Temecula Wine Tasting

Since going anywhere on Mother's Day is chaotic, I decided to take Mom down to Temecula for some wine tasting, craft shopping, and perhaps dinner at an Indian casino. 

Our first stop was at Faulkner Winery which used to have great wines, especially the Chardonnay.  I was incredibly disappointed in the wines we tried, although the chardonnay was passable.  What a bummer as I really used to enjoy coming there!  As we were leaving, I was trying to take some photos of the surrounding grounds.  I wanted a picture of this sculpture between the winery and the restaurant and as I was trying to take the photo, this guy walked right in front of me.  He went up to my Mom and said it was not a good picture alone so he wanted me to take a picture of him and her together.

  I thought she was going to die and I couldn't stop laughing.  Love the photo!!! 

Next we headed to Maurice Carrie for their brie cheese baked in sourdough.  Oh my lord, you could smell the garlic walking up to the winery steps.  It was so yummy but the garlic was almost overpowering....especially when wine tasting. :-( 

We wandered around the "craft" fair which was more like imported goods but we did find these interesting wood roses.  They were $5 a dozen so I got some for Mom since it was Mother's Day weekend.  After that, we got in the car and because it was getting so warm outside, the car was like an inferno!  We decided to drive around Temecula and check out the scenery and residences around the winery.

  We found the residence of an offroad driver for Red Bull which I cannot remember his name now! LOL.  His last name begins with a B and he drives the #2 Red Bull/Bosch truck.  What a GORGEOUS home and lots of garages.  Mom had me take photos so my Dad could drool over the number of garages they have. 

After that, I wanted to try the South Coast winery since they were rated as the #1 winery in California (the CA State Fair voted them the best) so I thought I had to try their wines.....Good grief, the place was PACKED and it was $12 to taste and you didn't even get to keep the logo glass!  Most of the wineries in Temecula have always been known for keeping the souvenir glasses once you were done.  $12 and no glass, you are kidding me, RIGHT?  These wines better be good.

...hmmm, yeah.  They had a huge tasting menu and I opted for 5 of their best rated ones and honestly, I didn't like a single one of them.  Is my palate becoming more snooty and I prefer Northern CA wines?  But they were voted the BEST, so shouldn't I like at least one?!?!  I dunno, maybe I was having an off day but I was oh so disappointed.  We got out of there as the noise levels were through the roof and I couldn't handle all the drunkards we were surrounded by much longer. 

Our last planned stop was the Wilson Creek Winery for their Almond Sparkling Wine.  I decided I better try it since things had gone so awry earlier and I didn't want to buy any until I was sure it hadn't changed (or my perception of it anyway) and what a mess it was there.

  They are always super crowded and some of the people we encountered were the rudest we saw yet.  This woman cut in front of me at the tasting bar and then began to scowl at Mom and I.  She was snippy with the guy behind the counter at one point as well and then she pushed us aside with the rest of her party and stepped on my Mom's bad foot.  That sent Mom over the edge and she walked away - I came sooooooo close to opening my mouth but decided to take the high road and walk away.  We went in the back where another person helped us so I could try the Choco-tini.  Their chocolate port served in a chocolate shot glass, drink half way down, and they refill with the almond sparkling wine.  What a treat! 

We bought just two bottles and got the heck out of there.

  I was ready to get completely away from the wine region and sadly, not sure if I would ever go back there. It's just too commercialized now and all the limos/buses at the stops were such a buzzkill, not to mention all the young drunks walking around. 

We left wine country, stopped by a Ritz Camera store and found an awesome deal on a flash for my SLR which made me happy!  Then we swung by the scrapbooking store and I guilted Mom into buying me a couple things and we were off!  Unfortunately, we decided to hit Michael's and we ended up spending hours in there.  Brett called a couple times and omg, talk about drama in Taipei!  He was on the MRT headed to a movie when the train stopped and everyone was asked to leave the train.

  Apparently, some woman jumped on the tracks and tried to kill herself.  Brett said he saw her and she was still alive.  I didn't even think about this but that is something I might have to endure when I get there....I've never lived anywhere where I've taken a mass transit system and I guess this is more common than I thought.  Eeeek! 

We left Michaels and it was already 8pm and we were still over 2 hours away from home.  We hadn't eaten a real meal all day so we decided we would still try to head to Pala Casino for their buffet and a little gambling. Oh the things we do for Mom's Day! LOL