Wilson Creek Blog
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Halloween is here and it doesn’t have to be just for the kiddos! This year, while the little ones are out trick-or-treating, take out that favorite bottle of Wilson Creek Wine and pair it with some sweet treats! I don’t know about you… but this is definitely a party we would want to be at and a great way to use up all that extra candy, so we have come up with a guide to pairing Halloween Candy with our Wines for All To Enjoy!

Decadencia is our most classic pairing for chocolate so dig into those Tootsie Rolls or some Dark Chocolate Pieces!

Pouring a glass of red wine such as Merlot with handfuls of M&M’s, Family Reserve Zinfandel with some pint-sized Milkyways, or the Cabernet Franc with crispy crunchy Kit Kats or any other chocolate Halloween Treats will be oh so delicious.

Snickers, Butterfingers, or Baby Ruth’s? If your going with the Angelica Cream Sherry complement with rich and nutty candy bars! Even our Almond Sparkling Wine would taste delicious with a Mounds candy bar. Yum! 

If you like the balance of sweet-fruity candies, pop open a bottle of Brut Sparkling Wine to go with a box of Nerds or Red Vines/Twizzlers, grab a handful of Skittles with a glass of Riesling, Gummy Bears with VS White Cab, or some juicy Starburst with a bottle of Viognier to really wake those taste buds!

If you love Caramel Apples and you want to compliment the caramel, definitely pair it with our Roussanne. But if you are going for more focus on the apple flavor, the “Yes Dear” Chardonnay will really bring that warm toastiness and pull the crisp sour flavors of the apple.

Remember… No matter what your favorite Treats are, you can’t be Tricked when pairing with your favorite Boo’s! Happy Hallo-Wine!

   “YES DEAR” – On October 5th Jenifer and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. Gerry and Rosie just celebrated 63 years of “Marital Bliss”. The advice they have always given us is to say “Yes Dear” and “I Love You” to each other as much as possible. I share that advice and enjoy each time I see a couple on our property exploring our beautiful grounds in anticipation of their wedding day. I challenge the groom-to-be to see if he is worthy of the bride’s love. “What are the two most important words to a long term and successful marriage?” I ask. It is amazing some of the responses are: “I’m sorry,” “I apologize,” “you’re right,” “I do.” The smart ones say “Yes Dear”. I explain that if you say “Yes Dear”, you do not have to say those dreaded aforementioned words. I immediately turn to the bride-to-be and say “It is just as easy for you to say Yes Dear as it is for him”. Marriage is indeed a 60-60 relationship.

My wife and many of her friends, my sister Libby and sister-in-law Deanna love Rombauer Chardonnay. It is oaky, smoky, smooth, and of course very expensive. Jenifer had asked several times, “Why don’t you make a Chardonnay I like?”  So as any good husband would do, I asked our winemaker that very question. He said our existing Chard was the style he preferred to make and he felt it expressed the true characteristics of the chardonnay fruit. I asked if we could possibly make a Rombauer style Chardonnay. He said to get a bottle and he would dissect it chemically. He worked his chemistry magic and then uttered the dreaded words no husband wants to hear: “ We can do it, but it’s going to cost you.” Dang it, of course it is, I said. Isn’t it always the case that if your wife wants something? He proceeded to tell me that we will need to do barrel fermentation, preferably in French Oak (big bucks) to bring out the soft vanilla notes. We will need to do malolactic fermentation to bring out the butter notes. We needed to age it longer to give it better mouth feel, as the list went on and on. Of course my direction to him was “Get er done, happy wife equals a happy life.”

He worked with the ladies of Wilson Creek and Jenifer taste it throughout the process. The first vintage was amazing. Jenifer was so happy and so proud. The first year we made the Chardonnay Jenifer’s way, I was at the tasting bar with a couple and broke out an unlabeled bottle. I explained how it was created to please my wife and he excitedly said “Oh my gosh, You have to name it Yes Dear!” Wow, he was spot on and the rest is history.

All was good in the world, but not for long… The next year the winemaker missed a key step. He did not get my wife’s input or any Wilson ladies input of approval before bottling. He just bottled and labeled it Yes Dear. Whoa is me. Jenifer was not happy. The Chardonnay that was made was incredible and the wine writers, judges and critics loved it. I mean they really loved it. It won all sorts of awards. But it just was not the style my wife liked. So now we make sure that we get Jenifer, Libby and Deanna to put their stamp of approval on the Yes Dear wine before it goes into the bottle.

We now make two styles of Chardonnay, one labeled “Yes Dear” from Happy Wife Vineyard, and the other Chardonnay whatever style the winemaker sees fit.  So if you want a soft, easy drinking Chardonnay and just want to make your wife happy with a fun label, buy a bottle of the Yes Dear and tell your spouse

I LOVE YOU…..                 

Cheers! 

Bill Wilson

Happy #WeddingWednesday!

My name is Jenae, and I am a wedding coordinator here at Wilson Creek Winery. While planning several brides’ and grooms’ weddings, I was in the midst of planning my own! My then fiancé and I were going to take our time with the engagement, but being a wedding planner… I just couldn’t help myself! So, here is my Wedding Proposal to you, to make the planning process that much easier!

 Photo Creds to Leah Marie Photography! www.leahmariephotography.com (PS the whole wedding party got ready at the Wilson Creek Manor first… Gorgeous Pictures!)

We started out by setting a budget and ended up looking at venues within a couple weeks of getting engaged. Not only did we immediately fall in love with our venue, but we fell in love with the venue’s coordinator as well! In my opinion, that is EXTREMELY important when booking your venue. Your wedding day is supposed to be one of the best and most important days of your life! You want a coordinator that enjoys what he/she does and who you would want to work with throughout your entire planning process!

Once you book your venue, everything sort of just falls into place on its own. Your venue will recommend certain vendors for a reason. They are great at what they do, and they are very familiar with the venue. Although you do not always have to go with preferred vendors, it will almost always be in your best interest because they have the tendency to make your planning process even easier!

If I could give any piece of advice, it would be to get a wedding planning timeline from your venue (or online) and stick to it. Whatever you do, do not wait until the last minute to do everything at once, because you do not want to stress yourself out. Several people asked me what my secret was for staying so calm throughout the entire planning process, and my answer was just that. Stick to the timeline, do not procrastinate, and have fun! No weddings are perfect, so if you go into the process knowing that, you will be so blown away at the end result! If something goes wrong, try your best to laugh it off. Chances are, nobody will notice but you. Your guests do not pay attention to the small details. They are focused on how beautiful/handsome and happy you both look…. and in the end, you two love birds getting married is all that matters!

October is finally here which means it’s time for Pumpkin Everything!!!

Our Executive Chef at the Creekside Grille is getting in the Fall Spirit with this Amazing Pumpkin Bread Pudding!

16 oz pumpkin puree

1 ½ quarts half – n – half

5 large eggs

¼ cup pumpkin pie spice

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup granulated sugar

12 cups cubed French toast bread (thick sliced egg bread)

Additional granulated sugar for coating the baking dish

In a mixing bowl combine and whisk together pumpkin puree, half & half, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, brown sugar and granulated sugar. Coat the bottom and sides of a baking dish with shortening or canola oil. Evenly coat the oil with granulated sugar. Put the bread cubes into the baking dish, spreading them evenly. Pour the egg – half & half mixture over the bread. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until a pick inserted into the center of the bread pudding comes out clean. Serve immediately or cool and reheat as desired.

ENJOY!

My favorite part of my job is Everything!!

… People ask me all the time if you could choose any job in the world what would it be. Well friends this is it! I started in the 80s with hospitality and have been trained by some if the greats ie… intercontinental hotels, Marriott Marquis and Resorts, The Pan Pacific and Hilton Hotels and Resorts. Now I am so blessed to be able to put all of my hospitality skills that I have learned and put it under one 12,000 square foot roof. It’s funny because we call the vacation rental the Wilson Creek Manor. The key word here is “manor” 

It doesn’t take hospitality training to use “manners”  as a play on words. 

Our friendly staff greets you with a glass of champagne, a warm smile, and a warm welcome, we offer a good old-fashioned personal tour of the facility and concierge service with suggestions for dinners and lunches and things to do while in the Temecula area. We try to remember birthdays and anniversaries and use the guests names as much as possible. At the Manor we are fortunate to use all old fashioned hospitality skills to make our guests feel warm, welcome and at home! But it comes naturally from the entire team at the Manor and at Wilson Creek Winery. It starts at the top with Rosie and Gerry and trickles through there kids to Bill and Jenifer, Mick and Deanna, Libby and Craig and all of the grand kids! When you work for the Wilson’s you feel like a family member. It’s true what they say When you have a job that you love, it’s not like going to work at all! Visit us at the manor and feel Warm, Welcome and at home! 

Choose us for your next family reunion!