Today was my birthday and my girlfriend kidnapped and surprised me with a wine tasting tour at the World of Wine (WoW) barrel tasting in Temecula Valley. The Temecula Valley Winegrowers Association’s two-day event features 34 participating vineyards sampling their best wines with food pairings. My girlfriend had foresight to find a company that offered a shuttle to drive us to nine of the vineyards on March 4.
Our tour guide Kim would be our adult chaperone for the day. She would explain to everyone on the bus the ground rules; she was in charge, no standing while the bus is moving and warned us that by the end of the day we would all be friends. For a shuttle full of sober adults we didn’t quite understand but as Kim said we would soon realize the logic.
I really enjoyed WoW, each wineries facility were gorgeous and had great selections to choose from. Many of them offered 25-50% discounts on bottles purchased that day. The food pairings were delicious and helped bring out the taste of the wines. My favorite Wiens Family Cellars paired grilled hazelnut-presto crusted shrimp on herb focaccia with 2010 Pinot Gris and Orecchiette con pollo alla cacciatorra e funghi with 2010 Barbera
Now once the wine gets flowing the party doesn’t stop until everyone gets dropped off. We were ready to tap out after the 5th winery. The birthday day celebration was a great time spent with amazing people, food and wine.
Temecula is 90 miles south of Los Angeles, 70 miles west of Palm Springs and 60 miles north of San Diego. Visit www.temeculawines.org for upcoming events during the year.