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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 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.
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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




The Guadalupe Valley -- First Visit

7/31/2021

1 Comment

 
​Our expedition began north of the San Diego River basin, forty intrepid explorers and our trusted guide Ignacio.  This would be a perilous journey, but we were buoyed by the lure of the riches to be found in the legendary Guadalupe Valley.  But it would not be an easy journey.  We would have to pass the wall of broken promises, traverse a narrow trail along the edge of the Pacific Ocean, and come uncomfortably close to the dreaded House of the Devil.  OK, so much for the theatrics.
Baja California is the leading wine producing region of Mexico, with around 150 wineries and representing about 75% of the country’s wine output.  It should be noted that a great deal of the grapes grown in the other areas of Mexico are used to make Port, meaning Baja produces most of the dry wines made in the Mexico.  About 90% of their production is sold in Mexico.
The Guadalupe Valley is the northern-most wine growing region in Baja, sitting just east of the port city of Ensenada.  It has seen great growth in the past ten years or so.  I speculate that this growth is due in part to its proximity to Ensenada and the cruise ship industry.  The wineries are close enough to the city for wine tasting excursions.
So now back to our expedition.  Wine tasting was not the focus of our journey, so we only visited two wineries.  While the area is rife with boutique wineries, our party was too large for them to accommodate us.  It turned out to be a case of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.  I already mentioned the Ugly – La Casa del Diablo.  Located on the coast road about half way between Tiajuana and Ensenada, this monstrosity shown below is up for sale.  I’m sure you’ll want to put a bid in right away.
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The Good was a winery called Viñedos de la Reina.  The winery is only a few years old, with about 12 acres planted in the Guadalupe Valley.  However, they have another hundred or so acres to the south in the San Vincente Valley.  All of the wines we tasted came from grapes grown in that region.
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The first wine they served was a Chardonnay in the Chablis vein, that is to say, unoaked and without that buttery taste we associate with Chardonnay.  The buttery taste, by the way, is attributed a process known as malolactic fermentation.  The normal acid formed in grapes is malic acid, also found in apples, with a pH around 3.3.  Certain bacteria will convert this malic acid to lactic acid, the type found in milk products (such as – you guessed it – butter).  From what I have read this always happens with red wines, suggesting that the bacteria reside on the grape skins.  With white wines, where the juice is separated from the skins before fermentation, it only occurs when the winemaker wants.  Top picture is two perfect strangers with glasses of the Chardonnay.  Yes, perfect strangers -- never seen them before....
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ToJust that one white wine, then on to the good, i.e., their red wines.  First red we tasted was their Sangiovese, a very nice wine followed up by a quite nice Malbec.  Then the star of the show appeared in our glasses – Nebbiolo.  Well, it was the star of the wine tasting.  So here’s what happened:
Before the wine tasting we were taken on a tour of their very new facility.  Along the way our guide (and resident Sommelier) Alejandro Acevedo discussed the San Vicente Valley and, of course, the grapes that they grow there – the varieties that we would later taste, as well as Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo (ugh!), and Tanat.  After the wine tasting we had dinner at the winery, so naturally we ordered a bottle of Tempranillo… just kidding!  No, we did not order Tempranillo.  We ordered Tanat, and it was really, really good, and then it was gone so we got another bottle….
First picture below is of the tasting patio, followed by a picture of the dining area.
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Bottom line, they had some very good red wines, good enough to haul a half of a case back across the border.  The picture below is of their Sommelier carefully picking out the wines that he thought we would like.  Four of these are shown in the next picture.
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1 Comment
James R Treglio
8/6/2021 04:11:22 pm

Just finished a bottle of their Cabernet Sauvignon. Very good, though I like their Nebbiolo and Tanat better.

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    Jim Treglio

    retired physicist and wine lover

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