20210723_140016Vineyards at Ponte Winery (July 2021)

While visiting Temecula, one cannot leave without going wine tasting. As the city is home to dozens of vineyards and wineries, it’s a must to go to at least one of them to sample the region’s wine. I like wine, and I like trying out wines from all over, so it was the perfect opportunity to do so while visiting my friend “M” over a long weekend last July.

We went wine tasting on my first full day in. After getting nicely dressed (I wore one of M’s dresses, since I didn’t bring my own), we headed out to our first wine-tasting venue– her mom was kind to drive us over, since we were uncertain just how long we would go for and we didn’t want to drive back if we were feeling the effects of the wine. It was only a 10-15 minute drive to our first wine tasting at Ponte Winery, and soon enough, we arrived.

Thus began our tasting at 11:00. We opted for a tasting of six types of wine, from a selection of different reds, whites, and desserts. I had four different whites (including dessert) and two reds. I recall enjoying perhaps two or three of them, but it was more for the experience than anything else. In general, I was excited to be wine tasting again, along with good company.

20210723_111516Wine tasting at Ponte Winery

received_4239313442774184Photo shoot at Ponte Winery

However, I soon ran into a problem: after six flights (and each sample was miniscule), I was already starting to feel the effects of the wine. I admit that I do lean on the side of being lightweight, but it was also due to the fact that I hadn’t eaten much that morning (only some toast, maybe some eggs)– in retrospect, I should’ve eaten something heftier beforehand. And since leaving France, where it’d been normal to regularly have wine for meals and with friends, I’d not been drinking very much, so my tolerance for alcohol plummeted. I was already feeling drunk, and although I laugh back on it today, I was feeling embarrassed then.

20210723_125854Pizza and mimosa at Ponte Winery

I did try to remedy it by having some pizza for lunch at that tasting room, but by then, it was too late– I did my best to tough it out as we went to South Coast Winery where M continued on, as well as to Churon Winery where I did my best to finish a flight of dessert wines, but by then, I already tapped out. We returned to M’s around 17:00, and I did my best to recover for the rest of the day.

20210723_141641South Coast Winery

20210723_152443Dessert wine flight at Churon Winery

My wine-tasting experience in Temecula fell a bit flat, just because I couldn’t handle my wine. Call it getting old or “out of practice,” but I think having a burger or something very greasy and filling beforehand would’ve made a difference in my stamina. Well, you live and you learn!

Overall, my four days in Temecula were a blast, thanks to great company from M and all of the delicious food and drink I consumed. It was a much-needed break from work, and I returned to the office that following Monday feeling rejuvenated. There’s a lot to see and do in Temecula, and I’d be keen on revisiting to check out more of the food scene– and a redo of my wine-tasting adventures.

Thanks for reading! More travels coming soon. 🙂

— Rebecca

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Published by Rebecca

Blogger, world traveler, poet, foodie, part-time penguin. Welcome!

40 thoughts on “Destination: Temecula, California (Part 2)”

  1. Sorry, it wasn’t as enjoyable as you hoped! Something I’ve had to get used to wine tasting is being ok with spitting some of it out. I know it seems a shame to “waste” some good wine that way, but hey it’s also about the experience and discovering what you like and trying things out.

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  3. Visiting three wineries in one day is quite a day trip. Thank you for sharing your pretty pictures and your experience. You’re right: you live and you learn. The important thing is you felt rejuvenated after your vacation!

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    1. Three wineries was a total marathon! Even though I came out of it exhausted, I still had a good time being outdoors and enjoying the warm summer weather. Definitely felt rejuvenated at the end of my stay!

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  8. The glasses look quite big! It was unfortunate that you didn’t get to line your stomach beforehand. I feel the same nowadays if I haven’t drank for months and then I have 2 glasses and I’m like, ok, that’s enough haha.

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  10. What a beautiful, chilled-out place Rebecca. Don’t worry, I’m a bit of a lightweight too when it comes to alcohol. A couple of beers is usually enough to send me to sleep. The food also looked great, in fact I could murder that pizza right now.

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  15. Ah, I think I would have felt drunk very quickly, just like you! There’s also nothing to be embarassed about (and this will probably be a fun anecdote in the future)! I also noticed that when I was living in a big house with lot of young flatmates my tolerance for alcohol was much higher than it is now ahah, there is definitely such thing as “being out of practice”!

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    1. Yes, I look back and find it funny now…but I hope not to repeat the same mistake again! I was the exact same when I lived with roommates, as we would party and drink more than what I do now…definitely requires practice (albeit within limits)! 😅

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  16. I have never been to a vineyard before and never done wine tasting of any kind. This seems like the way to do it! I’ll need to get to California for some wine tasting someday. It looks stunning! And that pizza looks de-lish!!

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