Touring wine country always brings about a tranquil serenity to my mind. Theres something timeless and romantic about the quiet beauty of the slow aging fields of grapevines. As you sit overlooking the country fields sipping wine, you feel like an ageless witness of unity with the sprawling environment that was captured directly into the glass before you.
Several of us Bloggers were treated to a weekend by Temecula Valley Southern California Wine Country Bureau for a tour of its wonderful city and hospitality. I live in Los Angeles and I love any wine country. I didn’t know that in Temecula, a little more than an hour and half away, one could escape the crazy big city traffic to the peaceful relaxing ease of wine country. Temecula is a wonderful easy getaway to enjoy tranquility, but still have the fine class of wine, entertainment, food and fun.
When we arrived at our lodgings in a CA party bus at Temecula Creek Inn, we were greeted by the warm folks of the Temecula Valley Southern California Wine Country Bureau. Everyone in Temecula was super friendly to us. Temecula Creek Inn features 27-Holes of Championship Golf and was awarded a Four-Star rating from Golf Digest. What a great place to stay!
We met our Van/Limo Driver for the day Rick Barry who runs the wine tour company, A Vineyard Tour of Temecula. Rick with his trademark Texas cowboy hat, became who I termed our “winery wrangler” and he kept us entertained and engaged throughout the tour. Rick was like having an old friend on the trip with us. He knew the history of Temecula and brought us up to speed on the wineries and developments taking place.
Rick took extra special care of us, introducing us to winery owners, helping get us private viewings to their VIP rooms and even scoring us some wine to take home. During the trip he twice designed beautiful cheese and meat plates, to have with our wine and keep us well fed during the journey. He was a ton of fun and I gave his company a top recommendation on Yelp. I sincerely believe that they could not have hired a more charismatic attentive “dude” to tour us. If you wine tour Temecula you must hire him. You’ll thank me. Give him a call at 951-760- 9336.
Over the years I’ve toured wine countries and its usually the same old setup. The Winery with a little visitors center and fields of Vines. Temecula Wineries have gone all out on making wineries a great place for hosting weddings, events, festivals and private suites for resort like overnights. The properties are expansive to accomodate lots of people to showcase the property and wine. Everywhere we went there were men and well dressed women out for a Sunday wine tasting mingling. If you’re single and want to meet someone who likes wine and class, Temecula Wine Country is the place. As it turns out many people we overheard flew or came into Temecula to get away for the weekend.
We visited four wineries starting with Wiens Family Cellars. Rick hooked us up after our friendly wine tasting with one of the managers who showed off 2 private rooms for VIP’s. I’d highly recommend Wiens wines. The wines and property was amazing. It had a perfect area for weddings with an incredible view of one of the valleys around it.
Next up was South Coast Winery with a beautiful giant property for all sort of events, wedding and on-site suites for rooming on the property. Their walls were covered with wine awards.
Then we went to Wilson Creek Winery and tried some incredible wines. One of the wines they shared was bottle of the best Malbec I’ve ever had. They are also known for their Almond and Citrus styled Champagnes. They had an incredible property to tour around and enjoy a relaxing meal.
Leonesse Cellars Winery was our last stop and where I captured the incredible picture at the top of this page. Everywhere we went the beauty and expanse of Temecula surrounded us, shared with the wonderful atmospheres of flowing wine.
After that we were shuttled back to our accommodations at the large resort of Temecula Creek Inn.
For dinner we dined at Temecula Creek Inn’s own restaurant where the Head Chef had made special arrangements to meet with us and prepare our meal. Weekly he hosts a special wine pairing dinner complete with a demonstration and recipe menu of each of the 4 courses along with 4 wines. Leonesse Cellars Winery had a host to share with us which wine they would be pairing to compliment each coming course. Each of the main cooks came out to show us how each course was prepared. Interacting with the fun and knowledgeable cooks was entertaining. I dont think I’ve ever had so much anticipation for a meal you saw just be prepared before you.
After dinner we retired to the beautiful rooms overlooking the Temecula Creek Inn golf course. The accommodations were great. The mattress was so comfy I wanted to take it home. I meant to find out the brand and model but spaced it. The next morning I awoke to a misty dew filled patio view of the golf course. It was breathtakingly serene.
For Breakfast we went over to the restaurant again and had a wonderful meal beside their big windows, watching the morning golfers come out to play. Then off I went to tour Old Town Temecula.
Old Town Temecula is a ton of fun and you could spend a day taking in the sights and cool little shops in an old style format. All in all, visit Temecula, you’ll love it. I did! A quick drive out of town in L.A. or San Diego. The wine tastings are a fun thing to do for a weekend. Come out and impress your partner or find that special someone who loves wine. Need that romantic sweetheart getaway: Temecula. Imagine having your wedding or honeymoon stay on a Winery property. If you love golf, hospitality, wine and pampering visit Temecula Creek Inn. Each of the wineries have event calendars and check out the exciting things coming up in Temecula. Hopefully I’ll see you there soon.
Many Thanks to the gracious hospitality of:
Temecula Valley Southern California Wine Country’s Website is: Click Here.
Their Facebook Fan Page is: Click Here.
Twitter is @visit_temecula.
Temecula Creek Inn’s Website is: Click Here.
Rick Barry our driver, check out his website at: Click Here.
Give some Facebook Like love to: Click Here.
weddings, resort, stay on site, festivals and events.
The email I got about this post had a broken link. Glad I was able to find it still here manually. Thanks for the report, Chris.