Yesterday HB and I went wine tasting in Temecula. Growing up smack dab between Paso Robles and Napa makes me a wine snob, and while Temecula doesn't have the same reputation for producing amazing grapes, we figured it would be fun.
Our first stop was Hart Winery. Hart's bar was extremely small. There were two couples there when we arrived and there was barely any room at the bar for us. All their wines available for tastings were lined up on the bar, covered with the medals they had won. Everything inside was dark and wood, and one of the worker's dog was running around. HB and I loved the small, local vibe that they offered. They offered us 6 tastings for $10, which means between the two of us we tasted 11 wines and didn't get through everything they offered (we both had the port to finish). My two favorites were the Sangiovese and the Driveway Red. Both had a softer flavor which I tend to enjoy more than the spicier wines, but were still flavorful and bold reds. HB prefers the spicier, bolder wines and he liked the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon and the Grenache. We stuck to all reds and everything we tasted we enjoyed. We ended up liking the wine so much we joined their wine club and bought two bottles. Their wine club is free to join, we get free tastings for us and guests, and two bottles sent to us quarterly.
Next stop was Weins, but when we got there we almost immediately decided to leave. The atmosphere at Hart was so welcoming, relaxed, and comfortable, that it was hard to go from that to Weins. Weins was so crowded that there was a line out the door, it was huge, and just not our style. We left and decided to try to find another winery with the same feel as Hart.
We decided to go to the next place on the list, which was Wilson's Creek. We had tried and enjoyed their Almond Champagne and thought it would be a nice stop. After Hart we had expected bold reds at all the wineries. WRONG. At Wilson's Creek we got five tastings for $12. Their tasting room was huge like Weins and had multiple bars but we found a place and looked at the menu. They didn't offer very much to taste: four whites, four sweet whites, four reds, two champagnes, and one dessert wine. We each tried two of the reds and they poured light to the point of pink. They were horrible and flavorless. We couldn't even finish them and just ended up dumping them while the woman who was helping us turned away. They were just your typical wines you find when a winery doesn't do red: Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and a Grenache. We tried the two champagnes, and instead of taking just one of our tasting tickets, the woman ripped two! But it was a blessing: I couldn't drink any more bad wine. HB tried the chocolate dessert wine which was the most decent thing and we left and made our way to the next stop, Leonesse.
Leonesse was a little off the beaten trail, and we were hoping it would be a little more down to earth like Hart. Unfortunately, it was like Wilson's Creek, done up to the nines to be less like wine country and more like a swanky lounge that people coming in from LA and San Diego might enjoy more than the beaten up Hart. They had more wines to try than Wilson's, thankfully, and $12 got you 6 wine tastings. They had a whole page of whites and a whole page of reds, but it still wasn't enough for us to use all 12 for different things. That didn't end up mattering much - we left after four tastings (which was most of the red menu anyway). Our bartender was great and we got chatty with the couple vising from LA who was next to us, but again, the wines were practically see through and all tasted exactly the same: like sour grape juice. HB and I felt like it was worth our money to SKIP the rest of the tastings than to have to swallow more gross wine.
We were so disappointed at Wilson's Creek and Leonesse that we ended up going back to Hart and getting two more bottles! We figured since we hadn't bought bottles at the other two and we planned on it, we might as well spend that money somewhere with good wine. A couple there who was tasting recommended Palumbo, saying it was the only place besides Hart to try. We're planning on taking HB's family members who are vising this weekend, so we'll see how that goes!
We did learn a good lesson about wine tasting today. Everywhere we went we had been getting our own tastings, but Wilson's Creek and Leonesse didn't offer at least 12, which means that we were paying twice as much for the same thing.Next time we'll get one to share between the two of us, and if it ends up being good enough (or having enough options to make it worthwhile), we can get a second round of tastings. One ounce is enough for us both to try the wine.
Overall, Temecula doesn't have an amazing selection of wineries to try, but next time we will try Palumbo and maybe Calloway (which has an orange champagne that I really want to try :) ).
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