Sunshine
*Wine*
Warmth
Great Eats
and even better Drinks.
This is basically our only criteria when we choose where we are going to go for our annual “Sunshine Trip” as we like to call it, well.. really just me. We have done Scottsdale Arizona, Cruise in the Bahamas and this year we decided southern California! For this location we made sure to make wine priority number one.
I wanted to give you guys the best info of all of the awesome places we went I am going to split it up by each location and by category for easy reference. You can find my Laguna Beach day details here. Our next day on the trip I will be giving you details about is…
Temecula
Temecula (teh-meck-ulah) I had to look it up on how to pronounce it so don’t judge. It is known as “Southern California Wine Country”. I was so excited that Chad wanted to go there and do some wine tasting/wine tours because, if you follow me on instagram you know we do our more than fair share of brewery touring and tasting. Wine is something that I love but Chad has never really taken the pause to learn about it. Not because he doesn’t want to but, usually breweries take up the majority of our time lol. Other than our pool days, because those are always a priority, this was the day I was looking forward to the most.
Where to Stay
Image courtesy of Groupon
Again full props to Chad on the hotel booking. We stayed at the Temecula Creek Inn right outside of the old town downtown area. The staff was so friendly here and welcoming. We were only in Temecula for one night as well so we weren’t able to appreciate the hotel as best as we could.
The hotel is a very popular wedding venue actually. It has this amazing courtyard with lots of couch seating with fireplaces and string lights that would be a perfect setting for a California outdoor wedding. The hotel also has a gym (limited machines but got the job done), pool, hot tub and sits on a 18 hole golf course. The rooms were spacious and clean and I believe most or the majority of rooms have a balcony that face the golf course.
Where to Eat & Drink
We were only in Temecula for one day as well so we weren’t able to explore this cute town very much. For our lunch, it was included in our wine tour and we ate at one of the wineries- Cougar Winery. It was the yummiest deli with wraps, sandwiches, salads and wood fire pizza. It is a great stop if you are planning to do a wine tour day!
For dinner we ate at Cork | Fire Kitchen which is the restaurant at Temecula Creek Inn. We were wanting to eat somewhere close after drinking all day at the wine tour. Walking into the restaurant we weren’t sure what to expect since we many chose this restaurant based on its proximity to our hotel room door but we were pleasantly surprised! When we walked in were were warmly greeted by name and the wait staff was friendly throughout the meal including managers stopping and asking how our meal was.
We split an appetizer and main course after our long day of wine drinking haha. For the first course we had literally the best Mac ‘n Cheese of our lives. It was full of bacon, asparagus and the cheese sauce was from scratch. Yum. I literally wanted to take a giant bowl back to the hotel room with me.
For dinner we got the seared scallops. They were cooked to perfection and topped with the best air fried shaved carrots and other root vegetables. We were very impressed with not only the level of service but the food was incredibly delicious.
If you want to venture outside of Temecula Creek Inn while we were at Leoness Cellar we discovered their beautiful restaurant. Though we did not eat there ourselves, after doing some research of our own and the raving review from our wine tour guide, I would highly recommend The Resturaunt at Leoness Cellars. Be prepared to spend a little money to eat there but I think the experience and the food would be absolutely worth it.
What to do
What else should we have done besides go on a wine tour?! The answer is always wine tour. Always always the answer. As mentioned earlier, Temecula is considered southern wine country of California. After some research, we booked our tour with Grapeline Wine Tour. They were first in the wine tour business to open in Temecula. Winerys are relatively new in Temecula, they are just now starting to boom. We did a 10am for 4pm tour including 4 wineries and lunch was provided. Wineries included Leoness Cellars, Cougar Winery, Vitagliano Winery and Peltzer Winery. Our favorite wine was probably a tie between Leoness and Peltzer and our favorite atmosphere was also a tie between Vitagliano and Peltzer.
Leoness Cellars
Leoness was a really cool spot and probably the most informational tour that we got the whole day. The tour guide took us on a tour of the grounds and the winery itself. We were impressed with their Meritage blend the most and Chad and I regret not getting a bottle!
Cougar Winery
Cougar was so tasty for lunch and had these amazing Adirondack chairs overlooking the grape trees. Chad and I were out there for most of the time soaking up as much sun as possible.
Vitagliano Winery
Vitagliano is also an up and coming wedding venue. They were currently under construction on some of their property but it was a relaxing atmosphere with all of the water features they have scattered throughout the property. Walking in it looks like you are going to a tuscan villa!
Peltzer Winery
Peltzer was probably my favorite winery as far as this this the place I would want to hangout for a couple hours. I loved the farm and rustic feel to this place because it reminded me a Michigan but also there isn’t another winery around there kind of taking this route of a farm chic vibe.
The tour was only Chad, myself and one other couple so it felt like a private tour. Our guide/driver for the day, Mike, was so much fun to spend the day with. He was energetic, funny and had mores stories to tell than anyone I’ve ever met. He never rushed us along or tried to push us out of a winery either which was really nice. I would highly recommend Grapeline Tours for your Temecula wine tour guide.
I had so much fun doing this wine tour with Chad, and for once, I showed him something that he hasn’t done before! Usually he is the one pushing me out of my comfort zone so the change up was a good. If you are short of time I would recommend Peltzer, Vitagliano and Leoness!
Peltzer is definitely the place to end at. They have the cutest merchandise, solid wine and bread parings with each tasting! I am not sure how it can get better with wine and bread. They also have the coolest and most chill atmosphere. Lots of places to hang out for a couple hours and sip some wine.
This is yet another little town that I wish we could have explored more. It was a great day of wine, good company and finished the day with an amazing dinner.
Missed my last post about our California trip? Find my Laguna Beach details here!
Happy and safe travels!
