ps99472
New member
Took a quick almost spur of the moment 1 night trip to "neighboring" Temecula this past weekend. We've never been despite being just an hour away. We booked a room at Ponte Vineyard Inn thru Expedia for about $200. Got there early around 1pm, thought we would chance an early check in, but alas our room was not ready. We were given two glasses of some sparkling wine while we inquired about our room. We were also given two wine tasting tickets for their winery next door. To kill time, we walked over to the "big green barn" and into a super busy tasting room. A spot opened up at the tasting bar and we proceeded to try their wine. We tasted their Zin, Meritage, Beverino, and some off menu $75 a bottle Cab. Small pours for tasting but the lady was friendly. It was ok, they're famous for their Beverino, which is a sweet red wine, not my cup of tea but I can see how it is popular with the ladies (think V.Sattui's Gamay Rouge). I wondered back to the restaurant tucked behind the tasting room and it was bustling. Kid wanted a grape juice to fit in with us so had to get something at the restaurant. Overhead 1 hour wait for lunch at around 1pm. I opened up my opentable app and booked the latest seating at 4:30pm that day (they close around 7pm). I figured we would be pretty much wine infused later and having dinner next door removes the scenario of me crashing my car into a vineyard in pitch darkness. And it was a short crawl back to the hotel. We finished out tasting, passed on joining the wine club, and got a call around 2 that our room is ready. Walked in to our 1st floor room, they gave us a bottle of Meritage which is around $40 retail. Room was spartan, with tile floors, bare walls, but 10 ft ceilings. It was quite spacious too but no comfy couch to lounge except for the beds. Our little outside area had a view of the vineyards/mountains/winery. We brought the comped Meritage bottle with us to dinner and since its their wine, there's no corkage, so a win win! Ordered the small charcuterie plate and a margherita pizza to snack on. The bacon wrapped meatloaf entree looks good, probably get that next time if hungrier. The Meritage wasn't that great, but free alcohol is free alcohol, shouldn't complain (never had a decent Meritage). Strolled back to our room and did some rehydration. Wanted dessert and found this homemade ice cream place. It was ok, very airy and light ice cream. Tasted healthier than say Baskin Robbins. Called it a night.
Planned to hit two more vineyards today for tasting so wanted a full stomach in the morning to cushion the ride. Found this breakfast place in the older part of town. It was pretty good. Nothing like omelettes, country fried steaks, thick cut bacon, red velvet pancakes to fill you up. Checked out of our room and proceeded to the next winery down the road. Wiens had the reds we were looking for. The cab/syrah blend was delicious, as well as their domestique which is a grenache blend. They took our 2 for 1 tasting coupon despite being a holiday (coupon not valid). We got 6 tastings and the lady who took care of us let us taste the reserves and some off menu pinot noir/futures. They also have some tables and chairs outside, perfect for a picnic. Weins is just wine, no restaurant nor hotel on premises. The lady stated that wineries that expand out tend to lose focus on the most important things, the wine. I tend to agree. The reds at Weins were much better. And they were pretty heavy pours for a tasting. Not as crowded as Ponte, but then it was Monday morning. Nothing like drinking at 10:30am.
Wanted to get more food before our next tasting and went to the local grocer. Got some sandwiches, got some greens from the salad bar, some soup as well. Went to Wilson Creek next. It was a lot more crowded and more commercialized like Ponte. Good thing they had lots of tables and chairs throughout the property for our little picnic. Too bad the tasting room felt like a bar with me trying to hail down some dude to get our tastings. They seemed understaffed compared to Weins. The reds they had were nothing special. Surprisingly the Family reserve chardonnay was one of the better white wines I tasted in a while. Went great with my Boar's Head turkey sandwich I picked up from the market. Their white Cab is their most popular, it was ok, again a sweet wine. The sound of construction on the premises kinda killed the tranquility.
Next time, grab food from Baron's and proceed directly to Weins!
Planned to hit two more vineyards today for tasting so wanted a full stomach in the morning to cushion the ride. Found this breakfast place in the older part of town. It was pretty good. Nothing like omelettes, country fried steaks, thick cut bacon, red velvet pancakes to fill you up. Checked out of our room and proceeded to the next winery down the road. Wiens had the reds we were looking for. The cab/syrah blend was delicious, as well as their domestique which is a grenache blend. They took our 2 for 1 tasting coupon despite being a holiday (coupon not valid). We got 6 tastings and the lady who took care of us let us taste the reserves and some off menu pinot noir/futures. They also have some tables and chairs outside, perfect for a picnic. Weins is just wine, no restaurant nor hotel on premises. The lady stated that wineries that expand out tend to lose focus on the most important things, the wine. I tend to agree. The reds at Weins were much better. And they were pretty heavy pours for a tasting. Not as crowded as Ponte, but then it was Monday morning. Nothing like drinking at 10:30am.
Wanted to get more food before our next tasting and went to the local grocer. Got some sandwiches, got some greens from the salad bar, some soup as well. Went to Wilson Creek next. It was a lot more crowded and more commercialized like Ponte. Good thing they had lots of tables and chairs throughout the property for our little picnic. Too bad the tasting room felt like a bar with me trying to hail down some dude to get our tastings. They seemed understaffed compared to Weins. The reds they had were nothing special. Surprisingly the Family reserve chardonnay was one of the better white wines I tasted in a while. Went great with my Boar's Head turkey sandwich I picked up from the market. Their white Cab is their most popular, it was ok, again a sweet wine. The sound of construction on the premises kinda killed the tranquility.
Next time, grab food from Baron's and proceed directly to Weins!
