) line the walls.  Small areas with chairs and tables.  At either end dark rooms with large tables – perhaps meeting places where people commune with spirits?  Or drink them?  This is The Cave in Oak Mountain (Winery)…  Only one way out – through a spirit-lined tunnel.  Yes, lining the walls are spirits, in bottles with markings, looking like the words Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Sirah…  Looks like we have to drink our way out!  Well, we really don’t have to drink our way out, but, while we’re here, might as well taste some of the spirits – and maybe have lunch out on the patio.
Located just off de Portola in Temecula, Oak Mountain Winery is a unique operation whose claim to fame is – you guessed it! – a cave.  The cave is their barrel room and the tasting room (reserved for wine club members on weekends).  Pictures of The Cave follow.

As you taste your wines, you can enjoy a nice meal, sitting on their outdoor patio with a nice view of the surrounding hills.  The Cave Café is a table-service affair sitting just outside the door to The Cave tasting room so you can enjoy your wine tastings with your meal.  Oh, and they have senior special entrees at $10 each Monday through Friday.  The view from a table is shown below.

The tasting room is quite large with bars on both sides and bottles along the walls.  Unlike many other Temecula wineries, the tasting room has little in the way of merchandise for sale.  Beyond the main room is another room with tables, presumably for those who don’t want to stand at the bar or go outside for tasting.  Oh, and there are small tables stuffed in between the barrels in the barrel storage area of The Cave and rooms with large tables on either end.  All of these are shown in the pictures below.

The photo below is of the red wine page of the tasting menu.  They also offer sweet and white wines, each on a similar page.  Wine tasting is very reasonable -- $12 per person for six tastes of any wines on the menu.
They have multiple wine club levels:
·       Bronze – two bottles every other month, one red, one white, no substitutions, at a 20% discount, 15% on all other wine purchases, 10% on other purchases, and 8 tastings per month.
·       Gold – four bottles per quarter, can choose red/white ratio.  Other terms same as Bronze
·       Platinum – six bottles per quarter, can choose red/white ratio, at 30% discount.  Other terms same as Bronze.
·       Cave Club – three year deal for $4,000, one case per year, and lots of other benefits, including access to the tables in the barrel room and a plaque on a wine barrel.