Sunrise Vineyards

​We now return to reviews of the great wineries dotting the landscape of our beloved San Diego County.  Our latest local winery that we had the pleasure of visiting is Sunrise Vineyards, located on Highland Valley Road in the “between” land, not quite in Ramona but not quite in the Highland Hills region.  Very nice facility with great views, as seen below, and one really interesting wine.  But we’ll get to it towards the end of this blog.

Like many of the San Diego wineries, Sunrise Vineyards is a boutique winery.  The facility is the owners’ home patio, and they do all of the work.  Open only on weekends, of course.  Really nice places to visit, talk to the owners, and some, including Sunrise Vineyards, have food available.

​The downside is that Sunrise Vineyards, like almost all of the boutique wineries, grows Cabernet Sauvignon grapes even though Southern California is generally too hot for Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.  Ah, but there is a difference….
One of the unique features of the wine country here in San Diego County is the terrain.  It is really rough, with valleys, canyons, mesas facing in all directions.  In addition, we have a very dry climate, resulting in significant differences in temperature between areas in the shade and areas in the sun.  Even on a small parcel one can have multiple terroirs with essentially different climates.  Enter Sunrise Vineyards.  Their grapes are planted on the eastern side of a hill (a bit northern as well), so they do not face the hot afternoon sun.  Ergo, they’ve been able to beat the heat, so to speak, allowing them to grow decent Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.  Adding Sangiovese, a warm climate vine, to the mix does not hurt at all.
In addition to Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese grapes, they purchase grapes from their neighbors so offer other wines such as the white wine Grenache Blanc and Syrah.  In addition, they blend the Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese grapes to make a wine much like the Italian Super Tuscans, but, of course, cannot call their wine a Super Tuscan.  This makes perfect sense since they are certainly not located in Tuscany.  What we tasted was worth the visit, even the Cabernet Sauvignon.  They grow some of these vines at the bottom of their east-facing hill, a cooler area than where they grow the rest.  The grapes from these vines have turned out better, and they’ve used them to make a reserve wine.  Not sure when it will be released, but one that should be quite good.

Of course, boutique winery owners like to try new things – comes with the territory.  So, they decided to use some of their Cabernet Sauvignon grapes to make a rosé, the really interesting wine I mentioned earlier.  Wow!  Maybe the best rosé in all of Southern California!!!  If you are a rosé lover, you’ll not want to miss this wine!
By the way, they have gotten the message, or at least I think so.  As shown in the photo below, they keep their red wines for tasting in a cooler.  Hopefully they stay with this so you can taste their reds the way they should be tasted, between 55-60 F.

​They have a wine club.  Members purchase twelve bottles per year (four every four months, winemaker’s choice, no substitutions).  20% discount on all wines and one free glass of wine per month.  Of course, wine club members get first choice on new releases.  Hopefully they won’t buy up all of the Cabernet Sauvignon rosé!