SoCal #53: Temecula Gathering?
2Though my home base is generally out with the NoVA crowd, my wife and I will be renting a house in Temecula for a month this winter from the end of Feb till the end of March. I thought I might find interest for some of the SoCal group to come out to Temecula for a tasting. With a little foreknowledge of the size of the group, I could probably arrange a couple of winery tastings, followed by more at the house. We are renting a nice size home with plenty of room. Possible dates are the weekend of Feb 22nd or March 16th. Not sure if there is generally a preference for Saturday or not. March 16th weekend is preferred as I will have friends visiting, that I’m sure would enjoy it.
If someone else is planning to host something in the SoCal area, I could join if over the weekend of February 22nd. It would be great to see some folks that I haven’t in several years.
- 29 comments, 77 replies
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I think both of those weekends could work. We’d have to figure out how to deal with our little one, though, if coming out to Temecula.
My wife and I are always interested in drinking wine
and wouldn’t mind making a trip out to Temecula.
Possibly!
March should be fine, preferably on a Saturday.
Subday, Feb 24th is the Oscars, and I have a prior commitment on th 23rd as well.
I’m sure @rjquillin will claim your backyard for sleeping!
Sounds interesting…March is better for me, Saturday is ideal.
Anything new on this front?
OK lets plan on March 16. I wont actually get out there till next week. I will be better able to plan then.
@hershelk March 16 in Temecula. Check. We’ll see what we can do to make this work!
@hershelk @klezman @losthighwayz Is this instead of SoCal 52?
@davirom @hershelk @losthighwayz Extra bonus gathering! SoCal 52 is for Larry Shaffer to come join us.
@davirom @hershelk @klezman @losthighwayz
I’m confused.
@davirom @hershelk @losthighwayz @rjquillin
You confuse too easily
We’re working on a date for a group gathering where the guest of honour will be Larry Shaffer. AKA the owner/winemaker of Tercero. That is currently dubbed SoCal #52. Tentative dates are March 2 and March 9, although we’re waiting on Larry to respond there.
This is a bonus, seeing as how @hershelk will be in the area and it’d be nice to welcome an opposite-coaster with a nice evening of wine and fun. This one doesn’t have a number - you know, just in case that’s the part that’s confusing.
@davirom @hershelk @klezman @losthighwayz
It seemed like the two may have merged, and/or Larry may just come to Temecula.
My brain is old, feeble and full of too much other junk, err, knowledge, to keep the mundane details of daily life and consumption sorted out.
Sorry I didn’t give it a number. I would change the listing to SoCal #53 if I knew how. I was going to be in the area for a while and thought it might be nice to connect/reconnect with some west coasters. I have a couple friends visiting for the weekend that I know would enjoy it as well. Temecula is a great little wine region. If I can get a good sense of number of attendees I can probably set up a tasting at a close by vineyard first. Hope to see you all there. If I can make I will try to come to #52, but I know we will have guests visiting both weekends.
@hershelk
Sadly, I don’t think you can edit the title like we could at old site by editing our initial post. Only alternative is to create new thread with new title. But that might confuse people (like rjq?) who don’t keep up.
And I’m sure new victims … err, your fiends … err, friends would be fine to join us. Although it might be more in LA area, so maybe 45 to 60 minutes driving from Temecula(or more). Forgot to check there 1st for place before checking here.
@hershelk
@JavaDrinker used to be in Ponte’s WC. And I was in Leoness and Weins wine clubs. We all enjoyed Hart as well. Maurice Car’rie as well with their baked brie breads.
@hershelk
West LA/Culver City is #52’s location.
@javadrinker @MarkDaSpark I am in Ponte’s, Leoness, and Vindemia wine clubs. The VRBO in Temecula looks to be walking distance to Leoness, or at least pretty close, so I thought about setting up a tasting there.
@hershelk @MarkDaSpark
I’m thinking one of the mods @thumperchick @shawn may be able to assist…?
@hershelk @MarkDaSpark @rjquillin @shawn
/giphy moderator magic
@MarkDaSpark @rjquillin @shawn @Thumperchick and Wala … #53 it is.
@hershelk @rjquillin @shawn @Thumperchick
Wala? I think you meant Viola!
@hershelk @MarkDaSpark @rjquillin @shawn @Thumperchick
Or is it Voila?
@chipgreen @MarkDaSpark @rjquillin @shawn @Thumperchick
In my minds eye, at the time, it sounded like Wala and I exuberantly wrote it down. In my defense I am currently out sick.
@chipgreen. Thus the “winks”.
@chipgreen @hershelk @rjquillin @shawn @Thumperchick
Autocorrect sounds much more plausible. Plus we only have 5 minutes to correct it. Hope you get better.
@MarkDaSpark
Well, that explains it. I thought the emoji for “J/K” was THREE winks.
@chipgreen.
No, no, no. Three winks are a Triple Cross!
Two are “J/K”.
@davirom @hershelk @klezman @losthighwayz @MarkDaSpark @rjquillin @shawn @Thumperchick @klezman I wanted to get back to this and make sure people are still interested in March 16th. Please let me know if you are planning to come and let me now the best way to send you the address and directions. We are renting a pretty nice home in the hills near Temecula wine country. I also wanted to know if anyone was interested in me setting up a tasting at a winery. In that case we need to start earlier as they close at 5 and I’m not sure the latest time they would run one for a group. I would expect we probably could schedule one at 3:30 or 4:00. Otherwise, what time do you usually start wine gatherings in SoCA? I will have a bunch of Temecula wines that can be the basis for the gathering.
@hershelk Thanks for reaching out, but we will not be able to make it. Hope everyone has a great time!
@hershelk Is there spare space for people to sleep there or would we need to get a hotel? We may make a weekend out of it and also visit some relatives near SD.
@klezman For Saturday night, we currently have an additional guest bedroom that is available and I could put your name on it. In addition, there is a game room with a door and a couch and half bath that could be used plus we have 4 rolling beds and several large couches.
@hershelk Well, put our name on it for now then. Thanks!
Who else is going to make it? @merbill? @losthiwayz? @CorTot? @rjquillin?
@hershelk @klezman @rjquillin We wont be making it.
@hershelk Put me down for likely at this point.
The availability of some horizontal space is much appreciated.
@rjquillin @kletzman Great, see you then. I will also have two friends in from VA.
@hershelk I’m working on getting a pass from my family. Much less driving needed than the last gathering.
@hershelk @klezman @rjquillin We’re a “maybe” at this point for the 16th. Sounds like a fun gathering. If we go, we’ll want to make the winery tasting, and we won’t be staying overnight. Probably. The 23rd would be a no-go due to other plans.
@klezman @merrybill @rjquillin The date is the 16th. Hope you can make it. Not sure who is in for a winery tasting. It would need to be earlier in the day. I will try to arrange it this week.
@hershelk @klezman @merrybill
Not that I have any suggestions, but what wineries are under consideration?
@klezman @merrybill @rjquillin As a Leoness member I can get an annual special tasting for I think up to 8 people with a discount beyond that. Another possibility I was thinking if that didn’t work is Bottaia, or maybe Vindemia where I am a member as well, but not a great option if the weather stays cold.
@hershelk @merrybill @rjquillin Traffic and kiddo nap timing will likely dictate whether we can make an earlier tasting.
What about @MarkdaSpark and @i8dacat and others?
@hershelk. 16th is a go! I’ll probably get a hotel room for the night.
IIRC, the usual start time for gatherings is around 5pm. So one or two winery visits are fine, maybe one at 2pm and another around 3:30? Or just one at 3pm?
Leoness is fine with me. We also went to Hart, Maurice Car’rie Vineyard (great baked brie loaf), Ponte, and Wiens. So any of those would be fine with me as a 2nd (or first before Leoness).
And I should probably start reviewing what wines I need to bring and locate the older (Merbill’s Scott Harvey ones) before the whining starts. Newer Casemates case shares are easy to find.
@hershelk @i8dacat @MarkDaSpark @merrybill @rjquillin
It’s only 90 minutes in good traffic, so we can likely make a tasting. I haven’t had Temecula wine for a few years…curious to see if it’s improved!
Will the tasting room allow a toddler to walk around or are they strict about that sort of thing?
Also what should food arrangements be for dinner? We’re happy to stop by a grocery store, get some stuff, cook, or to contribute to ordering a pile of pizza or whatever.
@hershelk @klezman @MarkDaSpark @merrybill @rjquillin My wife and I are in! We’d also be happy to contribute towards dinner arrangements, what is the wine theme of the night?
@i8dacat @klezman @MarkDaSpark @merrybill @rjquillin Glad to see so many people in for the event. I am hoping to get something set up with Leoness which may be located in a separate event area that may be toddler friendly. I will check with the wineries, got waylaid today but hope to make some arrangements tomorrow. Food wise I haven’t thought a lot about it yet. There is a grill here, but I haven’t checked it out. I expect we will make some kind of main dish while happy to take contributions on the rest. We are currently here looking at the possibility of getting a winter place in Temecula. How about a theme around wines of southern California. Nothing farther away then Santa Barbara, but I am just as happy for a general free for all. I will have wines from a couple Temecula vineyards (monthly membership allotment)
We are a solid maybe. I will confirm by this Saturday if not too late.
@i8dacat @klezman @MarkDaSpark @merrybill @rjquillin @losthighwayz @radiolysis I have arranged a 4:00pm tasting at Leoness Wines which is a hosted, paired wine and cheese tasting that should go till 5:00pm. Leoness is close to where the house is. Cost is covered by my membership. Please let me know by a day or two before if you plan to attend the Leoness tasting. For those who might be interested, I talked with the folks at Vindemia, one of my favorites, and if people would like to meet there by 2:45, we can taste - no need to book before hand. I can cover a bunch with my membership, but I get a discount as well, so I will just cover it if needed. Let me know if you plan to join us there. If it is a large group, I may want to call ahead and we may want to get there earlier. Toddlers are welcome. I will whisper directions to the house when we get closer so that if you do not attend the tastings, you know where to go. We should be back there by around 5:30pm. If anyone else would like to join us, please let me know.
@hershelk myself and a +1 are in. I’ll scare up some food to bring. And you’re thinking SoCal wine as the theme?
@hershelk We’ll figure out whether we can make the first tasting or only the second. Either way, we’ll share our tasting to make sure there’s room for others.
SoCal wine, eh? I don’t have much of that. We’ll see what we’ve got!
@hershelk. 4:00 tasting is a go. We’ll see about the 2:45 one.
Probably bring my fruit salad, and maybe something else. Cheeses?
We’re in for the later tasting too, can’t wait. Will have to see what we can contribute but will have to be gluten free for the wifey.
@rjquillin if you’re going to make this event, do you want me to bring your bottles?
@radiolysis Good point.
Who else has bottles for us? @MarkDaSpark does. I doubt @rjquillin has taken a large shipment from Monica.
I have wine for @CorTot and Kyle, but I don’t think he’s coming.
OK, I have the following:
@klezman + 1: Will make the 4:00 tasting, not sure about the first. Also have bids on the spare bedroom.
@MarkDaSpark : Is coming to the 4:00 tasting, the first is a maybe. Are you coming with someone?
@i8dacat + 1: Will make the 4:00 tasting (I happen to have a loaf of decent gluten free bread)
@radiolysis + 1: Are coming, but please let me know if you will be at the 4:00 tasting.
@losthighwayz + 1: Is a maybe. It is fine to come to the house, but I might not be able to get you into the 4:00 tasting. I’ll shoot you my cell.
@rjquillin : Is a maybe. Let me know as soon as you can if you plan to make the 4:00 tasting or not.
With my wife and I and our visiting friends I have 9 for the 4:00 tasting with 5 more maybes.
At this point, I am thinking of just making it easier and not doing the first tasting at Vindemia. I will have some of their wine here. I could be persuaded otherwise though.
I was planning on getting food at the farmers market in the morning including some wonderful empanadas and meat and veggies to grill. Love to have people bring side dishes, salads, food to nosh, and desserts. I will whisper the address and contact info.
@hershelk Sounds great!
We will only take up one spot for the tasting. Let more folks enjoy it as well.
@hershelk absolutely making a 4pm. Anything earlier is spotty, as we’ll be leaving San Diego around 2.
@radiolysis Great. I decided to cancel the earlier tasting. Will probably take you 1 - 1.5 hours to get here. However, the weather is finally supposed to be nice, so there may be slower traffic going through wine country. I’ll send out the address of the house and location of the wine tasting. If you get to town early you can come to the house first, otherwise, just head to Leoness Cellars.
@hershelk fantastic!
@hershelk, et al …
Sorry, but I probably won’t make it this weekend. My uncle passed away 2 weeks ago, and his funeral was last Thursday, and I’m still not over his loss.
I was looking forward to this weekend, but I didn’t realize how my uncle’s loss would affect me.
@hershelk @MarkDaSpark Sorry to hear that Sparky. Let us know if we can do anything for you.
@MarkDaSpark I am so sorry to hear that. I was looking forward to catching up. Reveling in our Revelry so to speak. I hope you feel better and come join us. We can raise a glass in honor of your uncle. If not, next time.
@hershelk @klezman. Thanks!
I too, was looking forward to a “High Five Red” mini-reunion. I may see if klez can transport some wine on Saturday. Maybe I’ll find the Teldeschi he keeps reminding me at the last minute about.
@hershelk @MarkDaSpark
You’ve also, at least according to my notes, have 4x 2013 Iron Horse unoaked Chard, and at some point there was discussion about Roessler Chard, but I honestly don’t care one way or the other about that. If the Iron Horse is lost to history that’s fine too, just let me know.
But that Teldeschi, I wants it! So good!
@klezman @MarkDaSpark
There’s an entire case of IH unbaked MdS picked up from WebWine for me that was purchased on 8/31/2015 that still needs to be located.
@MarkDaSpark @rjquillin Yup, that’s the one I’m referring to. I won’t be upset if it’s lost to the winds, but I just want to know if that’s the case so I can remove them from CT.
@klezman @rjquillin. I’m still pretty sure that one was dropped off well over a year ago at klezman’s, during a gathering. I kept that box close to the door I’m the walk-in locker, and I don’t see it there. I will check again, but I’m 95% sure that was delivered.
@klezman @MarkDaSpark
Just inventoried all at Klez’ a couple months ago when >70% of the volume was moved to a locker. While we located 46 bottles or IH, only 6 were 2013 and those were all the Estate bottling.
Gotta dig deeper…
@klezman @rjquillin
Like I said, I will look again, but I’m pretty sure that box was dropped off back in 2017 or late 2016. So you should have already picked it up. But will dig next trip down.
@klezman @MarkDaSpark
Ahhh, it’s a “Lost” case!
@MarkDaSpark @rjquillin The thing you’re missing is that very few cases that landed here ever went home with Ron!
I also always removed any wine allocated to me immediately on receiving a case. Pretty much to prevent exactly this sort of possibility.
@merrybill + 1 is also a maybe. Please let us know if you are coming and whether you will make the 4:00 tasting.
@hershelk Just found out today family is flying in Friday for a short visit. How that affects our Saturday is yet to be determined. It’s SWMBO’s brother so I might just come by myself, if I can. He’s not a wino or I’d bring him with us. If we/I do make it, I really want to be at the 4:00 tasting.
I, like merrybill, was just informed last night younger daughter and grandson are arriving Saturday.
So much for a ~short drive to Temecula, compared to the normal longer drive to LA to pull corks with friends.
Next time…
@rjquillin Boo
@i8dacat, @klezman, @losthighwayz, @MarkDaSpark, @merrybill, and @radiolysis We have a hot tub/spa at the house, so you may want to bring bathing suits.
@losthighwayz, @MarkDaSpark, @merrybill if you think you might make it to the tasting at Leoness, please let me know. I’ll need to give them a count by around 1. Hope to see you tonight.
@hershelk it will only be me for the tasting, my wife will meet up at the house afterwards. Thanks
Not totally sure what we’re bringing yet, but it will likely include our favourite cheese to just eat alongside some wine. Maybe a big ol’ Hebrew National salami to throw on the grill. But I’m not sure there’s enough of us to warrant the 2 pounds of salami.
We will probably also stop at a grocery store between the winery and the house to pick up a couple other supplies. We can round out whatever is needed at that time.
@klezman
[Midwestern girl interrupting your regular SoCal programming]
Whoa, whoa, whoa!!! Back up the truck!!!
You GRILL a whole salami??? Why have I never heard of such a thing? I’m gonna need some food porn photos of this. Please. And samples. Send samples.
[You may now resume your regular programming]
@karenhynes @klezman I’ve seen these, and consumed;
Highly endorse.
With midwestern roots, I’ve also attempted to replicate,
with moderate success.
@karenhynes No time to write it up now. But it’s easy. And delicious. But you can’t use a dried salami, only the kind like Hebrew National or Chicago 58 (which, ironically, is a Toronto-based brand).
@i8dacat, @klezman, @losthighwayz, @MarkDaSpark, @merrybill, and @radiolysis we picked up chicken and veggies to grill, plus we have some beef and spinach empanadas from the farmers market. Lisa also made some potato salad. nibbles for having with wine and desserts would be appreciated.
@hershelk I’ll have jalapeno poppers and orange salad. And wine. Of course.
@radiolysis Sounds great.
@hershelk As you might have guessed by now, we won’t make the tasting. However, we will both be at the house by 6 (if traffic allows). We will bring something for dessert and an interesting SoCal wine.
@hershelk we made it early to leoness, so let me know when you arrive
@radiolysis we are here in the main tasting room. I am wearing a dark blue polo shirt and I am near the entrance to the members terrace.
@merrybill great we will see you there.
@hershelk Google predicts 2 hours instead of the 1 hour it should take. Ugh, damn flower bloom!
@merrybill a lot of delays. We won’t get back to the house till 6 or so. We will have plenty of food and drink. See you when you get there.
Craptastic…15 looks terrible and so does getting to Corona to then get on 15. I hope we can make it in time.
@klezman We will let the winery know there was some bad traffic and to keep a look out for you in case you arrive little late.
@hershelk Cool. We’re getting on the road shortly. The oracle estimates we’ll be roughly on time given current conditions.
@hershelk Thanks for hosting, you and Lisa were great host and very welcoming. We had a great time. Good luck on the new place.
@i8dacat It was great meeting you and Darcy. Lisa and I hope to see you out here in the future.
Thanks for hosting such a nice gathering. Good to see familiar faces and meet new friends too. We loved all the empanadas and the potato salad. Glad to hear you and Lisa will be in the area semi-permanently, and we’re looking forward to more get-togethers.
@merrybill It was lovely seeing you and Mary. We look forward to more gatherings in the future.
What Bill and Bruce said!
Ditto. It was great having you all over. Hope to see more of you in the future.
It was fantastic! The tasting experience was great, and the after dinner chats were fun. We sure do have a good community here.
Do we get a damages report, or were no notes/lists taken?
Geeze; gotta train all the noobs here, but the vets shoulda known and taken bottle shots to post.
Or was it all just ginger ale?
@rjquillin Not even that exciting. Tap water.
Lets see if i remember
2016 San Pasqual Rose of Cab Franc
2016 Timbre “Opening Act” Rose of Pinot Noir
2012 Wyatt Oaks Estate Syrah
2016 Tercero Cinsault
2015? Vindemia “More Cowbell” Zinfandel
??? Danza del Sol Cab Franc?
NV Rancho de Philo Mission Triple Cream Sherry
A bottle of Leoness Cab Sauv was on the table still buttoned up when we left.
@radiolysis @rjquillin The Leoness did get opened.
The Cab Franc was, I think, a 2013?
So sorry I missed this. Was not in SD long . . .