Altisima Winery

​We recently blogged about the wines in Arizona, and in particular wines made from the Spanish grape Graciano.  I mention this because the newest winery in Temecula is a Spanish winery.  Spain is one of the big three wine producing nations in the world – right alongside France and Italy – and its warmer climate should mean that Spanish grape varieties will do well in Southern California.
The problem is that there aren’t a whole lot of Spanish grape varieties.  The Spanish grape Tempranillo is by far their most planted variety, and they also grow a lot of Garnacha – also a Spanish variety, better known by its French name Grenache.  Now, if you are at all familiar with this website you will know that I am not a great fan of Tempranillo, and, truth be told, don’t hold a particularly high opinion of Garnacha.  I do like some Spanish grape varieties – the forementioned red grape Graciano and the white grape Albarino, neither of which were offered at this winery the day we visited there.  Hence, it proved a bit of a challenge to evaluate a winery which features Tempranillo and Garnacha.
Altisima Winery is the name of the winery, and it is located on De Portola in the heart of that wine trail.  We dropped in on them on a Monday afternoon, so were quite surprised to find the parking lot filled.  Then things got a bit eerie (not really), as there was not a soul in the wine tasting room or the indoor seating area behind it.  See pictures below.

​Turns out everyone was hiding – ok, that’s a lie – they weren’t hiding at all, just sitting outside on a rather extensive and well-arranged patio area where they could enjoy the great view, as shown in the following pictures.  I pretty good crowd for a Monday.  Those seat with the straps are really comfortable, by the way.

​ting was expensive -- $30 for five tastes from the menus shown after this paragraph.  You will note that Tempranillo is not on the menu.  Not to worry – most of their vines are Tempranillo, and you can bet they’ll pull some out if you ask.  I had no interest in asking….

​Of the wines we tasted, two blends stood out:  La Reina, a Sangiovese blend, and Lucido, a Cabernet Sauvignon blend.  OK, nothing Spanish about either, but they are both pretty nice.  Water was readily available in the tasting room, something I think is very necessary.  On the down side, they had the red wines sitting out without any means to keep them cool.  It was not very hot the day we visited, so hopefully they will correct this problem before the summer temperatures reach into the 90’s.
Altisima has a restaurant, and if the cheese platter we had is any indication, a pretty good one.  It is set up so you can take your wine from the wine tasting room to your table.  In keeping with the Spanish theme, they serve tapas and other Spanish dishes (no paella, though) – and four – yes, four – Sangrias.  We tasted one – well, my wife had one and I tasted it – and I have to say it was really, really good.
They have three very different wine clubs.  There is the “normal” one (Imperial) – 3 bottles per quarter with a 20% discount, 8 free tastings (or glasses) a month, and 10% discounts on restaurant, etc.  Then there is the outsider wine club, i.e., for people who live outside the region and are not likely to visit the winery.  Same discounts but with a flat $10 shipping fee.  This is their Travelers Club.  Both clubs allow you to customize your quarterly releases.
Then there is the Onxy Club:  a flat $500 per quarter payment.  The money can be applied to wine purchases (at a 20% discount), restaurant costs (10% discount), and merchandise (20% discount).  Includes 12 free tastings/glasses per month.  Also includes access to their VIP 56 Degree Room (by reservation) and a number of other bennies.