Wilson Creek Blog
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UPPER ROOM IS NOW OPEN!

Open 12 noon – 5 pm, seven days a week!

For an elevated wine tasting experience, join us on the second floor overlooking the courtyard and vineyards in our NEW Upper Room! Tasting are $50 per person ($25 for wine club members) and will include a guided tasting of our most exclusive reserve wines with small food pairings exclusively designed by our Executive Chef. Bottle service is also available on the outside patio for more secluded atmosphere to enjoy the beautiful view of the winery grounds and vineyards!

To make a reservation today, click here!

Keep reading for some FAQs answered by one of our owners, Mick Wilson:

As a Sommelier, when I visit other wineries I really enjoy those times where I could sit down and learn about the winery and the wine in a quiet, more personal setting. So, as you can imagine, I am excited that we will be offering an “elevated” wine experience in our new Upper Room, the area on the second floor above the Tasting Room. I know many are wondering, “what is it?”. Here are some answers that may help.

How will this be different from the tasting experience now?

Right now our tasting room offers a “stand up at bar” experience, which is fun and informative. I love tasting at a bar at wineries, but there is something magical about sitting down, relaxing, and really focusing on the wine. So, in addition to the tasting we currently offer downstairs, we are offering a separate “sit-down” experience on the second floor. In the Upper Room, you will be guided through a flight of four to five Library Wines, Reserve Wines, and Special Selection Wines. These wines will be paired with bite-sized foods, prepared by our Executive Chef. Our trained wine servers will be present to answer any questions and guide you along the experience. These wines will be served in Riedel Stemware, which is the most prestigious, crystal wine stemware in the world. Seating will be inside or outside on the balcony overlooking the grounds. A sit-down wine and food pairing experience will last about 60-80 minutes.

What about wine classes?

Later in the year we will be launching some new wine classes for you to enjoy. Some classes to look forward to are dessert and wine pairings, holiday food pairings, Temecula wines vs. other appellations, and more! If you are interested in a certain type of class or have a fun idea, we would love to hear from you! E-mail your ideas to info@wilsoncreekwinery.com. If we choose your idea, you will receive four free passes to a wine class of your choice, maybe the one you e-mailed in!

This place looks amazing, can I book an event here?

Yes, it will be available for wedding receptions and private parties. We can also tailor a wine tasting for a larger group or business. Keep an eye out for more details to come.

When will it be open?

NOW! Make your reservation today! Follow us on our social media accounts to stay in the loop as well.

~ Mick Wilson (Owner, COO, Sommelier)

Congratulations! You made it to the end of another work week, and with Labor Day approaching this Monday you are now rewarded with a 3-day weekend! Go on, celebrate!

Labor Day weekend is the ultimate End-of-Summer celebration. Whether you will be spending the weekend on the water, at the park, at a BBQ, camping, or just chilling out at home, Wilson Creek has you covered! Pairing wine with food is great and all, but been there – done that, am I right? Let’s switch it up this year and keep things interesting. Here are some wine recommendations to pair with your Labor Day activities instead!

On the water:
Let’s be honest, it’s hot! So spending your time on the water this Labor Day is probably ideal. Whether it’s at the pool, on the lake, at the beach, you name it… we have the perfect wine for you. Our special Water Project Riesling is perfect for lounging waterside or engaging in some exciting water sports! With mouth-watering acidity, it’s not only fun and refreshing to drink but helpful as well. A portion of the proceeds from each bottle will go to The Water Project to support their efforts in providing clean drinking water to communities in need around the globe. Basically, this Labor Day should be all about H2O. Be in the water, drink plenty of water, and help others receive water by enjoying this refreshing Riesling!

Backyard BBQ:
Not one for the water? That’s okay. Maybe you enjoy a nice backyard BBQ or a picnic at the park? Either way, we’re sure you’ll have a competitive game of corn hole going on, and we have the wine for you! While you’re tossin’ those bean bags around for the win, why don’t you toss up your wine game as well? Our Variant Series White Cabernet is the epitome of tossin’ things up. It takes a traditionally rich tannic dark red wine and turns it into a white wine booming with fresh fruit and sweetness. The perfect vibe for a summer BBQ! It’s also your last day of the year to get away with wearing white, so why not enjoy a glass of white as well.

Camping:
Camping is always a great way to celebrate the long weekend with loved ones. But this year, while the kiddos are making s’mores, indulge in your own version of the famous sweet treat! Our famous Chocolate Almond-tini is the way to go! Just mix our Almond Sparkling with a splash of our chocolatey Decadencia dessert wine and enjoy! Get extra fancy and garnish the rim with some crushed graham crackers. Perfect for cozying up fireside.

Early Risers:
For some, maybe a long weekend doesn’t mean you get to slack off on all the hard work you did during the week? And we admire you for that. But you still deserve a little fun. So when you return home from your early morning jog or yoga class, reward yourself with a Sparkling Sunrise (a delicious combination of Sparkling Wine with a dash of orange and cranberry juice). Honestly, any of our Sparkling Wines will taste great with this, but don’t forget the Brut is currently on sale this month for $10 a bottle so stock up now!

The possibilities are endless! But no matter what you decide to do this Labor Day Weekend, be sure to stay safe and have a great time!

Problem children are often the ones who make you the proudest of what they have become. My problem child is Block 14, Mourvèdre. Difficult to pronounce (mohr-VED-dra also commonly shortened to mohr-VED), difficult to grow, and easy to love.

Mourvèdre is late to start in the season and prone to over exuberant growth. However, at the same time, it catches every cold in the school and it just won’t commit to maturity until well after the rest of my blocks are in the tank (“Did you hear? – the Cabernet kids got into tank one, they must know the winemaker!”). But when it does finally decide to mature it produces a wine of complexity and subtlety that can only be forged in the crucible of an adolescent fraught with struggle.

In “A Complete Guide to 1,368 Vine Varieties”, Jancis Robinson described Mourvèdre as a “high quality, heat-loving, dark-skinned variety most valued for its heady, structured contribution to blends”. In the old world, it is often used as a blending varietal. However, here in California it develops such complex balanced nuances it is often vinted as a standalone varietal.

So, what does this have to do with Temecula? Grapes like it hot. Wine Grapes, vitis vinifera, evolved in what is now Iraq and Iran. Winemaking moved north because if a wine gets much above 60°F it is prone to turning into vinegar. Therefore, wine regions proliferated where the subterranean temperatures remain below 60°F.

Refrigeration changed everything. We are now in an era where the vine is allowed to find its home to express its highest genetic potential. And if you look at wine regions across the globe, Temecula is of premiere potential for varietals that previously had to struggle in climates not suitable for production of the highest quality. Mourvèdre has been waiting 700 years to find alternate homes to show you what it can do. Don’t make it wait any longer. This is a wine I love to swirl, smell, and sip for hours as its rich, ripe, fruit-forward palate evolves to expose the beauty of integrated tannins and balance.

As you prepare your kids to return to school, stock up on some Mourvèdre. Then when you return from the inevitable parent-teacher conferences you can relax with a glass of wine with such poetic maturity that will remind you that all this effort will eventually lead to an adult conversation with your matured child; who, like the Mourvèdre, may have struggled in adolescence but will eventually develop such depth of character due to their nurturing environment. When that time comes, I would suggest sharing a Mourvèdre.

To all young and seasoned scholars embarking on this academic year we wish you all wisdom and balance that can only be achieved by patience and struggle.

~ Cheers from the Wilson Creek Vineyard Crew!

Our 2015 Family Reserve Mourvèdre is now available for our Wine Club Members online and in the Tasting Room! It will be released to the public early September, so be sure to stock up on this delicious varietal while it lasts!

It’s fun when our passion to a be family business connects with our desire to make a difference in our world! That is why we made a wine that not only tastes amazing but will be used to tangibly change some lives. We connected with The Water Project which is one of the leading nonprofit organizations that is getting clean drinking water to needy areas in Africa. We connected with their passion and the amount of impact they have made. Plus, the more we learned of the water crisis, of the real needs of real people, the more we had to do something.

It was a miracle in the Bible to turn water into wine; and we are literally turning wine into water! A portion of the proceeds will go back to a specific project in a specific community that we can help impact.

We will pass along photos and updates on how these funds are impacting a particular community we will partner in helping.

Please go to The Water Project website and look at the statistics that tell of the need. The need is striking! The Water Project’s purpose is to “provide safe, clean, and reliable water in Africa and to restore hope one community at a time.” And we get to be a part of that by sponsoring and impacting one community. So as you drink this Riesling know that you are helping real people drink clean water… and you are helping turn wine into water! Pretty cool!

You can purchase the Riesling online or in the Tasting Room

Temecula is relatively a new California wine growing region. The first vineyards were planted in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Wilson Creek Winery is home to some of those early plantings, with a block of Cabernet Sauvignon planted in 1970. It is difficult to envision this valley before grapes, but prior to the 60’s this valley was home to Vail Ranch and lots and lots of cattle.

Temecula was a tiny little cattle town during the prohibition times, and certainly no grapes were grown here for winemaking. You would need to travel a little north for that, near the town of Wineville to find grapes.

Don’t feel bad if you don’t know Wineville, the town changed its name to Mira Loma in 1930 prior to prohibition and the grapes that grew in the area were no longer used for winemaking. As luck would have it, the area grew a fair amount of Alicante Bouschet.

Alicante Bouschet is a very unique grape in that its flesh is also red, an extremely rare trait in wine grapes. 

Other red varietals like Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Zinfandel have red skins but their flesh is white. In addition, Alicante’s skin is very thick and it is very resistant to rot. These features made this grape ideal for train shipments to the east coast, where people of winemaking descent would buy train loads of it for who knows what (wink, wink).

Some of these pre-prohibition grapes survive today in the Rancho Cucamonga, Mira Loma area. The advanced age of these grapes makes for a truly outstanding dessert wine when fortified. The late harvest and fortification process produces a wine with deep plum, chocolate, and black cherry flavors.

Temecula may be a young wine region, but Southern California is certainly not, with history going to pre-prohibition. Who knows, but I’m curious on how the unique wine history of Temecula will develop.

This Alicante Bouschet wine is so special we’ve included it in the special July shipment along with a Moscato D’ Piemonte found in the beautiful and famous region of Piedmont in northwest Italy. We also have the 2015 Petit Verdot, this wine originates from a beautiful and historic grape that is used as one of the red grapes in the prestigious wines of Bordeaux, France. We packaged the Petit Verdot with our Explorer Series from South Africa, the 2015 Pinotage. Pinotage is a crossing of Pinot Noir and Cinsault vines, truly a “foodie wine” made in the old world style. Learn more about these wines by watching the videos with our Winemaker Gus Vizgirda on our YouTube Channel!

Don’t miss out on next years Special Edition Shipment and many other fabulous amenities by joining our Extended Family Wine Club!