Yes, Mount Palomar is correct. Agree that they made some decent wines but found them hit or miss. The misses were outnumbering the hits the last few times I visited. But it’s been many years since I was last there.
Your loss. It’s a terrific magazine. A bit glossy, but groundbreaking in talking about new or undiscovered regions. They were writing about Oregon, Washington, New York’s Finger Lakes Region and Michigan’s upper Peninsula years before most other rags. Ditto with many of France and Italy’s lesser known regions. But you wouldn’t know that because you just throw it away.
Sorta agree, Thomas. There are, from time to time, some interesting/well-written articles. But too much emphasis on reviewing
wines for my taste. WE doesn’t have the top-notch writers that Wines&Spirits does.
Tom
Palumbo’s tasting room is only a few years old, so you’re probably remembering Mt. Palomar.
Mount Palomar was the name of the winery that produced the Cortese that I really liked. Thinking around 2001/2002. They were one of the older wineries in Temecula -
I agree that WE does some nice articles now and then and in fact, some of their reviewers are at least as good as some of the folks at WA these days. But their problem partly stems from things like this:
Having been in my current job for more than two years now
So the guy has written for a few other papers, not about wine, and he’s part of a music promotion business. Kind of a jack of all trades I guess and probably a nice guy, but his opinion regarding wine is based on . . . ?
Air?
I have had plenty of Temecula wines from the 1990s and now that I live out west, I drive up on occasion. Not knowing anything of the wineries, I asked a number of people in the business what they’d recommend and included were those mentioned in the article. I don’t want to slam the wineries - they were more than nice to me. But when you’re growing Riesling, Zin, Grenache, Merlot, Mourvedre, Cab, Syrah and Cab Franc on the same hill, you start wondering what a German Grenache would taste like, or perhaps a Riesling from Valencia. The region is super dry and there’s intense heat.
I found a guy growing a Hungarian grape that he brought over in 1956 and had no idea what it was, and another guy who seemed to have the right approach and instead of making the above-mentioned grapes, planted only Italian varieties. Most of his wines were pretty good.
In talking to the various winemakers and owners, the one theme that is constant is that they’re selling their wines and enjoying their lives. The people who visit by and large don’t know or care if the wine is first-rate. They’re “doing” the wine country thing. It’s like the Napa train - the riders are out for a good time, not necessarily great wine.
And there’s little wrong with that. Wine should be enjoyable. A LOT of people like wine that some consider plonk - that’s why there’s so much Meiomi, Apothic, Yellow Tail, etc.
Last week I was in Mexico. That’s even farther south obviously. But some of their wineries are closer to the ocean and/or at high elevations. We tried a number of wines that were perfectly acceptable as bistro wines and some that were surprisingly good.
So here’s the difference. When I asked the price of a Zin that was a perfectly acceptable wine, it was $6US. The equivalent at a Temecula winery is $30.
A Cab Franc from Napa, say Montelena, might run around $30. From the North Fork of Long Island about the same. From Temecula around $40. So you pay more money for a worse wine.
The same writer mentioned wines from Michigan, which I’d bet he’s never had. I grew up there. The wines were made from sweet grapes like Concord and Catawba. There was also the very famous Cold Duck. Then a few years ago some people got serious and realized that they could produce excellent cool-weather wines like Chardonnay, Riesling, Cab Franc, Blaufrankisch, etc. And there are some great wines made now. But there’s a limit to what the market will support and some of the producers are falling back on the sweet, touristy wines because those are what sell.
So at the end of the day, most wine from most regions is plonk. There are serious producers all over, but they can’t make it if they don’t find a market, and if you aren’t immune to economic forces, you cater to the market that you happen to have.
Thomas,
For a guy based in St Paul, you seem to get to Temecula a lot. That story about Gaja just about stunned me. It’s up there with the story about Big Boy and how he posted about how they had cornered all the 45 DRC.
The Saturday Evening Post, or was it Readers Digest, had a series called the Perfect Squelch, and this one is the winner.
I think the quality push in Temecula comes from the winemakers there. Every time they go to a trade show somebody asks them if they have considered co fermenting the almonds and the grapes in concrete eggs.
The market makes the wine, so why give up on 20 million party buses so you can do winemaker dinners in the middle of winter in Duluth??
In some ways the weather in Southern California is no different from ours. The ocean current coming down from Alaska air-conditions the vines during the summer and then it gets hot in September and October.
By the way Karl Werner–the original Callaway winemaker-- moved to Renaissance and married a UC Davis grad. They made lots of dessert wines there. He died, she re married, now makes excellent olive oil, Apollo.
Did the wineries advertise in the magazine?A former WE writer told me that they tasted blind for ratings but then only featured the ratings of the wineries that aid for advertisements. Since their sales office is only about 10 miles from me, I go there to buy things on occasion, but the magazine is a joke.
Jay,
I don t think the WE is pay for play. It’s just that if you do get a good score you can pay to have your label featured next to the rating.
I lived in California for 12 years - worked for the Italian Importer for a couple years (hence the Gaja story), had a wine shop in Long Beach Cali for 6 years and ran the Wine Cask up in Santa Barbara for a few more. When my kids moved back to Minnesota and started having kids, I had to move back.
Harumph…you old guys are always bringing up stuff that us young folks can’t remember!! ![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
It was the Reader’s Digest, Mel.
Tom
Jay - they never charged us and they published a lot of reviews from wines I delivered to them. Same with WS. Both of those mags get a lot of criticism, but their tasters really do try to do an honest job. Of course, if you want your label pictured, which is actually a great idea, you need to pay. But the thing is, that is only useful for the people reading the mag. OTOH, you can use their scores in your marketing material.
http://www.alibris.com/search/books/isbn/9780893870423
Tom,
You were probably thinking of the Readers Digest for Experiment Physicists version of the Perfect Theoretical Squelch.
Guess you’re right, Mel. I only read TheSaturdayEveningPost for the centerfolds!!!
Tom
FWIW - more on Temecula:
TEMECULA: Shaking off the stigma of sweet wines
Must admit that I’ve never visited Temecula wineries and have virtually no experience with wines from the region.
I was thinking of something Brad and I could do on Sunday and Temecula popped up as a potential visit since neither of us have been there. In addition, we were at a local bar here in San Clemente last night and one of our acquaintance friends mentioned he and his wife visited a few wineries this past week and really enjoyed them (note to self, this individual also likes the almond sparkling!).
Based on the insights of those above (and thank you Andrew!), I’m guessing that we won’t be making the trip there. Perhaps Lost Winds on Sunday for football…
Good call!!!
Callaway used to give away golf clubs as perks to retailers for selling their wine. Buy a case, get a driver 
The Wine Enthusiast goes right into the recycling.
Mark, if I were you, here is what I would do today.
Go over to La Sirena in South Laguna, get some Mexican and sample from the 20 local taps they pour. Then, go across the street, sit in the Montage lobby and get after some of the organic peppermint tea they bring down from Oregon. They’ll have the fireplace on and the big slider should be open that looks out over the ocean. Hell, you can even order a glass of Steve’s Riverain syrah off the bar glass list.