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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.
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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




Ponte Winery

12/7/2017

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Ponte Winery is one of the least known wineries in Temecula.  Why, I doubt there are no more than five million people who know about them!  You can even find a parking spot on weekends if you are patient!
Located just past the Anza Rd. circle on Ranch California Blvd., Ponte is a full-service operation – by full service, I mean winery, restaurant, hotel, and lounge (only one in the Temecula wine country).  Actually, they have two restaurants – one in the winery, and one in the hotel – and both are exceptional.  Their restaurants may draw as many people as their wines -- at least it seems that way when you are waiting for a table.  The restaurant in the winery is an outdoor affair, as seen in the picture below.
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​Their main wine tasting room is a separate building, as seen in two pictures below.  One has to be a little more careful tasting their red wines, as the tasting room is kept at a much higher temperature than Orfila’s.  On weekends, they open up the “Reserve Room” for wine club members and their guests.  Unlike the main tasting room, it has tables inside the tasting room, as well as tables on a covered veranda with fans outside the room, tables in a patio behind the veranda and a great view of the vineyards and hills beyond.
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​Ponte wine club members must agree to purchase 16 bottles of wine a year, four bottles more than most other wineries.  The discount on wine for club members is 20%, with a 10% discount on everything else.  Well, not hotel rooms.  No, no 10% discount on the hotel rooms – no, the hotel room discount is 20%!  More about the hotel later.
The Ponte wine club is not a monthly affair.  Rather, two or three wines are selected as “wine club specials” eight times a year, i.e., they skip four months.  If you don’t want one or both bottles, you can substitute another wine off of their wine substitution list.  If you opt for red wines only, you get two bottles of the red wine special for that month.  As you can tell in the wine tasting list below, their prices are a bit higher than Orfila’s.  They have many of the same varietal wines, but more blends.  Note that they do not provide as much information about the wines on the tasting menu as Orfila, such as alcohol content, origin of the grapes, and composition.
Wine club members are limited to two free tasting sets, 6 tastes per set, per visit, but can bring up to eight friends who get a 50% discount on the $20 tasting price.  The restaurant caters to wine club members – you get priority seating and a special appetizer (and the 10% discount).  The regular wine club purchases come with a little write up on winery activities and a couple of recipes.  They usually include a little gift in the December offering.  The only live music at the winery comes on the first Sunday when they release the wine specials for the month.
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​Now, back to the hotel.  We have stayed there, and I can say that it was really quite nice.  The hotel sits between the Ponte Winery and the South Coast Winery, and the Weir winery is just on the other side of Ponte, so you are walking distance to three wineries.  The hotel restaurant has both inside and outside seating, and is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Because they draw mostly a weekend crowd they require two nights stay if one night is a Saturday night.  They are adding a pool and expanding the hotel.  Probably the best thing about the hotel is check-in.  Instead of checking in standing up at a registration desk you check in seated on a lounge chair with a complementary glass of wine.  Nice.
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    Jim Treglio

    retired physicist and wine lover

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