Today, we felt like making Sunday a Fun Day – so we hopped in the car and drove out to Temecula. Seems kinda random, but we wanted a long drive and a tasty lunch. We were also pretty motivated to drive through the Wine Country and see what they had out there. It’s a mere 2 hours away via the scenic route, so we went for it.
Once we rolled into Temecula, we embarked upon Old Town. It’s kinda cheesy with its old West vibe, but it was fun. We definitely thought if Huell Hauser hasn’t been already, it’s a destination he’ll be visiting soon! We saw a Mexican Restaurant called “The Bank” – and sure enough, the restaurant exists in the town’s old bank building, originally built in 1914. Since today was Sunday, they were serving menudo.
Menudo makes Ed a very happy boy.
The highlight of the day was hitting up Temecula Olive Oil Company, where they do Olive Oil tastings! We had no idea that tasting Olive Oil could be so interesting and fun! We learned a lot about the olive oils they make themselves, as well as some very unique vinegars. One of the most interesting combos we tried was their California Pomegranate Vinegar mixed with their Citus Reserve olive oil. We came home with a bottle of their Mission Late Harvest Olive Oil, which stands out due to its smooth, buttery taste. Can’t wait to saute some fresh summer veggies with this one! We also picked up their “Just Dress it!” which is gonna be awesome for some fish marinade!!!
Finally, we arrived in wine country. Since we were driving, it was kind of a tease. We couldn’t do a lot of tasting … but just going along the vineyard-lined roads was really relaxing and beautiful. But we’d be lying if we said we weren’t seriously jonsing for all of the wine! Needless to say, we can’t wait to go back with some sort of driver. There were probably about 20 wineries in the area. Some were really pretty, especially Leonesse, which we stopped at to look around, but didn’t taste. :(
Once we came up on Maurice Car’rie, we figured we HAD to stop … I supposed I was a little influenced by the name. :) We did taste the wines here … and we were not disappointed! Nothing like a little spontaneous wine tasting!
Ed’s Faves: the 2008 Riesling and the 2007 Muscat Canelli.
Carrie’s faves: Pineapple Champagne (okay, I admit – it sounds more like a Wine cooler than a wine, but it was goood!!!) and the 2008 Chenin Blanc. Both of us chose pretty light wines, but it was 99 degrees out there today!
All in all, we had a very fun day! Now, who wants to go on one of those wine tours with us?!?
