Mike Rennie and Gary Winder are first and foremost farmers. Gary was farming citrus and avocados in the 70s and then began farming grapes. Mike owned a farming company with more than 400 acres of grapes. There were always overages that didn’t get harvested so “it made sense to open a winery.” Like many winery owners, making wine started innocently enough. “Slowly it developed to where we bottled some and people started to buy it. It kind of took on a life of its own.” Mike and Gary decided they’d try their hand at opening a winery.

When they decided to locate the winery on De Portola Road, more than a few eyebrows were raised. There were only two other wineries on the road at the time: Keyways and Filsinger. Keyways was open only occasionally; Filsinger was open on weekends only. Several owners of wineries on Rancho California Road told them Read more »

Bob Olson & Mike Tingley

“If you’d told me a year ago that I’d be in Southern California as a winery owner I would have told you you were crazy!” Filsinger Winery was one of the first wineries in the Temecula Valley. William Doc Filsinger produced wines on the De Portola Wine Trail for nearly 30 years. Recently, Doc sold the property to Bob Olson and Filsinger Winery is being transformed into Danza del Sol. I met with Bob and his winemaker Mike Tingley recently, got a tour of the property and Read more »

“Oh, you’re Craig Larson, the winemaker. You’re the key.” Craig was having dinner at Meritage at Callaway with his wife one evening when someone came up and said that to him. Craig has been Callaway’s winemaker for the past two years now. He says there’s a lot of pressure when you come into a winery as a new winemaker because you really have to prove yourself. “That’s a lot of responsibility.”

Craig is Canadian born and began his love affair with wine at the age of 15 or 16. His brother began introducing him to French Bordeaux and Italian Chianti and it was love at first sip. Many people have to acquire a taste for dry red wines, but not Craig. When he makes wine, his Read more »

Prototype label for the yet to be released Doffo Zinfandel

As people entered the Doffo Vineyard grounds for the wine pickup party, they were greeted with a glass of Viognier and the wonderful aromas of roasted meats cooking on the hand crafted stone barbecue.  Appetizers lined the tables with meats, cheeses, olives, and many other wonderful dishes available to eat.  It is obvious that this was not any ordinary pickup party, it had Marcelo Doffo’s signature all over it.

Marcelo was stoking the fire with a blend of hickory and coal that intensified the aromas that permeated the air.  Marinated skirt steak, tri-tip, and 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 »