A Beautiful Saturday in Temecula Wine Country

Welcome to our first blog entry!

We had planned on a wine tasting day on Friday but figured the sunny skies and warmer temperatures forecast for Saturday would suit us better. Good thing we stayed home, rainstorn after rainstorm developed over our house (just below Mt Baldy) and made their way straight south through Temecula all afternoon.

Heading out late as usual Saturday (about noon), we made our way toward Wilson Creek. The 15 tried to throw us obstacle after obstacle until Waze so graciously set us on a quest across Bundy Canyon and ending up on Borel/Buck Road and right past one of our favorite wineries - Doffo. MotoDoffo - to be exact - is one of my happy places. Walls lined with vintage cafe racers and the vibrant smells and flavors of Argentinian food and wine really set this place apart from the others. Even though the EV6 tried pulling us into the lot, we had a plan for the day and Doffo would have to wait for our next visit.

Pulling up to Wilson Creek, we found a parking spot waiting for us straight ahead behind the security guard. (We are 2 for 2 this year on getting spots in that row!). Wilson Creek had their typical large crowd with birthday parties, bachelorette parties, families, couples and "girls day out" groups and everybody seemed to be enjoying the sun on this 70 degree day. The lack of a band or entertainment was odd but they always have great background music wherever you find yourself.

We grabbed our wine club passports and passed out some wine stick samples to the folks there and the retail manager. Our tasting plan was to stay off menu, as we have had almost all the wines printed. GSM and Vardande being 2 of our favorites. The wide range of blends along with a handful of Petite Sirahs is what keeps us coming back. Upon pouring our last tasting, we were given some advice that delighted us both. "If you like good reds, you should go to Palumbo next." Our pourer seemingly has a boyfriend who is a level 2 Sommelier and Palumbo Family Vineyard is one of his favorites. After a few pics in the vineyard and creekside, we were on our way to Palumbo.

Oh, the contrast! A quaint little tasting room with magnificent views awaited us at this hilltop heaven, with many rows of mature and new vines in every direction. There were maybe 6-10 folks on our side of the tasting bar or on the patio at any one time and everybody seemed to know eachother well. We ponied up our $20/each for a trip down the tasting menu and what a trip it was. Each wine becoming more complex and complete as we made our way off menu. Tannat! We were both unfamiliar with this varietal. Wikipedia explains it best: "Tannat is a red wine grape, historically grown in South West France in the Madiran AOC, and is now one of the most prominent grapes in Uruguay, where it is considered the "national grape." Bursting with rich notes of dark fruit and high tannins, I now understand Uruguays love of this grape. After passing out some more wine sticks and enjoying the feedback, it was time to join another wine club. Waiting for our Palumbo shipments will be hard. We may need to make more trips to this tasting room so that, we too, can be part of this family on the hilltop.

One last stop was what this day was all about. We never go to Temecula without spending some time in Gourmet Italia where Chef Alex has mastered a traditional Italian menu. Our introduction to Alex will have it's own entry one day. Gourmet Italia has given me maybe 3 of my favorite stories to tell and my favorite is the one involving tears. The first time that I tried the squid ink pasta with seared scallops, I literally cried. A few years back, my mother was in town so I treated her to a day in Temecula ending with a meal at Gourmet Italia - like always. I am a seafood lover and the special that day was the squid ink pasta and scallop special that keeps me coming back (Bad news today, the last 4 servings of that dish were just delivered to the 4 top next to us, which also nearly brought me to tears). I like to describe it like this, "It's as if you can taste the ocean." Not the extra salty, bad for you water but the taste of the sea as if it was the first time taking in a big noseful of salt air but directly to your tongue! That is what brought on the tears. My mother had caught me wiping away a tear and asked if I was alright. All I could do was spin up a half scallop, a mushroom and a few strands of pasta and hand it to her. She nodded in agreement but still thought (knows) that I am nuts. I lovingly look at good food before eating it. I've been caught doing it. I do not care. What is life without good food and wine? Savor it all and shed a tear now and then. It does the soul some good.

I hope you enjoyed this. I like to write so plan on seeing more of these in the days to come.

Salud!

Chuck