Besides wine, Temecula is also known for hot air balloons, and you can ride one any day of the year. (Comstock)

We all know about Napa Valley, the legendary wine region of Northern California, and most of us are familiar with other California regions such as like Sonoma and the Central Coast.

But if you are like me, you may not know much, if anything, about the Temecula Valley, a tiny region in between Anaheim and San Diego just off of I-15 that has quietly been producing wines since the 1960s.

 is only recently, however, that Temecula’s population has exploded, and with it, the wineries, which now number over 25 in an area no more than five or 10 miles across.

As you arrive in Temecula, you would be forgiven for thinking someone had played a trick on you when they told you wineries could be found nearby. It took us a shade over 2 hours to get to Temecula from LAX, in what I would call moderate traffic. Exiting I-15, you find yourself in what looks like any other suburban city in Southern California, surrounded by usual suspects like Target, Carl’s Jr., CVS, and Black Angus.

A few blocks of this leads into an area of new homes and townhouses that maintain the illusion of suburbia. Then, all of a sudden, and seemingly out of nowhere, the road narrows, and you find yourself on a country road surrounded by rolling, vine-covered hills dotted with wineries and tasting rooms.

A short drive up this main road, Rancho California, is nestled a lovely Chateau-inspired winery and hotel, the Inn at Churon Winery. Sitting among the vineyards of Churon Winery, the Inn features well appointed rooms complete with fireplaces and Jacuzzi tubs, and best of all, porches overlooking the vines.

Guests are treated to breakfast each morning, with made to order favorites like Eggs Benedict and French Toast. Perhaps the highlight of any stay at the Inn comes when you descend the spiral staircase from the lobby into the tasting room for a special guests-only tasting (more of a happy-hour really) each evening that provides ample opportunity to sample Churon’s wide selection of wines, and a chance to get to know the folks at the winery and your fellow guests. Churon offers several excellent wines, including some unexpected ones like Carignane and the ’05 Sauvignon Blanc.

Besides wine, Temecula is also known for hot air balloons, and you can ride one any day of the year. The only bad news is you have to be on site by 5:30 a.m., because the winds are too high later in the day. But if you are willing to get up early, you will be rewarded with a gentle frolic over the countryside below.

Unfortunately for us, it was too foggy in wine country to go up, so we went up in the desert. Although there wasn’t much to look at on the ground, the sight of a sky full of hot air balloons was something to behold.

Most of the wineries in Temecula lie along Rancho California. Among these wineries, we were especially impressed with Baily Winery, with its austere but charming concrete tasting room/restaurant. (Photo: Daniel Fishman)

After a quick post-balloon nap, it was finally time to taste some wine. We decided to drive ourselves, as most of the tours seemed to stop at only 4 wineries. As a responsible driver, I stuck to small tastes at most of the wineries, and I think that it is a good way to go, since you can choose your own adventure.

Most of the wineries in Temecula lie along Rancho California. Among these wineries, we were especially impressed with Baily Winery, with its austere, but charming concrete tasting room/restaurant. You should definitely spring for their premium tasting featuring their French red varietals, including their excellent Meritage.

On the other side of the equation was Wiens Cellars, with its uninspired barn-like monstrosity of a tasting room serving up some of the most bland wine we tasted on the whole trip. One last highlight of the main road was Mount Palomar, which was one of the few wineries to feature an outdoor tasting area, along with a wonderful deli and grill. Palomar is definitely a great spot to wind-up for your mid- or post-touring meal.

My main complaint about most of these wineries along the main road is that they have a certain… corporate feel about them. Luckily, due to the massive expansion in Temecula, a remedy to this problem exists in the so-called “back-side” wineries on De Portola Rd.

Many of these wineries have that small-time family operation feel that so many of us appreciate. Two of our favorites were right next-door to each other, Cougar Vineyards and Frangipani Winery. At Cougar, where they specialize in Italian varietals like Sangiovese, we tasted with the wonderful Canadian ex-pat Eileen, who even took us back to the storage area for a straight-from-the-cask taste. And Frangipani let us taste outside on their lovely patio, a wonderful experience. Finally there was Leonesse Cellars, which featured some great wines, including their Rhone-style Melange de Reves. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Palumbo Winery, a tiny family run operation off by itself on a side road serving perhaps the finest wines in all of Temecula. However, they are only open Friday through Sunday.

We capped off the weekend at the Temecula Valley Wine & Balloon Festival, an annual event featuring food, music, and of course, wine. The wine tasting wasn’t as much fun as getting it straight from the winery, but it was worth the price of admission to see Survivor belt out classics like Burning Heart and Eye of the Tiger.

All in all Temecula is great if you are just getting into wine and don’t feel like dealing with the snobbery and crowds of Napa, or you are in San Diego or LA and have a only a short time for wine tasting, or even if you have seen it all and are just looking for something a bit different. Plus, it’s warmer than Northern California or the Pacific Northwest! Golf anyone?

www.innatchuronwinery.com

www.bailywinery.com

www.mountpalomar.com

www.leonessecellars.com

www.cougarvineyards.com

www.frangipaniwinery.com

www.palumbofamilyvineyards.com

Daniel Fishman writes the wine blog, Fishman the Grape, for www.EatVancouver.net.