Gray skies, temperatures on the chilly side and a few drops of rain couldn’t deter hundreds of wine lovers from enjoying the World of Wine barrel tasting event presented this past weekend by the Temecula Valley Winegrowers Association. 27 wineries offered tastes of their wines, though not all offered barrel samples. If you check out my ticket on the right side of the page, you’ll note I paid a visit to every single participating winery. Ah, the sacrifices I make in being a wine writer.

I tip my cap to the Temecula Valley Wine Society who did a stellar job checking people in, pouring wine, serving food and so much more. It was great to see Marshall Stuart, Jim & Christine Hart, Dorian & Les Linkogle, Ray Falkner, Nick Palumbo, Marcello & Damian Doffo, Robert Renzoni, Bob Olson (owner of Danza del Sol, formerly Filsinger), Jennifer & Rick Buffington, Phil Baily, Steve & Valerie Andrews and to meet South Coast’s head Chef Dean Thomas, Van Roekel winemaker Gus Vizgirda and Dave & Gail Bradley, owners of Read more »

Future site of Lorimar Winery's visitor center & tasting room

“I’ve got a song in my heart, and I want our visitors to have a song in their hearts when they spend time here.” Temecula’s newest winery, Lorimar, has a music note on several of its bottles. When I asked co-owner Mark Manfield why, that was the answer I received. Mark grew up in the bar and restaurant business, working in his dad’s restaurant in Kansas City, MO since he was nine years old. When he left college he took over the bar and remained in charge until they lost the family business they had owned since 1948 to eminent domain. Mark moved to California and got into real estate and Read more »

Buzz and Kimberly Olson wanted to build a bed and breakfast in Temecula Wine Country. They still do. Life has a funny way of putting a few detours in your path, and those detours have landed Buzz and Kimberly in Old Town Temecula with Tesoro Winery’s tasting room. In 2002, the Olsons sold their house in Torrance and purchased property on Rancho California Road with the intention of building their B & B. Some of the early backers they had on board wound up backing out. In the meantime, Buzz had been growing grapes and after a few years he began producing wine from the grapes he was growing. He had a decision to make – keep his wines in a warehouse or open a tasting room. They didn’t have the funds to build on their property, so they began exploring other options. When they found an available building in Old Town Temecula, they decided it was the right place at the right time. Peter Poole from Mt. Palomar had tried without success years before, but they believed that people’s perception of Old Town was changing. It was fairly close to wine country and was zoned for a wine tasting room. They opened the tasting room in March of 2008 and started their wine club “almost out of desperation”.

With winemaker Etienne Cowper guiding his grapes, Buzz was confident he had a quality product. They were the only winery with a tasting room in Old Town for nearly a year. Now there are six with more to come. Buzz and Kimberly have led the way with the Old Town Wine & Dine Walk, two different packages that include a custom logo glass and discounts at various Old Town businesses.

Kimberly and Buzz are devout Catholics. That’s not a detail I would normally include, but their faith plays a huge role in their business. They are active church members and belong to church groups. At the Fall Wine Classic in Yorba Linda, a woman member of their church group told them she wanted to invest with them. She has helped bring them that much closer to their dream of a wine country tasting room and bed & breakfast a reality. They even hope to build a small chapel on the grounds and have it consecrated by a Catholic Bishop so they can hold wedding ceremonies there. They also met football legend Vince Ferragamo through a church member and have not only developed a close relationship with him, but they carry his Libeccio wines in their tasting room. Tesoro, by the way means treasure in Italian. And in Spanish. And in Portuguese. And in Tagalog.

Buzz told me has was looking through some notes he jotted down in high school and in them read he wanted to open a winery and a bed and breakfast. Some dreams do come true. Kimberly tasted me through several of their wines and I was thoroughly impressed by the ‘07 Riesling, the ‘06 Sangiovese, the ‘06 Petite Sirah and their Tribordo non vintage Syrah Port. They have clearly found the right man in Etienne Cowper. God has blessed the Olsons. Recent legislation will alllow them to sell full glasses of wine beginning January 1st, whereas now they are only able to offer tastings. Future plans include expanding their patio. They hope to have the Rancho California Road facility open by the ened of next year. Buzz’ focus is on remaining small, keeping his production under 10,000 cases a year, enough to support their wine club, tasting room and a few restaurants. He wants to provide “the best possible wines grown and produced in Temecula Valley.” More importantly, they’re making new friends every day. I hope you get a chance to experience their hospitality. Follow Tesoro Wines on twitter.

After spending nearly three hours with Bill Wilson, I have a much clearer understanding of how Wilson Creek grew to become the player it is today in the Temecula Valley. It’s a fascinating story. We sat in Bill’s office – a table outside near the tasting room on a beautiful autumn morning. He told me he was facing a mid-life crisis in the mid ’90s. He had spent 13+ years in the financial industry and it just wasn’t fulfilling. After trying a few other ventures that didn’t pan out, he asked his best friend what he should do and his friend advised him to open a winery. Having just returned from the Temecula Valley, his friend had met a winery owner who wanted out of the business and was willing to carry paper. Bill’s dad Gerry was getting ready to sell their home in Pasadena and move to Santa Barbara. After discussing things with Bill, he agreed Temecula was a better option. He then called his brother, an ordained minister in Sacramento and asked what he thought of the idea. His brother responded by reminding him what Jesus’ first miracle was. He saw no problem with the idea at all. When he approached his sister who lived in Solvang, she said that she traveled with a suitcase of wine glasses. Her only question was… why Temecula? After doing some research, Bill came up with five reasons:

1. There were only thirteen wineries at the time.
2. The land was affordable.
3. People were making good wine there.
4. The location was good, close to both San Diego and Los Angeles.
5. It offered more of a lifestyle change than an income opportunity.

With the family on board, they bought the property. At the time it was nothing but grapevines. There was no electricity, no buildings and the gardens below were used as an illegal dump site. Bill listed his qualifications for starting a winery. He liked wine and they knew how to throw a pretty good party. The path to getting the doors open was strewn with roadblocks. The Wilsons didn’t come from deep pockets and the wine industry is an expensive game. They did it on what Bill calls a “pauper’s nickel”. They borrowed money from friends and family, phone calls he says were the hardest they’ve ever had to make. “We did beg”. At that time, Bill says, “it was so bad that for lunch we had peanut butter sandwiches and for dinner we had the luxury of putting jelly on them.”  When they did finally open, that made them appreciate what they had that much more and made them willing to work that much harder to run a successful business. They didn’t just say to their first customers “come on in” they said “THANK YOU”. “We were real people starting something that real people don’t start. We were too stupid to know better, yet smart enough to get it to work out.”

As their grand opening approached on the Y2K New Year’s Eve, they wanted to come up with something different. Bill’s wife, Jennifer, wanted something “unusual and fantastic”. They asked a producer if they had anything unique. When they got the first samples, nothing jumped out at them. Again they asked for something different. The producer told them they were working on something they thought would be a winner and asked if they wanted to try it. Shortly afterward they received the first batch of Almond Champagne and fell in love with it. After tweaking the recipe, they ordered 10 cases thinking that would last them a while. It sold out in four hours. Bill’s reaction? “Holy #!@&!” They then ordered a palette. That lasted six days. Wilson Creek’s Almond Champagne put them on the map. Bill likes to say they took wine tasting off the snob shelf and made it fun again.

Wilson Creek’s growth has been meteoric; so much so that it’s made it very difficult to keep up with demand. They know they can’t compete on price with the big discounters, so what they offer is an experience you can’t get anywhere else. They make an effort to go the extra step. If you don’t see Bill, you’re likely to run into his mom and dad, Gerry and Rosie, or his wife, brother, sister, brother-in-law or sister-in-law. They all work at Wilson Creek. Bill knows it’s critical to have something that differentiates you from the rest of the field. In Wilson Creek’s case, the “it” factor is family.

Last year they opened The Creekside Grill. Bill said the kitchen wasn’t designed to be a restaurant kitchen, yet they keep putting out amazing food. He calls it the “little kitchen that could”. We had a delicious lunch and I mentioned how big the portions were. He said they’d rather spend a little more money and give you enough so you can take something home rather than risk having you be disappointed by a meager serving. The restaurant affords them flexibility and the opportunity to provide better events. They brought winemaker Etienne Couper on board in 2007 and he is overseeing his third harvest. With Couper making their wines, Bill says they’ve gone from hit or miss to a home run every time. His goal was to provide him with a facility worthy of his skills as a winemaker. Most of their wine comes from grapes grown on the estate: Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Merlot, Mourvedre, Viognier, Muscat, Syrah, Petite Sirah, Petit Verdot and Grenache. I tasted across the board and was duly impressed by by the overall quality of the wines. You’ll see Bill’s sense of humor, too, in their Pinot Noir/Mourvedre blend Pinot-Mour and their You Bet Shiraz. Say them out loud.

Bill feels confident that the key players are in place, but you won’t find him resting on his laurels. “When your name is on the marquee and you’re here, hearing it firsthand from customers that aren’t afraid to tell you good or bad, it takes a toll on you.” He never wants to lose the personal touch, but as the winery grows it becomes increasingly difficult. Bill is striving to find a balance, managing time spent at work, with family and his personal life. “I’m selling a product that provides enjoyment to people and as long as people are happy I want to be here to experience it along with them. I’m very blessed they pay me for that. We appreciate what we have here and and we want to share that with everybody – and have everybody appreciate it as much as we do. That’s the key to our success.”

When John Thornton launched his Champagne Jazz concert series, little did he realize what a runaway success it would become. On the other hand, having spent some time with John, he probably had no doubt. This past Sunday Laura and I were guests of the Thorntons for the David Sanborn concert. We arrived at the winery at the same time as the Thorntons, and Steve took care to make sure we were seated and taken care of. We had a table for two, a bottle of champagne and a delicious dinner prepared by Executive Chef Steve Pickell.

Guitarist Paul Jackson, Jr. (leader of the American Idol band) and his band opened the show and he is a remarkable guitarist. He acknowledged Earl Klugh and you could hear the influence in his playing. David Sanborn came out and played a tremendous set, featuring several tunes from his most recent CD, Here & Gone. Steve Thornton was gracious enough to personally escort me backstage after the show to meet David Sanborn. The Champagne Jazz concert series continues through October 11th, with notables like Candy Dulfer, Spyro Gyra and Peter White still to come.

Paul Jackson, Jr.

Steve Pickell

John Thornton

Steve Thornton

David Sanborn

Ricky Peterson