32575 Rancho California Road
Temecula, CA 92589
(951) 699-0099
Temecula lies about an hour northeast of San Diego. We tagged along with my folks for their weekend mahjong session and decided to do a little sightseeing. First, we stopped by the local casino, Pechanga, and promptly lost forty bucks. We decided to try our luck elsewhere. Using our GPS, we went in search of a winery.
Temecula has quite a few wineries, although nothing on the scale of Napa or Sonoma's. The winery area here is in very hilly terrain, where crops used to grow and cattle used to graze. It seems to have undergone quite a development boom, with a lot of new houses sprouting up.
Thornton Winery looks like a pretty hooked up winery that accomodates guests by the busload. Their restaurant was jam packed with weekend revelers (looked like a birthday party). They also have a standing-only area by a terrace, where they have their popular wines available. We did not have enough time to stay for their winery tour, unfortunately.
Thornton specializes in the champagne method of sparkling wine. We were initially thinking of trying one tasting flight each. We were advised that they provide a healthy pour for tastings, and a flight of five wines would amount to at least a glass and a half. Since it was brutally hot that day, we reasoned that all that alcohol would certainly go straight to our heads and quite dull our tastebuds. DJKung and I settled for a glass each.
DJKung ordered their 2003 champagne, which was pretty good. It was light and a bit on the dry side. I got their 2007 Voignier, which was lush and fruity, went well with the apps we got.
Tasting menu.
This was the tapas plate we got. Ain't it purty? Clockwise from top left: European charcuterie (looks like air-dried ham), fire-roasted peppers, marinated artichokes, garlic shrimp. Center is marinated goat cheese with cracker. Everything was yummy and good for pickin's.
We picked up a few bottles to bring home, a house red wine, a gewurztraminer, a moscato and a late harvest zinfandel. They were having a sale on these, and we basically got them for half-price. The whites were on the light and fruity side, and we were very surprised. DJKung's dad liked them.
Box of wine to bring home. In foreground is a little veggie garden where they grow herbs and tomatoes that they use.
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