Temecula Hills Winery & Vineyard - Temecula

Formerly known as Windy Ridge (before a SF wine distributer decided to market a wine under this name and trademarked it, oops!) this winery is a long haul from the normal line of vineyards. The drive feels REALLY long when you are driving out there, but it's really not that bad. It's about 10 miles from the rest of the wineries, and worth the trip. The property is small, but this charming little winery is run by a nice couple who were kind enough to open for us on an off day after we had driven all the way out there...

The winery is essentially their house and a tasting room. But on to the wines. They had a very nice selection of wines and the tasting was reasonable. They had some unusual grapes and even carried a few wines that they made from grapes grown in cucamonga. We tasted all of them, and bought the syrah.

The big news here was their port. I have not liked any of the ports in temecula to date. Generally they seem to be half hearted efforts that are more marketing than winemaking, but this was an exception. The port had an excellent balanced flavor, and we took a bottle home with us. If you are a port fan, do not miss this one.

All told this winery was worth the drive and it didn't seem nearly as long driving back. A worthwhile stop on your temecula tour.

Joel

http://www.temeculahills.com