It’s Wine Wednesday and what’s more perfect than to detail my recent trip to California and my Southern California Temecula Wine Tasting Tour? After spending days at Disney and LegoLand with my little fellas it was time Mommy had a little fun of my own (hello, wine time!) so we spent the final day of our Southern California trip sipping our way through the Temecula Valley Vineyards and Wineries.
First stop of the day brought us to Monte De Oro Winery and Vineyards. Monte De Oro was christened on November 5, 2009 and celebrated its public grand opening in January 2010. For the tasting I was able to purchase a standard tasting of six glasses for $12. Of the eleven wines available as part of the tasting I chose: (1) 2012 Unique Elements – Medium-bodied with flavors of overripe Bosch pears, Granny Smith apples, honeydew, tangerine and cantaloupe; (2) 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon – Black currant with nuances of bell pepper and violets; (3) 2010 Congruity – Fresh, snapped-off-the-tree blackberries, black and blue plums, blackberries, Dawson plums and ripe strawberries; (4) 2007 Syrah – Smoky and spicy bouquet on the nose, then leading to a dark, tart cherry, raspberry, chocolate-like taste; (5) 2010 Syrah with ripe blackberry, blueberry and plums with white pepper, mocha/toffee, red bell pepper, vanilla/caramel and toasty oak; and (6) 2007 Zinfandel of cherry, raspberry, red currants and plums complete with soft tannins and oak flavor.
Second stop on the GGG’s Southern California Temecula Wine Tasting tour was Callaway Vineyard and Winery, a picturesque estate with over 20 acres of grapes. Tastings at Callaway cost $10 for four glasses of wine. My choices for the tasting included: (1) Sparkling Winemaker’s Reserve Bella Blanc; (2) Sparkling 2010 Special Selection Bella Rose’; (3) 2009 Special Selection Dolcetto; and (4) 2008 Winemaker’s Reserve AKA Port which they paired with a small square of chocolate and encouraged me to sip-taste-sip.
My final stop on GGG’s Southern California Temecula Wine Tasting tour was Thornton Winery. Thornton Winery opened in 1988. The winery combines old world style with new world taste to create award-winning and premium varietal wines. I chose the Chocolate Wine Lovers tasting for $14 for five glasses of chocolate wines. The tasting included: (1) Milk Chocolate Kiss; (2) Kiss of Chocolate; (3) Caramel and Cherry Kiss; (4) Kiss of Strawberry and (5) Kiss of Mint.
To say it was an amazing day of wines would be a complete understatement. My only regret? Not spending even more time in Temecula. I was in awe of how beautiful the area was and found the vast selections of wineries and wines available in this area to be so impressive. I can’t wait to visit Temecula again.
I hope you enjoyed this special Wine Wednesday post and a sneak peek into GGG’s Southern California Temecula Wine Tasting experience. Cheers!
GGG paid for all tastings. Opinions are my own. This article was written by drink and food blogger Linda Arceo for Giggles, Gobbles and Gulps
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