Life According to Z: Fun for Me: Wine Tasting in Temecula!

As part of my birthday celebration (if it's still in your birth month it counts!), I went with a few of my friends on a wine tasting trip in Temecula! I was really looking forward to it because I had never done a wine tasting tour before and it lived up to my expectations and then some! The shuttle company we used was really organized and I felt like we got an amazing deal for what we got, transportation, lunch with a glass of wine and 4 wineries with tastings included. One of the wineries even gave us a tour of the grapes! The hostess of the trip said that we would be drinking the equivalent of 2 bottles of wine over the course of the day and I would say that was true ;) I loved a lot of the wines we tasted, and even brought two bottles home with me. I really needed a day to relax and have fun with my friends and that's exactly what I got! I can't wait to do it again!

The shuttle picked us up at Pechanga Casino and our 1st stop was Leoness Cellars, where we got a tour of the grapes and I found my first favorite wine, the white merlot!

We also loved that we got to sit in the barrel room for our tasting.

Then we went to Mount Palomar where we had lunch (very good!) and enjoyed another tasting while sitting outside enjoying the beautiful view. And we got a souvenir wine glass!

Our 3rd, and favorite, stop was Wilson Creek Winery. We all really enjoyed their almond champagne! We also had to try their chocolate port, which is even better with a little almond champagne mixed in (thanks Bill for that little extra!), and I bought my second bottle of wine, their Golden Jubilee.

A place can't help but be fun with a sailor, arr.

(He had a pipe too which, unfortunately, he didn't have in his mouth for the picture.)

Our last stop was Miramonte Winery.

We tasted one of their rosés, used the rest of our tastings (they gave us 6!) for sangria, enjoyed the misters on the outdoor patio and listened to the musicians play before we had to head back to the shuttle.