1. Cabernet Sauvignon and Steak: This classic pairing is a match made in heaven. The bold flavors of a Cabernet Sauvignon complement the rich, meaty flavors of a juicy steak.
2. Chardonnay and Lobster: The buttery texture and delicate flavor of lobster pairs perfectly with the subtle sweetness of a Chardonnay.
3. Pinot Noir and Salmon: The light, fruity flavors of a Pinot Noir work well with the rich, oily flavors of salmon, making this a popular pairing for seafood lovers.
4. Sauvignon Blanc and Goat Cheese: The crisp acidity of a Sauvignon Blanc balances out the tangy, creamy flavors of goat cheese, creating a harmonious pairing.
5. Merlot and Pasta with Tomato Sauce: The soft tannins and fruity flavors of a Merlot complement the acidity of tomato sauce, making it a great pairing for pasta dishes.
6. Syrah and BBQ: The smoky, bold flavors of BBQ are perfectly complemented by the full-bodied, spicy flavors of a Syrah.
7. Sparkling Limoncello and Fruit Salad: The citrusy, effervescent flavors of Sparkling Limoncello pair perfectly with the fresh, juicy flavors of a fruit salad.  This pairing is light, refreshing, and perfect for a summer brunch or afternoon gathering.
8. Malbec and Beef Tacos: The robust, full-bodied flavors of a Malbec pair perfectly with the rich, savory flavors of beef tacos.
9. Sparkling Rosé and Charcuterie: The light, refreshing flavors of a Rosé complement the salty, savory flavors of cured meats, making it a great pairing for charcuterie boards.
10. Viognier and Indian Curry: Viognier is a white wine that is known for its floral aromas, fruit flavors, and acidity. It pairs well with a variety of dishes and is especially popular with spicy foods. The fruity flavors and acidity of Viognier balance out the heat and spice of Indian curry, making it a great pairing for this popular dish. The floral aromas of Viognier also complement the complex flavors and aromas of the spices used in Indian cooking.

Who is ready for some Football?!?

We definitely are, AND we have the Big Game Pairings to prove it!

Now, we know you all have been working so hard on the those New Year’s Resolutions and have been eating healthy, but let’s be honest with ourselves… we will ALL be benching those resolutions come Sunday! Super Bowl is the time to indulge in all of those delicious party foods and pair them with some of your favorite Wilson Creek Wines! So grab your favorite bottle, follow our pairing suggestions and watch the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs go head to head!

Along with the smorgasbord of food, don’t forget to treat yourself to a variety of wines too. Trust me the wine will not go to waste!

At kickoff, start with a mouth-watering plate of loaded nachos! The diverse flavors in these nachos will pair great with the soft and fruity flavors of our 2019 Tempranillo. If you’re more of an French Onion Dip person we have you covered! The sweet French oak aromas of our 2021 “Yes Dear” Chardonnay pair great with the caramelized onions in the dip. It wouldn’t be Super Bowl if there wasn’t a tray of buffalo wings out on the table! When it comes to something bold and spicy it is always a good idea to pair it with something light and on the sweeter side. That’s why we HIGHLY suggest pairing this fan favorite appetizer with a chilled glass of our White Cabernet.

During the game, the main dishes are usually passed around. As soon as those pulled pork sliders come out, pour yourself a glass of our 2020 Bourbon Barrel Zinfandel. The smokiness on the nose will compliment your favorite BBQ sauce. Another crowd pleaser is a piping hot pizza. This classic dish of melted cheese and various toppings calls for a red wine that will have you going back for another slice…and glass! We suggest pairing your favorite pizza with our 2020 GSM.

Towards the end of the game while you’re (hopefully) doing your victory dance don’t forget the dessert! You can’t go wrong with a classic platter of chocolate chip cookies. This is the perfect time to pop open a bottle of our award winning Almond Sparkling! The rich chocolate in the cookies pairs great with natural almond flavor of our most popular sparkling wine. Plus it’s time to celebrate another successful Super Bowl Sunday! 

Everyone have a safe and fun time!

Our Top Christmas Cookie & Wine Pairing Recommendations

Traditions play a big role in making the holiday season so much fun! Here at Wilson Creek, we have a lot of fun with our traditional Wassail we enjoy every year. It’s definitely a crowd pleaser and very popular with our wine club family.

With Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Year’s Eve and many other reasons to gather with loved ones, having fun & fresh ideas are always a great compliment to those traditions.

Christmas Cookies are almost compulsory when it comes to the holiday season; one of America’s most popular traditions. Another very popular holiday tradition?… Wine, of course! So why not combine the two and make it that much more special!

Here are a few recipes that will delight your guest’s palates and warm their hearts.

SUGAR COOKIES with Chardonnay or Brut Sparkling Wine

GINGERBREAD COOKIES with Angelica Cream Sherry or 2020 Zinfandel

SNICKER DOODLE COOKIES with Plethora

BUTTER COOKIES COOKIES with Chardonnay or Coconut Sparkling Wine

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES with VS Cabernet-Zinfandel or ZSM

PEANUT BUTTER KISS COOKIES with Decadencia Chocolate Port or Almond Sparkling Wine

OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIES with VS White Cabernet 

CHOCOLATE THUMBPRINT COOKIES with Double-Dog Red or Rosé Sparkling Wine

The great thing about traditions is that there is always room to make new ones. So while you’re enjoying the holidays with your loved ones, maybe try a few of these pairings and see if any are worthy of a new tradition.

We have a feeling you won’t be disappointed.

All of us at Wilson Creek Winery warmly wish you a Merry Christmas & a very Happy New Year!

Why Temecula Wineries Like Wilson Creek Are Good For Creating Rose

Grenache Grapes Grown in Temecula

There are two main families of Grenache.  There is the French-style Grenache and then the Tinto Grenache out of Spain.  Both really like the heat, which makes them great for growing in Temecula.  Currently, we have about 3-4 acres of the more traditional Grenache out of France and we just planted 5 acres of Tinto Grenache, which will provide a bit more color and richness and ultimately allow us to create a true varietal Grenache.  Grenache is a very versatile grape that can be used as a great blending grape or varietal; it adds a nice essence to each wine it is blended with.  It is also a very plentiful grape where we get a lot of yield and that makes it great for creating a lot of exciting wines.

One of the unique aspects of Grenache is that it can be grown in all sorts of climates, but it only truly ripens and gets mature in warmer climates.  So, when you see an expression of Grenache in Temecula it is outside of the usual expectation of places where Grenache is harvested.  Much of the Grenache we know is from places like Provence where it is harvested when it is younger because many of the wine-growing regions in the world are much further North and it doesn’t have the climate to reach full maturity.  This has a lot to do with old world and modern day refrigeration.  Old world there were only so many places where you could actually store the wine by digging into the side of a hill and then storing your barrels essentially underground to keep them under the 62-degree threshold necessary to store wine.  With modern refrigeration you are now able to grow and preserve wines in varying climates, which allow them to fully mature in growing regions like Temecula.

Wilson Creek Winery Vineyard Update

Cab Sauv Block 1 Influresence – The Calyptra has popped off exposing the pistil and stamen, grapes are self-pollinating, which means we are right at the beginning of flowering season.  We have injected 1000 gallons of crab meal, fish meal, etc as fertilizers to prepare for the growing season.  We will need some supplemental watering as we didn’t get as much precipitation as needed and the cover crop didn’t quite take off, which usually preserves our moisture in the ground.  From a temperature standpoint, it’s been pretty cool, which has been a good start so far.  The USDA, NRCS & Metropolitan Water District is asking to partner with us because we are seeing a lot of success with low irrigation and high heat in our vineyards.

Wilson Creek Winery – Sparkling Rose

This is a classic french style rose.  In France, most roses are from Provence, which is similar to Temecula and is primarily Chardonnay and Grenache, which is almost identical to how we have blended this wine.  We added a touch of French Columbarde to the wine and overall we have created a very nice dry sparkling rose.  Some wines are great for drinking in an environment, like a sunset and some are great for food.  This wine is one of those great ones that is perfect for both.

Right off the nose the aromatics of this wine really bounce out of the glass with a floral bouquet and the hints of strawberry from the Grenache, which is indicative of the way we make this wine.  We use a base Chardonnay that is pressed, which is a beautiful grape for Temecula.  We then infuse Grenache grapes that we have left the skin on and press that in, which is what gives us the wonderful taste and color.  This is very similar to our Brut in that it is a traditional dry French-style wine.  The subtle hint of fruit and aromatics on this makes it a great wine to introduce people who normally don’t like dry wines and they will love it.  This will pair well with a fruit salad: honeydew melons, strawberries, cantaloupe, etc.

Wilson Creek Winery – 2019 Viognier

A Rhone Varietal that is grown in the north of rhone.  In Temecula, it truly matures, very floral with a hint of white flowers and fruit-driven with subtle tastes of apricot, pitted fruit, peach, honeydew melon with a great balance.  This would pair well with seafood and food with spice to it, it neutralizes and works well with Capsaicin. As a varietal, it doesn’t have high tannins because we harvest it sooner.  

Viognier is tough to get to maturity, but when it’s ripe it’s beautiful.  The Viognier is the last of our whites that we harvest because it does take so much to get it to maturity.  This year’s Viognier is really a perfect balance of the past few years in terms of dry and sweet.  It pairs really well with sweet peppers, paprika, and mustard flavoring. This is not good to pair with spicy food, because it does have a higher alcohol content.

Wine Fun Fact: In the Rhone Valley, there is an area called the Condrieu, which is the only appellation in France where you are able to produce 100% Viognier or Viognier blends.

How long would you store this: The reason to store a wine typically is to allow the tannins to break down and drive additional characteristics to the wine.  With grapes the longer it stays on the vine the more the skin (tannin) of the grape develops.  Since it does not develop particularly thick skins this is not a wine that we would suggest typically holding.  Max is 2 years.  It will develop a more “round” characteristic to it with a bit of storage.  Heat, Light, and Movement are the biggest factors that will age your wines faster and to the detriment of the wine.  Don’t put your wine above the Fridge!!!!  Underneath a staircase in a long deep dark closet is perfect.

Q – This wine tastes sweet, but you have described it as dry – why is that?  

A – The Residual Sugar on this is less than .05% – however, it does have a lot of fruit characteristics which make it appear sweet.

Wilson Creek Winery – 2019 Roussanne

A meaty and beefy, white wine. More dense ripe fruit, rich, melons, mandarin oranges, and even a hint of spice – cumin and coriander. If you like Chardonnay then this might make a nice transition into a different wine. Thials – Thick mouth feels – makes for interesting aging.  

It’s problematic and needs lots of attention.  We are typically ½ done with reds and then come back and get the Roussanne.  We actually spray down the Roussanne with catlinite clay in the vineyard to ensure that it can stand the 105-degree temperatures later in the growing season. 

Really wants to be paired with Food:  White Pepper or Indian Food – Not heat spicy, but more of an aromatic food.  Really treads the line of Palate Cleanser and Complimentary Wine to go well with a dish like an herbed chicken, black pepper in a white sauce.  

Wilson Creek Winery – Non-Vintage Ecclesia-Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Named after a group of greek politicians – that would get together and share knowledge and have a good time together.

• Cab Sav – 51%
• Petite Syrah- 19%
• Malbec – 14% 
• Tannat – 6%

It’s a beautiful mix of young and new fruit  It’s incredibly thoughtful, so we would recommend opening it up earlier than you plan on drinking it to allow it to breathe.

Blends are like groups of friends and cultures, the more the better and this wine is no different.  The non-vintage blend allows us to really have a wonderful mix of young and old fruit, which creates this very interesting variation of a wine that smells different than it tastes.  It’s incredibly thoughtful, so we would recommend opening it up earlier than you plan on drinking it to allow it to breathe.  Chocked full of dark fruit and earthy flavors: cooked strawberries, cherry, jam, tar, pencil shavings, with a bit of petrichor the smell after the rain. 

This is a wine that will need to open up a bit, decanting may even be a good idea for this.  At the very least try and open the bottle about 10-15 minutes before drinking.

Food Pairings: Beef Bourguignon, Mushroom Burgers, 

This is very comparable to Double Dog and at a lower price point. – Like Greg’s Perineese that he is training to bring sheep in the vineyard.

More about Tannat: Tannat is the last grape we harvest every summer and is historically grown in South West France in the Madiran AOC, which is very close to Bordeaux.  There are two very different types of Tannat grapes: Clones 1-4 are the old school blenders very bitter, very tannic, very colorful.  We have a few blocks of these currently.  Clones 5-8 is the new world style that is more likely to deliver a full varietal.  We just planted 5 blocks of this and in 5 years we will have something very special to look forward to.

Wine Club BBQ is in August – 3 day event!!