OPENING OF THE WIENS FAMILY CELLARS

Last week marked the Grand Opening of the new Wiens Family Cellars, another fine winery in the growing Temecula Valley appellation. Visitors can inspect the new tasting room, event pavilion and wine production facility, just off Rancho California Road.

Wiens wasn’t born yesterday. The winery is owned by four of the Wiens brothers and supported by 46 members of the extended family, so no shortage of help in seeing this one to completion. Even the architectural design was created by George Wiens. Jeff Wiens is the manager and the most visible, with Joseph running the tasting room and Doug the vineyard manager and winemaker. The winery produces a broad range of California varietal estate-farmed wines. The family is known for its Gold Medal winning Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel, Syrah, Tempranillo and Sangiovese wines.

Each wine label contains the words: "quality, family and integrity" and Doug emphasized that "we intend to stand by those three words as our guiding principles."

Jeff revealed that the 12,000 square foot facility took some 4 million dollars to complete, was three years in the making and is part of a 10 acre spread. The family farms about 35 acres including land elsewhere in Southern California. The expected case production is up to 15,000. Learn more about Wiens at www.wienscellars.com.

There’s much more to see and enjoy at our neighbor, Temecula Wine Country.
Their biggest visitor event of the year is the Harvest Wine Celebration, Saturday and Sunday, November 4th and 5th from 10am to 4pm. Wine lovers from all over Southern California will fill the participating wineries and for good reason. It’s the end of the 2006 harvest and the owners and winemakers will be eager to talk about their current wines and how the grapes fared during the growing season.

A big bonus this year is the outstanding paired cuisine that accompanies the wine sampling. One by one, the wineries for the most part have added restaurants to their wineries, with no expense spared to acquire top chefs from metro areas. Will Greenwood, who applies his skills at Café Champagne at Thornton’s, stated that "I think Temecula is at the cutting edge of becoming a pretty big player for world-class restaurants." Falkner Winery joined the parade of fine dining by bringing in E. Dennis van Rumund and Cory Chung to run the kitchen at their new Pinnacle Restaurant. All great meals offer great wines from the house wine menu. Wine-friendly foods will be at each winery. Tickets to this premium event are by reservation only, by calling 800-801-WINE or by going on line at www.temeculawines.org.

Mentioning Thornton, the winery has its Halloween Murder Mystery wine event Saturday, October 28 at 6pm. Each year at this time, it creates an intriguing site for a "Murder at the Winery." The wine and champagne will flow and guests will feast on a four course dinner capped with short ribs and my favorite at the winery: Thornton’s 2004 Syrah. RSVP at 951-699-5536.

The Local Sip
The great Ferrari-Carano wines, one of which made my top ten earlier this year, will be featured at Bernardo’s Restaurant, just south of Escondido, this Tuesday evening, October 24 at 6:30pm. Hosts Bernard and Diana Mougel will be presenting their distinguished aged New York Steak with Polenta and mushroom sauce, paired with a 2002 Tresor Bordeaux Blend wine from this top rated Sonoma vineyard. Make your reservation by calling 858-487-7171.

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Sonoma Valley Market in Carlsbad is planning a special tasting of "Great Cabernets Under $20." There will be 7 bottle tastings of Cabs, from 5:30pm to 7pm. Reserve a place by calling 760-720-7700.

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Bacchus Wine Gourmet Dinner promises 6 courses and wine pairings with each on Thursday, October 26 at 6:30pm. This cellar-style wine shop is in the middle of the gaslamp district. Call 619-236-0005.

10631 Vinedale Street, Sun Valley, CA 91352 - Phone (818) 767-3413 - Fax: (818) 767-1410