Holiday Limbo in the Vineyard Valley

Leonesse Vineyards, originally uploaded by kardinalsin.

Without ceremony, I present our Temecula pictures. With all confidence I can say that we've visited the major wine areas of California and each of them are superb. While there are virtues of each that stand out, I'll only discuss the casual expanse of Temecula.

Not quite as prestigious as the lauded Napa Valley vineyards, each Temecula vineyard presented itself in a stately and non-pretentious environment. The varieties are the usual cabernet and chardonnay, but what I was most surprised by was the tendency to offer port wines on the menus. My favorite of which was probably the Wilson Creek chocolate port. That and their almond champagne made for some excellent dessert flavors, but as Don put it, the caramel flavored port from the Ponte Family estate was positively flammable.

In any case, we made a trip to a good four vineyards on our first day out, with the help of the Grape Line and an extremely absent-minded bus driver. We found time to nab lunch (baked mac and cheese with black truffles and bacon!) and after it was all over we even hit the Pechanga buffet and casino.

I shan't elaborate much, but suffice it to say it was an excellent way to spend a tiny bit of our holiday shutdown period.