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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




Three years of wine tasting....

12/1/2020

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​I started this blog about three years ago.  My wife and I both retired on the 30th of June of 2017 and were spending more and more time visiting wineries along with our son’s father-in-law, Doc Ed (yes, we are the In-Laws).  Doc Ed had been searching out wineries in our area long before our children met, so we depended on his lead.  He expressed his frustration at not having a reliable winery guide, a site to help us decide which of the many wineries were worth looking into.  Having a lot of time on my hands, and having some experience writing blogs and websites, I decided to take up the challenge and create my own website where I would post reviews of wineries we visited and liked.  Yes, it’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.  Those wines out there can’t taste themselves, can they?
Along the way I’ve learned how little I actually knew about wine.  I now know enough to ask intelligent questions, and hope someday to be able to understand the answers.  Anyway, here are some on the winery situation in Southern California – and what the future may bring:
Wineries Visited:  Over the course of the three years of this blog I’ve visited over 80 wineries.  That’s not 80 visits to wineries – that’s visits to 80 different wineries.  The list includes 9 in Napa, 6 in the Central Coast, two in New York State, and one in Italy.  The rest have all been in Southern California, which gives you some idea of how many wineries we have in our area.  I suspect my standards for what constitutes a good winery have become tougher.  Which leads to…
San Diego County Wines:  At the time I began this website I was not aware of the 2010 San Diego County ordinance that allowed wineries to open tasting rooms in the unincorporated areas of the county.  Hence, I did not realize that many of the wineries I was visiting were more or less start-ups, with relatively young vines.  Not sure if it would have made much of a difference, as I really did not understand the effect of vine age on the quality of the grapes (generally, best grapes come from vines that are over ten years old).  Anyway, I am happy to report that while my tastes have become more refined the county wineries have kept pace.  Indeed, the wines are getting better, especially in the Ramona area.
Some of this improvement can be attributed to the age of the vines.  I suspect that the wine makers have played no small part as well.  Weather may be a factor (for better or worse).  In any event, things are looking good for the future if the wine makers adapt to global warming…
New Grape Varieties:  Global warming is having an effect on the world wine industry.  Best example is coming out of France.  Until recently, only six grape varieties could be grown in the Bordeaux region of France.  Higher temperatures are having a bad effect on the Merlot crop, a potentially severe economic blow to the region.  Accordingly, a replacement for Merlot is being sought.  Ergo, Bordeaux is allowing growers to experiment with another seven varieties.
The import of this for our region is quite clear – wineries need to consider more heat resistant varieties.  And they are doing so – local wineries are growing grapes that UC Davis has determined best for this purpose, including Albarino, Aglianico, Montipulciano, Negroamaro, Tannat, Tempranillo (ugh!), Nero D’Avola, Touriga Nacional and Teroldego.  The wines produced from these grapes are among the best in Southern California, even though they are often from the youngest vines.  As the number of wineries turning to these grapes grows, we may become known for these wines, much as Napa is for their Bordeaux varieties.  Assuming growers greatly limit the amount of Tempranillo they grow, the future looks bright…
Geography:  Most of the wine growing regions of California, including Temecula, have wineries concentrated in areas that allow for “wine trails”.  As the present time, there really are no such concentrations in San Diego County, but we are seeing the potential on either side of Ramona.  The “near” trail that seems to be forming actually begins with a small number of wineries in Escondido near the intersection of Bandy Canyon Road and Highland Valley Road.  At the other end of Highland Valley Road, just outside Ramona, is another batch of wineries.  The gap between them is around 4 miles of winding road.  If a few more wineries were to open in that gap we would have a real wine trail.
The second area I will call the “Old Julian wine trail”.  It begins on the Julian side of Ramona by Third Street.  A few wineries are located past Ramona along 67, while another cluster starts where Old Julian Highway intersects Third Street.  New wineries are opening at the far end on the Old Julian side, and if a few new ones come in on the 67 outskirts one could have a complete route going from 67 to 78 to Old Julian Highway to Third Street back to 67.
Of course, other wine trails may be evolving in Fallbrook, Warner Springs, and along the 91 corridor.  The numbers in these regions are still small, but there is a lot of land available, and…
Water:  The high summer temperatures and drought are seriously hurting the multi-billion-dollar agricultural business in Southern California.  Of particular concern are two of the main product areas – citrus and avocados.  Both require far more water than grape vines.  Right now, there are around 25,000 acres planted with citrus and avocado.  If even a small fraction of citrus and avocado farmers switches over to growing grapes for wine I will be very, very busy….
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    Jim Treglio

    retired physicist and wine lover

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