The thing is , when you start off and you have a ticket that gives you five choices and there is a much smaller limit in the glass so it is just a very small mouth full, what you don't take into consideration is the fact that the guys you get started talking too are giving you little early tasters to see if you really do want to properly taste this and that, and all of that adds up as well.
Plus the fact that they are also there to help sell you some wine as well it all adds up to a very convivial half an hour which we enjoyed enormously.
We started off taking a leisurely drive down the main road where all the vineyards are located and on to an area where there appears to be a great scheme of recycling / treating water and then storing and using the water--
Sorry for the picture quality but it is water treatment and recycling in the foreground and recreation and leisure in the background--all man made and in an area that is a major wine growing area as well as forests of orange trees so they are dependant on this kind of scheme and I take my hat off to them--even to where they have the solar panel arrays to power the plant.
This is from the other end which we visited that has camp sites , fishing , boating , hiking , mountain biking, and of course things like ballooning above and shows that are put on there, so all in all great use of an area that would have been pretty parched.
Ok so that was the educational part of the day for us and now back to the bit that most would be far more interested in -- the Wineries.
These places are no longer just Wineries-- They are conference centres, hotels , restaurants --they do weddings , christenings , Bamitzvers -- careful Vicar---and hold exhibitions there as well------
And they have clothes and jewellery stalls outside as well--just for the discerning shopper of course.
Many and varied but the final and in our opinion the best of all was the Maurice Carrie Winery above and below--
Also at these places you need an excellent guide through the wines and then through the distillery and we very much had this with a young guy who has just completed his degree in Bio Chemistry and may become a dentist, who was very knowledgeable and very personable--his dad also owns a Dentist practice and careful Charlotte--we now know that he is single and 25 and you could here the wheels of the matchmaker spinning round-- well, it's what mothers do isn't it,
We had a swim after these exertions and in the evening went to this wonderful Steakhouse in Temecula-----
Lynda reckoned it was close to being the best steak she has ever eaten--but the Gratton potatoes were no where near as good as hers---I can vouch for that.
So at the end of an exhausting day where we had to put up with 100 degree sunshine, lots of cheeky little wines and food to die for , we actually slept rather well.
So another bold new day, heading off up into the mountains and over to Palm Springs, home to Frank Sinatra and Sonny Bono (in a graveyard), The Red Lion Restaurant , The Royal Sun Inn Hotel and of course a pretty good sports bar to get the Soccer of England and Chelsea on and to meet up with our friends Lisa and Hugh, well it all sound rather splendid actually so onwards and upwards--Happy Trails again-------
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