Did I happen to mention that I love the Temecula Valley? Luckily for me, my sales conference came at the height of the Snowmagedden that wasn't. So my flight got cancelled into Newark, NJ, and ha to be rescheduled for another day. Damn! Another day to explore wine country!
So up into the hills I went, that are south east of Los Angeles and north east of San Diego. It's a beautiful drive. Temecula Wine Country is located just 22 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean, on the eastern side of the South Coast Mountain range, with vineyards at approximately 1400-1600 feet in elevation. A break in the mountains to our west, known as the Rainbow Gap, allows the cool fog to flow inland from the pacific before slowly receding in the late morning. This cool coastal air combined with the warm air that we get from the east creates a micro-climate which is ideal for producing wine grapes.
Looking back, this being my second mini-tour of the region, it was quite clear that Temecula Valley is a region that needs to be reckoned with. The complex whites and res of the region are spectacular, and deserve more national attention! The second tour absolutely confirmed that for me. Instead of s=finding what I thought would be a few secondary wines, I found wines that were as impressive if not more so than from my previous day's visit.
When you live on the east coast, it's hard to get a real appreciation of Callaway Vineyards. It's their less expensive product that usually makes it to the shelves by us. So as I ascended the hill that the winery, tasting room, and restaurant are on, happy to finally get a chance to taste some of their better wines. And I was not disappointed. Callaway's wines were excellent!!!
The grounds are absolutely spectacular by the way.
As stated before, the Temecula Valley grows Viognier very well, and Callaway's Viognier Special Selection 2012 is a very nice entry. One of the better California Viogniers I have tasted. Nice aromatics. Light, bright, and with a nice zesty finish. Floral and filled with tropical fruit. Lovely!
I love Roussane. And I loved Callayway Winemaker's Reserve Roussane 2012. Brambly cherry dry red was a gorgeous medium-bodied fruit bomb with nice, long-lasting acidity and well balanced tannins. Good complexity. Great finish!
And for all you lovers of Rhone-ish styled wines, this lovely Callaway Special Selection Grenache 2010 completed a trifecta of sorts. A beautiful wine with lovely red fruit and beautiful complexity. A gorgeous wine!
Next on my list was Baily Vineyard & Winery. Owner and winemaker Phil Baily has crafted great wines for more than 27 years, all made from grapes grown on family owned property in the Temcula Valley. The Oxford Companion to Wine calls "Baily Winery one of the two most artistically successful of the small pioneering wineries in Temecula". Wine tasting is available at two locations: the main Tasting Room on Rancho California Road for current releases, and the Baily Estate tasting room at the production facility on Pauba Road for library wines (aged, older, red wines). I was at the beautiful and spectacular grand tasting room on Rancho California Road.
If you go to Baily's you might be lucky enough to see Target, one of the biggest domesticated cats I have ever seen. It was a relatively quiet Tuesday, so the winery cat was roaming inside. He's usually not inside during the weekend. But he is as affectionate as it gets. A huge!
The Baily Estate Bottled Rose of Sangiovese 2013 hit me like a sledgehammer - not because it was big or overpowering, but be cause it was light, and full of favor and texture. A big strawberry fruit bomb, with hints of lime and a nice, zesty acidity. A delightful, refreshing, flavor-packed rose made from Sangiovese. A fantastic wine!
No question winemaker Phil knows his way around Sangiovese.. Baily Estate Bottled Sangiovese 2011 had a big explosion of strawberry and cherry, with lovely acidity, and a beautiful dry finish. Great complexity, and a gorgeous linger flavor. An absolutely beautiful wine!
While a number of Rhone and Italian grapes do very well in Temecula, I was also heartened to see Malbec at quite a few of the place. The Malbecs are not what you expect at all. Unlike Argentine or Chilean Malbecs, these are more medium bodied wines here in Temecula. I found that to be a good thing. The Baily Estate Bottled Malbec 2010 is a medium-bodied red, with big jammy favors of dark cherry and blueberry. Still jammy, and friendly, but in a different dress. Instead of a black velvet evening gown Malbec wears in those regions, the Malbec in Temecula dons a bright red cocktail dress. Malbec is even more sexy and approachable in Temecula. Baily's is an excellent example of what the region can and does do with this grape. It is breathtaking.
Temeculais horse country. And more than several have horses and horse themes. Longshadow is unique. The Brodersens apparently also have a real affection and appreciate for draft horses. Several were in the paddocks that surround the winery and barns while I was there. He was a very young male Clydesdale they had rescued. He was a big boy, the size of a thoroughbred, but he has a lot more growing to do. Some Clydesdales do not stopping growing until the age of six years old. They just keep getting bigger.
Longshadow Ranch Estate Sangiovese 2012 was another beautiful example of this varietal wine from this region. John Brodersen has crafted a beautiful red here. Fruity, complex, but incredibly drinkable. A beautiful medium-bodied red. Great complexity and lively execution.
This Longshadow Ranch Estate Temparanilo 2012 was a lovely surprise. Gorgeous cherry fruit on the front seems to last forever. Nice tannins balance out this wine. Complex. Layered. Very, very impressive.
I didn't know much about Longshadow Ranch before I got there. But the one thing I will remember was continually being very nicely surprised. This Logshaow Ranch Petite Verdot 2011 was lovely!! A nice, chewy Petite Verdot, dark purple, and well built. A very pretty example of this varietal.
And this Longshadow Estate Cinsault 2012 was the absolute capper to a fantastic tasting. If you like Cinsault, it seems you need to come to Temecula. Great wine here. The Longshadow exhibited gorgeous ripe cherry, hint of bramble berry, red cassis, and dried cranberries. Complex, layered, balanced. This was a fantastic wine!
South Coast Winery is another of those horse wineries. Here, it is not unusual to see riders still in their jodhpurs and muddy boots, sipping at the tasting bar. The walls are studded with horse art, and countless riding awards tacked to the walls of the winery won by local riders and wine club members.
My first and instant favorite was South Coast Winery GVR 2010. The beautiful, fragrant white was a classic blend of 41% Viognier, 40% Grenache Blanc, and 19% Roussane. GVR is an acronym for a blend of white Rhone cultivars that are often found as
stand alone varieties. A
small portion of the Viognier used in the GVR was barrel fermented in French
Oak. This portion of Viognier wine added a genuinely complex fruit flavor and
aroma to the finished blend. GVR is a very rich white wine with a long finish. Big lush fruit up front, this was as complex a wine as you would find in the Rhone region itself. A beautiful white wine. Absolutely impressive!
South Coast Winery GSM 2010 was another absolute eye opener! Wow! A blend of estate Grenache 18%, Syrah 40%, Mouvedre 30% and Cinsault 12% this was perhaps my favorite. The nose is a giant bouquetof lavender, rose petal and violets, set on a table filled with earthy figs, berries and wild dried spices. The wine was aged exclusively in French oak barrels. This is a complex, layered, and sophisticated wine. A voluptuous seductive red, that could easily have come from Southern France. Absolutely impressive and fantastic!
This was a thriller! The South Coast Winery Touriga Nacional/Tempranillo 2011 was a winner right off the bat! Affectionately known in the tasting room as TNT! Touriga Nacional and Tempranillo, are signature cultivars for Portugal and
Spain, respectively. Tempranillo is a dynamic red cultivar that makes a great
stand alone wine, or blends well with others. Likewise,
in Portugal, Touriga Nacional is a well known grape and is most often fortified
for use in port. But red table wines of the Dao and the Douro valley have
become increasingly popular, and blends made from Touriga Nacional and Tinta
Roriz (the name for Tempranillo in Portugal) are in quite high demand these days.
According to the winemaker, "South Coast's Wild Horse
Peak Vineyard is the home to both the Touriga
Nacional and the Tempranillo. This wine was aged in a combination of new
American and once used French oak barrels; the mixed use of oak barrels gives
the right amount of woody, spicy, smoky oak tones to the wine. It is noticeably
packed with cherry and blackberry (lingonberry) fruit aromas and a hint of dark
chocolate." It's all absolutely true. One of the biggest and best reds of the trip. A fabulous wine. A collectible.
The South Coast Winery Mouvedre 2011 was another exceptional entry of Grenache in the Temecula Valley. This one had great fruit and layers of cherries, bramble fruit, and dried cranberries along with lots of spices. A beautiful red wine that deserves more attention. Fantastic!
Last, but certainly not least was the South Coast Winery Wild Horse Peak Mountain Vineyard Reserve Block Petite Syrah 2010. OMG! Amazing. Big, chewy, dark with dark cherry, blackberry, cassis, and other fruits as well as several notes of spice. Big, complex, luxurious. Impressive. Am I gushing enough? If you flew in, buy two or three bottles, if you drove in, buy six, lay four down, and drink the other two when you get home. Then invite friends over, and pour them some, and impress them with you wine knowledge. A tremendous wine.