Principe Di Tricase (revisited)

Last year I reviewed this small winery in Ramona, but did not have pictures to show.  I’ve just visited there again, and this time took pictures.  As you may remember, Principe di Tricase is one of the new wineries recently opened in the Ramona and Highland Valley regions of San Diego County.  Located on Highland Valley Road in Ramona, Principe di Tricase was started just a few years ago by an elderly Italian immigrant who came here from Naples with no wine making expertise at all. 
This is a family-run winery lacking in any frills.  The facility has been expanded to add a substantial number of tables, but as you can see in the pictures below no two seem to be alike.  Very much a farm...

Wine tasting is not done by menu, but they have added a wine list for sale (see wine list below).  The foci of their wine making are the ancient wines of Rome and southern Italy, using aglianico, nebbiolo and aleatico grapes, but they have since added a number of other wines.  Now, some of their wines they make without added sulfites (designated NS on the wine list). Some of these wines don’t survive, i.e., they turn to vinegar, so, naturally, they bottle the vinegar – also on the wine list.

Wine tasting is $10, but free if you buy a bottle of wine.  You still sit comfortably outside of the very small barrel room, or inside during the summer heat, and they bring the wine to you, describing the wine’s history and attributes.  Because the wine is kept in the barrel room, the reds are somewhat chilled, much like at Orfila.   We did get a say in the choice of wines to be tasted, not like our previous visits.  Music is often a part of the experience, provided by a family member playing guitar and singing Italian folk tunes.  Like many of the Ramona wineries, wine tasting times are limited.  They are open Thursday through Sunday from noon until sunset, though you have to call in advance for Thursday.  Also, they are not open to the public the third Sunday of the month – that’s reserved for their wine club party.  In addition to tasting their wines, we tasted their Sangria – very chilled, of course.  It is very, very good.  Bottles need labels though (see picture).

While many of the small wineries do not have a wine club, Principe di Tricase does.  You can join one of three levels.  On the lowest level, you pay $35 per month for a bottle of wine, with a 10% discount on any other wine you buy and four tickets to their harvest party.  Next level is $64 per month for two bottles, 15% wine discount, and four tickets.  High end is three bottles at $87 per month, 20% wine discount and twelve tickets.   Additional 5% off if you buy 12 bottles of wine.  At every level you get two wine tastings per month when you come to pick up your wine, and invitations to members-only events.  While this may not seem like a great deal, they have a lot of members-only events, including monthly wine-pickup pot luck and pizza parties.  Their harvest party is a full day affair.  It begins with breakfast at 8, then to the fields to pick grapes, followed by an Italian lunch, then the start of making wine from the grapes.