Weekend in Wine Country

Yet another weekend when I'm not getting around to blogging until rather late. Ah, well!

We spent most of Saturday (after running a few errands) in the Temecula Wine Country, with sister-in-law Angie and her soon-to-be-husband Sky. It was utterly delightful -- warm but not hot, all the wine we tasted rather good. We had a late lunch at the Ponte Family Estate, and as usual it was delicious -- I had shrimp with tomato-basil linguine, Angie and Jen had frittatas, and Sky had some kind of chicken. I especially liked the Riesling, as well as the Petite Syrah. The dining was outdoors, there was a wedding about to get underway, and all in all it was as pleasant an experience as we've had in some time.

I will even suggest, for those who are visiting Southern California and want to get beyond Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego, to call me at the office -- (714) 796-7821 -- plenty of notice or my wife will murdalize me -- and think about joining us on a wine-tasting tour in Temecula. They put the first wineries in in the 1970s, and there are about 20 now, all pretty much boutique and most of them fun and informative, some of them quite elaborate and chi-chi. The story is that a gap in the coastal range creates a good wind grape growing microclimate, with coastal mists soming in overnight and staying 'til late morning. True or not, the wine is good.

I'll probably regret this offer, but . . .