Tag Archives: wine tasting

During our trip to Temecula, we knew we had to visit at least one local vineyard while we were there.  It is wine country after all!  After attending the Balloon and Wine Festival, taking a hot air balloon ride, and a generally action packed schedule we only had the energy to visit one winery on the last day of our vacation.

I really wish we could have visited more, but boy, did we pick a good one for our only wine tasting stop!

Wilson Creek Winery is known for their Almond Champagne, which we figured must be pretty popular when we saw their hot air balloon during the “Balloon Glow” at the Balloon and Wine Festival.

Obviously we had try it, and wow, it did not disappoint!  If you’re a fan of sparkling wine, you must try it!  It’s the perfect wine to drink during those hot summer days in Temecula!

Wine tastings are $15 per person on weekdays and $20 per person on weekends.  We did two tastings and shared both of them, which is what we usually do so we can try more.  Not sure if they changed their policy on that and if you can still share, as this was a couple of years ago, but it’s definitely worth a try!

We tried a variety of reds, whites, sparkling and ports, and loved everything!  They also serve food at their onsite restaurant, although we were there too early for lunch so we didn’t get to try anything.  Everything sounded really good though!  After our tastings, we spent most of our time exploring the grounds, which are absolutely gorgeous.  Take a look at these photos and I’m sure you’ll agree!

I’m sure you can tell from the photos that they do a lot of weddings here.  If you’re in the market for a fairytale wedding at a beautiful vineyard, be sure to check out their website for all the details!

If you have the time to visit more vineyards, you should definitely do so – I doubt you’ll have a bad experience at any of them.  But if your schedule is too packed and you can only visit one like we did, I hope this post helped with your decision.  Remember to try the almond champagne, and then let me know how much you liked it in the comments section below!

And if you’re looking for more things to do in Temecula, be sure to check out my post!  You’ll find food suggestions, hotel recommendations, and lots more!

As you may have read in my Things To Do in Temecula post, a few years ago I decided to surprise Daniel with a big birthday trip to Temecula.  Specifically, to attend the Balloon and Wine Festival!  Daniel has always surprised me with weekend getaways for my birthday, and that particular year I was finally not a starving artist and could reciprocate!  I had many different travel ideas and options, but the Balloon and Wine Festival stood out amongst them all.  Mostly because Daniel and I love to go wine tasting, and the prospect of taking a hot air balloon ride was too amazing to pass up (hello, bucket list)!  It was a clear winner!

The Balloon and Wine Festival is held every year in Temecula, CA, which is about 2-3 hours away from Los Angeles.  Tickets vary based on what you want to see and do, packages, etc.  I bought general admission tickets online for Friday, which were $22 each.  I also bought parking for $5.  The festival typically lasts three days, and offers a variety of entertainment each day.

Obviously, one of the main attractions is the wine.  There are a plethora of local wineries and vendors situated throughout the entire festival.  You’ll need to buy beverage tickets when you arrive – we chose to buy a package that came with commemorative wine glasses ($15 each).  If you like physical mementos, I highly suggest doing the same.  We use the glasses all the time, and they invoke wonderful memories every single time.  Tip:  When we were talking to the woman selling us drink tickets, we mentioned it was our first time attending and she threw in a bunch of tickets for free!  Not saying this will happen to everyone, but worth mentioning just in case, right?!

If I’m remembering correctly, I believe 1 tasting cost 2 tickets and a full glass cost 4 tickets.  Another Tip:  We found a few vendors that gave us full glasses for only 2 tickets.  We chose to mainly go there to get our buzz on, and then dispersed our remaining tickets for the wines and champagnes we were really interested in trying.  Sooo, if you want to get tipsy, be sure to scope out all the booths before you use too many tickets!

They also serve beer if you’re with someone that doesn’t drink wine, and there’s also a bunch of food vendors serving up typical festival fare so you’re not drinking on an empty stomach.  Here are a few of our favorite things we tried:

Grilled sausage with peppers

These fried pickles were AMAZING!

This was an “Indian taco” – the photos don’t do this justice.  It was incredible!

Other than wine, there is also musical entertainment on Friday and Saturday.  Usually it’s either country or popular 90s bands.  It’s a serious flashback if you grew up during that time!

The 2nd big attraction at the festival is the hot air balloons.  The festival coordinates hot air ballon rides in the morning on Saturday and Sunday.  If you read my Hot Air Balloon ride post, then you know that I chose to schedule a private ride for Daniel since it was his birthday.  But the festival rides would be a great option for anyone on a budget, and/or wants one stop shopping.  Tips:  1. Be aware that you will need to be there SUPER early in the morning, balloons have to take off as soon as the sun comes up and they have to get everyone checked in well before that.  2. Dress in layers!  It will start out cold and then become incredibly hot, also bring a hat because the fire overhead will be intense.  3. I also suggest bringing sunglasses, as the sun gets pretty brutal.  4. Lastly, hold on tight and be prepared that it could be a bumpy landing!

General tips:  Even if you’re not taking a balloon ride, be sure to dress in layers for the festival regardless.  It will most likely be very hot during the day and cool off considerably at night.  Bring lots of sunscreen, and something to cover up with – there was practically no shade when we went.

Another main attraction, and what Daniel and I were most looking forward to (besides the wine), was the “Balloon Glow.”  On Friday and Saturday night, local companies bring in their finest hot air balloons to delight festival goers with a spectacular show of light and music.  I’d highly suggest going on Friday or Saturday just so you can see this.  Trust me, you really don’t want to miss it.  Check out some photos below!

Once the sun goes down, you’ll see the balloons start to inflate.  It was pretty amazing to see up close!

Once it’s fully dark, the Balloon Glow will begin.

This champagne shaped hot air balloon was one of the few that was promoting their winery, instead of their sponsor.  We checked out Wilson Creek Winery the next day, which you can read about here.

It was one of the most amazing festivals I’ve ever attended, and an all around incredible experience in Temecula.  I truly hope we’ll be able to go back one day soon!  If I’ve piqued your interest and you’re thinking about attending the festival this year, or just taking a trip to Temecula, be sure to check out my Things To Do in Temecula post.  You’ll find lots of food recommendations, hotel suggestions, and so much more!

Daniel and I love wine tasting, and when we heard there were great vineyards in Oregon we definitely wanted to check them out.  If you saw my Rockaway Beach post, you know that we decided to stop at a few on our way to the Oregon coast.  We chose to do wine tasting in Forest Grove because it was the closest to our original route.  It’s only about 45 minutes outside of Portland, so it’s also doable as just a day trip.

Our first stop was the David Hill Winery and Vineyard!

The wine tastings are in this adorable house below.

The David Hill Vineyard had really great reviews on Google, which was one of the reasons we stopped there first.  And no wonder!  The staff was very friendly and knowledgeable, and it wasn’t overly crowded, so we were able to ask as many questions as we wanted.

They had a nice variety of wine, and everything I tried was excellent.  Wine tasting is only $5 for 7 wines!  Pretty big difference from when we used to go tasting in Santa Barbara, CA!  While there were a number of wines I would have loved to take home, we decided on a bottle of their Estate Gewürztraminer.  Highly recommend if you like a refreshing white!

They also have a variety of other local products available for purchase in the tasting room.  Including cheese, crackers, and sausages.

While it was a bit too cold when we went, during the nicer months it would be fun to by a bottle and snacks, and have a picnic!

They have a few picnic tables outside, as you can see from the picture.  Their grounds are really pretty, it would be a great atmosphere for a relaxing lunch outside.

But don’t take my word for it, take a look at the photos below!

I think we’ll definitely be coming back here!

Our 2nd stop was Shafer Vineyard Cellars, which had one of the best views by far!

The draw to this vineyard was the complimentary cheese and crackers, which I’m a total sucker for.  They also had good reviews on Google.

This seemed like a smaller, more family run vineyard than the last.  In fact, the only person in the tasting room was the wife of the late owner.  She was so incredibly nice, and she even waived our tasting fee (which was only $5 to begin with)!

Shafer Vineyard also had a great variety of wines, and we decided to buy a bottle of their “Holiday Magic Wine,” which is a gluhwein.  Can’t wait to have it over the holidays!

The tasting room was a little small and a bit busier, but luckily they had a huge Christmas shop to explore in between tastings!

They seriously had any kind of ornament you could possibly think of!  It was also fun to see these huge tanks of wine!

I would definitely recommend this vineyard.  Here are a few more pictures of the gorgeous grounds!

A fountain was recently installed as a memorial for the late owner of the vineyard, Harvey Shafer.

Another place we were hoping to check out was Bull Run Cider, but unfortunately they were closed when we were there on a Sunday.  We certainly have not even scratched the surface of vineyards in Oregon, but this was a great start.  If you are headed towards the Oregon Coast or looking for a day trip, definitely check these vineyards out!  And if you’re looking for more things to do on your way to the coast, don’t miss my full romantic getaway post!