Enjoying the wine country: Temecula

Two Sundays ago we decided to take advantage of the break in the rain to head for Temecula, which is a town only about a half hour away from our current house. In spite of the attempts to commercialize the wine tasting business to a point where it is no longer fun, it can still be a great way to spend an afternoon. For the views alone it is worth the short drive.



This California wine country is pretty much unknown outside of southern California. Although it is a fairly new region, I have had nothing but delicious wines there of all kinds of varieties. We ended up joining the wine club of Europa Village, a European-style winery featuring outstanding Spanish (think Tempranillo), French (think Syrah), and Italian (Sangiovese) style wines. We came away with a full case of wine, most of which were a greatly reduced price 2006 Syrah. These wines joined our 2000 Bordeaux from France in the basement, although I can't be certain how long any of them will last. Knowing how often we move, it seems a little silly NOT to drink them up instead of carting them around with us.

This should be good news to all the guests we are hoping to host in the coming months. Other welcoming news includes the appearance of ripe oranges, tangerines, and tangelos on our trees. I picked about a half dozen before taking off on our yearly Thanksgiving Idaho adventure. Guests can also look forward to watching amazing sunrises over the eastern mountains, as well as fabulous sunsets over the distant Pacific.

I get up almost every day just prior to sunrise, but have only watched it once so far. Mainly I am afraid of the coyotes in the morning, but our daring dog duo of Sally and Shadow seemed to have pushed the coyotes a greater distance from the house.