When I visited South Coast Winery last week, they had just won another two medals the night before at the Southern California Temecula Valley Wine Competition, bringing their total for the year to well over three hundred. They have also just won the prestigious “Golden State Winery of the Year” award for the second consecutive year. Pretty impressive considering South Coast only opened its doors in 2003.

I met with master winemaker Jon McPherson in his office inside the barrel room. Jon is a native Texan. His dad founded the Llano Estacado Winery in 1976 in Lubbock, so Jon grew up in the vineyards. His dad was one of the first in the nation to hire an Australian winemaker, and Jon learned a lot from him and the subsequent winemaker. His brother studied at UC Davis and returned as Llano’s winemaker.

In 1985 Jon decided he wanted to start making wine, in particular sparkling wine. Armed with degrees in food science and chemistry, he came to the Temecula Valley and started worked at Culbertson Winery, which would later become Thornton Winery.  At Culbertson he was making sparkling wines using the Methode Champenoise. He learned about a different way of producing sparkling wines called Charmat, and it’s how he produces his sparkling wines today. Jon joined South Coast when the winery opened its doors in May, 2003, bringing winemaker Javier Flores with him, because each man possesses a different skill set, and, he adds, it’s more than a one man job.

Winery owner Jim Carter joined us and it’s easy to see how these two men complement each other. Jim’s goal is to provide Jon with the best grapes so the he can make the best wine, not only in the county, but in the state. Winning the Golden Bear Award two consecutive years might tend to make some folks want to rest on their laurels. Jim Carter and Jon McPherson both strive to find ways to do even better. Jon told me he’s his own worst critic and that he is always able to find flaws in his wines which spurs him on to make even better wines. They work together and constantly strive to produce as good a product as they can.

Both men spoke to me of passion and both exude it. Jim believes you can’t produce good wine if you’re not passionate about it, and believes those that open wineries just to make money have got the wrong idea. In creating South Coast Winery, Jim’s goal was to offer his guests the true wine country experience: a villa in the vineyards, a working winery, fine dining, a spa and a venue for live entertainment. But, as Carter says “The real heart of what we do is wine.” South Coast’s facility is more than 100,00 square feet under roof, but he has grander plans for the future. His goal is to open Carter Estate Winery, a high end sparkling wine and estate wine complex that when completed would become California’s largest winery resort at 535,000 square feet. He is currently waiting on County approval.

Jon McPherson & Jim Carter

Jon told me it’s easier to name the grapes they don’t grow than the ones that they do. More than 90% of their wines are estate grown. Jon took me to the tasting room. South Coast features 38 wines on its tasting list. We sampled 21 of them. With that many wines, we were definitely making good use of the spit bucket. At one point, a woman saw me spit and came over and said “oh, you really didn’t like that one, did you?” I assured her I liked it just fine! The ones that stood out for me were the ’07 Sans Chene Chardonnay, 100% stainless fermented, with a lovely nose and refreshing green apple finish. The ’07 Reserve Chardonnay is barreled in oak, but is not overpowered by it. I enjoyed it, finding notes of vanilla and tropical fruit. The ’08 GVR (Grenache Blanc, Viognier and Roussane) has pears on the nose and a silky finish. I love Gewurtztraminers that run on the dry side and was very impressed with South Coast’s ’08. The Sparkling Gewurtztraminer is crisp with 2.5% residual sugar. The Ruby Cuvee is a sparkling Syrah with a deep ruby color and distinct Syrah characteristics. The whites and sparkling wines were my favorites of the day, but two of the reds shone for me. The ’05 Sangiovese was well rounded with a soft finish. The ’05 Wild HorsePeak Cabernet Sauvignon is aged in a combination of new French, American and European oaks for 18 months. It’s a classic cab and was very pleasing to my palate.

Crystal Magon, South Coast’s Director of Sales and Marketing, concluded my tour by taking me to one of the villas. There are 76 villas altogether, each one with fireplaces and patios that open to Viognier vineyards. During the harvest, guests are invited to help pick the grapes. Crystal explained to me that Jim Carter is involved in every aspect of the operation, even down to the design of the mattresses. He went through seven prototypes before he was satisfied. She says her guests call them “beyond heavenly”.

Our next stop was at the 15,000 square foot Grapeseed Spa. You walk past brilliant bougainvillea and tropical flowers as you enter the spa. Numerous services are available, including Thai massage as well as grape seed and champagne facials with Pinot Noir yeast. Downstairs there’s a fitness facility. A pool, separate locker facilities for men and women and a well stocked gift shop are all at your disposal.

South Coast also has the Vineyard Rose Restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner with beers on tap and South Coast wines. The 7,200 square foot conference room seats 700.

I returned this morning to watch as they bottled the “Lot 1″ Cabernet Sauvignon. If you’ve never seen a bottling before, it’s a fascinating process. Cases of empty wine bottles are placed at the beginning of the line. They proceed single file where they are then rinsed, filled, corked and placed into cases. Winemaker Javier “Javy” Flores had returned from vacation and was on hand with Jon McPherson. Both men are affable and made me feel most welcome in their home. A trip to the Temecula Wine Country would be incomplete without a stop at South Coast Winery. If  possible, schedule a visit during the week when things are a bit quieter. When you win back to back State Winery of the Year awards, word tends to get out.

Dan Atwood has settled into his role as host of The Wine Company quite comfortably. The recent renovations are a nice improvement and things continue to improve under his guidance. Dan makes a point of spending time with his customers and making them feel at home. Yesterday he launched “The Counter Club”, a weekly gathering on Wednesdays where invited guests can join him in evaluating wines brought in by a different wine rep each time. It’s a win-win. Dan gets valuable feedback and his guests get to be in on the decision making process and buy wines at a great price.

About ten of us were on hand for yesterday’s inaugural gathering. Jeanette Treadway from Regal Wine Company had the honor of kicking things off and she did so with seven wines, starting with Kendall Jackson’s Grand Reserve Sauvignon Blanc. This wine is made from the top 1% of KJ’s grapes and is fermented in oak and stainless steel. The wine was clean and crisp, but to my palate, unremarkable. At $19, this is not a wine I could recommend. Things began to improve with the Los Alisos Chardonnay from Santa Barbara County. This was a great Summer wine, with a fresh citrus nose and a caramel apple finish. I would have no trouble paying $16 for this wine. The next wine we tasted was my favorite of the afternoon. The Novellum Chardonnay hails from France and it is delightful. Viognier lease is stirred in during fermentation. It’s crisp, fruit forward and complex and I look forward to drinking it again. I highly recommend it at $16.

The reds were up next starting with the Evodia, a big Garnacha from Spain. This one smacks you in the nose with big berry aromas. It had a true Grenache flavor and feel, but was a bit acidic for my taste. It did open up in the glass, and at $10 a bottle, I would recommend it in a heartbeat. I thought the notes on the back of the bottle were great: the who, what, when where and how – “remove cork, pour into glass (optional) and drink. I’m a sucker for a good sense of humor. We tasted another Spanish wine next, the Creta Roble Tempranillo. It presented an earthy nose with some blackberry and had a chalky finish. At $15, it was okay, but not one I would likely buy. We moved on to another Spanish entry, the Castell del Remei Cotim, a blend of 60% Tempranillo, 20% Cab and 20% Merlot. It had a raisiny nose and was definitely drinkable at $15 a bottle. The finale was the Prima Voce Super Tuscan from Tenuta di Arceno, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. There wasn’t much I liked about this wine. I found it to be extremely dry and acidic. It did improve after being poured through a Vinturi, but I was disappointed with it. That one was priced at $17.50.

All in all it was a fine afternoon and I look forward to an encore performance next Wednesday. Maybe I’ll see you there.

We decided to spend a Sunday afternoon wine tasting with our friends Roger and Kathy. The fact that Palumbo Family Winery was having their wine club pick-up party was a good enough reason for me.

Although the focus of this post is on boutique wineries, we started our journey at one of Temecula’s largest wineries, Wilson Creek. Neither Laura nor I had visited the winery in several years. Roger and Kathy are members, so they hosted us. Immediately you’re struck by the popularity of the place by the sheer number of cars in the parking lot. The front tasting room was packed, so we headed to the back where we found a bar we could squeeze into.

Lori set us up with four glasses and we began to taste. I started with the ’07 Sauvignon Blanc and found it to have a nice, floral nose with a crispness on the palate and a smooth finish. Equally good was the ’07 Viognier, dry and perfect for a hot summer day. I moved to the reds, starting with the ’06 Estate Mourvedre. I thought this was the best wine I tasted at Wilson Creek, with a great plum nose and vanilla on the finish. It’s always a pleasant surprise to find a winery producing a 100% Mourvedre.  Next up was the ’06 Estate Legacy, a Bordeaux blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec. It tasted fine, but the nose eluded me. One of the things I enjoy most about a fine wine is its nose, and strangely enough, there wasn’t one to be found here. The final red was the ’06 Estate Zinfandel. This was a very smooth Zin, fruit forward with a satisfying finish. To top things off we enjoyed an “Almond Joy”, with the “Decadencia” Chocolate  Port in a chocolate shot glass. You take a sip, they add Almond Champagne, you drink it and eat the cup. That’s very tasty!

Our next stop was at Doffo Winery. To be completely honest, I was apprehensive. Two previous visits had left us disappointed. We kept hearing raves, though, and decided to try our luck again. What a difference. We saw Marcelo Doffo at the tasting bar and he turned us over to his gracious son Damian. We started with the ’06 Viognier. It was delicious… lots of green apple and very refreshing with a great finish. Next was the ’05 Syrah – jammy and fruit forward with smooth peppers. We moved on to a vertical tasting of the ’04, ’05 and ’06 Cabernets. The ’04 spent a full two years on American Oak. It’s a dark Cab that drinks beautifully and will definitely age for some time to come. The ’05 Cab is more fruit forward and smoother and was the favorite of three of the four of us (Laura preferred the ’04). The ’06 hasn’t spent much time in the bottle and it shows. I have no doubt it will develop into an excellent wine and I look forward to tasting it again in a year or so. Damian wasn’t done with us yet. The ’07 Mistura, a 60/40 Cab/Syrah blend with minute amounts of Petit Verdot and Cab Franc is another young wine that will undoubtedly develop into an outstanding wine. The ’06 Malbec is a great example of the varietal – although only in the bottle for a couple of months it shows lots of fruit and plenty of character. The next wine floored us all. This ’06 blend of Cabernet/Syrah and Cab Franc hasn’t been released yet and is only being made available to wine club members. I was sworn to secrecy on the name of the wine.  We tasted the ’07 Private Reserve Cabernet. It’s incredibly good now and I think it’s going to be a monster.

Damian said he “wasn’t done with the dog & pony show” yet. We tasted three late harvest wines: the ’08 Muscat, very sweet with apricot and peach notes and a big honey finish. The non vintage Zinfandel Port had a remarkable nose and a silky smooth finish. The final offering came with a story. During the ’05 harvest, somehow an entire row of Syrah grapes was left on the vines. Marcelo discovered the near raisins when he returned from a post harvest vacation. They crushed what there was and it sat in oak for three and a half years. The late harvest wine was going to be dedicated to Marcelo’s granddaughter, but his daughter miscarried. Another daughter got pregnant, the first daughter became pregnant again, and the resulting late harvest Syrah is called “Los Nietos” (the grandchildren). On the back of the bottle are the words “on earth as it is in heaven”. There were enough grapes to produce one barrel, and it is ambrosia. I will return to Doffo this weekend to spend more time with Marcelo and Damian and will do a story on them and the winery.

Roger and Kathy had never visited Briar Rose before, so we made that our next stop. I’ve already written extensively about Briar Rose, so I won’t rehash it. Suffice it to say their wines are excellent and the tasting room experience is relaxing and unhurried.

The final stop of the day was Palumbo Family Vineyards for their wine club pick up party. Nick was behind the grill cooking carne asada (delicious!) and Cindy was pouring at the tasting bar. We took home bottles of the ’06 Cab/Shiraz and ’06 Merlot. Nick continues to craft wonderful wines.

edit: by popular demand (okay, 1 request) here are Nick & Cindy’s dogs.

I’m glad we had the chance to visit Wilson Creek, and I want to return for  more in depth visit. For my money though, you can’t beat the boutiques. Doffo, Briar Rose and Palumbo are among the best the Temecula Valley has to offer.

Laura and I got married on the 4th of July. Our wedding was everything we could have hoped for and more. The weather was perfect, we were surrounded by family and dear friends and to cap it all off we took in a spectacular fireworks display.

My sister has spent time in Washington State’s San Juan Islands for decades. She and her husband own property on a remote island there whose residents cherish its privacy so much they ask me not to identify it by name. To get there we took a puddle jumper from Seattle to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island where we were met by a charter boat delivering fresh produce to the islands. My niece prepared an ice chest for us with a mason jar filled with a rum cocktail, warm almonds and dried chile mangoes.

We had the most relaxing, wonderful time there, cooking and eating on the beach, taking walks and soaking in the Pacific Northwest. On Saturday, we decided to visit one of two wineries in  the San Juans, Lopez Island Vineyards. Keeping in mind we’re on an island with no ferry service, we first made arrangements to hire a boat to take us to Lopez and then called the winery to find out how to get there from the village. Iris Graville told me there were no taxis on the island, but that should would give us a ride after she finished working at the farmers market.

Lopez is a wonderful place to spend time. We had a cup of coffee, visited the fudge factory, stopped in a weaver’s studio and then went to the farmers market. We found a place that was serving incredible crepes and ice tea with ginger and then Iris drove us to the winery.

Co-owner Maggie Nilan was there to greet us. The fact that the road to the winery was torn up with road work didn’t deter visitors from coming. The tasting room was filled when we arrived and a steady stream of visitors kept coming. Maggie had us taste through the menu, starting with the Wave Crest White, a light refreshing blend of Madeleine Angevine and Siegerrebe, both organically grown at the winery. The Chardonnay, sourced from grapes grown in the Yakima Valley, was crisp and lightly oaky. Here’s where things get a little different. They make an apple-pear wine made from King apples and Bosc pears. We both were expecting something very sweet, but were pleasantly surprised by how dry it was and perfect on a day close to 80 degrees. We tasted more wines from Yakima Valley grapes: a Merlot and a Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot/Malbec blend. We were pleasantly surprised by how good they were. To finish there was a raspberry wine. It had a sweetness to it, but it wasn’t cloying and the fruit really came through on the finish.

While we waited for Maggie’s partner Brent Charnley to return, we grabbed a bottle of Wave Crest White and savored it under a canopy of Pinot Noir grapes on the patio. Brent showed up and gave us a tour of the vineyards. He has six acres planted, mostly Madeleine Angevine and Siegerrebe, but he is trying a few others including the afore-mentioned Pinot Noir to see how they’ll do. It turns out Brent and I attended the same summer camp on Lopez Island about four years ago.

Brent took us to the barrel room and we tasted some of his Malbec and Cabernet from the barrels that will be bottled later this year. Both showed promise of being very drinkable wines. Our visit to Lopez Island Vineyards was one we won’t forget and a perfect end to our story tale honeymoon. We have learned there are nearly 600 wineries in eight regions in Washington State. I smell a road trip!

Laura and I ran into an acquaintance last night and the subject of WINEormous came up. He told me he had visited the site a few times and asked if I wanted his honest feedback. I told him I did and I am very grateful for what he told me. He said the blog was too positive and that I needed to balance it with with some critical comments.

You know what? He was completely right. I’ve been very cautious in building this site, afraid to step on toes or hurt feelings. From here forward, you’ll still have the same old me. I’ll share how places and people make me feel, but if I find something that’s not up to snuff, I’ll point it out. Fair enough?

Good food and good wine is a combination that in my book is hard to beat. I found both in abundance the other evening at Robert Renzoni Vineyards in Temecula. Robert has launched a series of cooking classes, bringing guest chefs from area restaurants to prepare a gourmet meal, show you how to cook it and pair it with fine wine. I must confess, as I attended this event six days before my wedding, I have misplaced my notes from the evening, so I’ll do as best I can from memory.

Tables and chairs were set up inside the tasting room, and chef Giuseppe di Gristina from Raviolis Italian Bistro in Lake Elsinore had his grill positioned in the parking lot facing the patrons. We started with Robert’s excellent 2007 Barile (Oak Barrel aged) Chardonnay and bruschetta, the first I have ever tasted made without tomatoes. The next wine was the Renzoni 2007 La Rosa (Rose of Sangiovese), with an exquisite floral nose and love notes of strawberry and citrus. Chef Giuseppe prepared prawns with shell on and for the fortunate few (I was one) there were seconds.

I accompanied Alessandro di Sabatino from Francesca’s Italian Kitchen to the event. He was there to lend a hand when needed and also shared his insights on Italian cooking with those in attendance. We had to depart before Giuseppe began preparing his medallions of beef, but I look forward to attending another cooking night at Renzoni’s and hope to see you there.

Chef Giuseppe

Chef Giuseppe

Alessio, Guiseppe & Robert

Robert & Alessio

This past Saturday evening, music and the smells of barbeque filled the air at South Coast Winery. 1200 folks gathered for Rhythm on the Vine, a fund-raiser for the Shriners Hospitals for Children. Rhythm on the Vine was started last year and at least five concerts are on the agenda for this year. Last year’s efforts raised more than $515,000 for Shriners Hospital in Los Angeles. 100% of the proceeds go toward helping the Shriners provide health care at no charge to children up to age 18.

A silent auction featured some amazing pieces of sports memorabilia: signed baseball bats by Willie Mays, Alex Rodriguez and others, a signed Muhammad Ali robe, signed Wayne Gretzky and Michael Jordan jerseys, a signed Jerry Rice helmet and more. I wound up with the winning bid on an autographed Ken Norton boxing glove.

Food and South Coast’s award winning wines were plentiful. Music was blissful, with Sax For Stax featuring Kirk Whalum and Gerald Albright opening for Jeffrey Osborne. Kirk and Gerald played tribute to Michael Jackson by performing Albright’s composition Never Can Say Goodbye.

While the stage was being set for Jeffrey Osborne, South Coast owner Jim Carter offered a couple of incredible packages from the Winery and Spa to raise more money during the live auction. There were some notables in the crowd including ventriloquist Ronn Lucas and Leave It To Beaver’s Jerry Mathers.

Aside from helping raise money for the Shriners, the crowd was there to hear Jeffrey Osborne. Let me tell you, he delivered. After a sweltering day, the evening breezes were refreshing and the music was incredible. Next up for Rhythm on the Vine at South Coast Winery is Kenny G, September 12. Tickets will undoubtedly go quickly.