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2000 SDVSA Temecula Wine Tour It was a dark and stormy night the evening before our Saturday tour of
Temecula wineries. I felt sorry for our tour leader, darling Del Skoog, because bad weather
does not usually bode well for a good turnout. However, the next day was bright and cool
with some clouds, almost like fall weather back east. I was pleased to see the number of
people that showed up at our rendezvous point. Leading the tour were our host and hostess,
Bob and Del Skoog in Del's rare, burgundy '65 S.
Art and Shirley Olson from Del Mar in their butterscotch '70 E joined us, along with Jerry and Nick Hall in a very nice, white, '64 122 S. Other members of the group were David Hunt in his vintage, white P1900, with Goran Freske riding shotgun; Mr. & Mrs. McLaughlin (?) in a sleekly customized, British racing green, '72 ES; and Brad and Sharon Benson from Moreno Valley in a very clean, white, '72 ES. Also along for the tour were Darwin and Lois Lumley of Vista in a bold, BRIGHT yellow '63 S and yours truly in the Green Hornet, a '72 E. In addition, we had surprise guests, Walter and Linda Newton from Walla Walla, Washington, in a beautiful, black, '73 Jensen Healy, which they had towed behind their RV (they are also the proud owners of a '62 1800). After some bench racing and some last minute purchases of picnic supplies at a nearby deli, delightful Del got us in our cars and we took off for our first stop, Baily Vineyard and Winery. At Baily's, for $5, you received a wineglass to keep and a list from which you could pick 5 wines to taste. I liked 'em all!
After 40 minutes or so, determined Del dragged us back to our vehicles so we could hit the
next winery on our tour, Hart Winery.
This winery has a very small tasting room, which is great if you like forced intimacy with strangers. For $3, you received a wineglass to keep and no track was kept of the number of wines you tasted.... Hmmm, I like that! They had a very nice port and if I had had a Cuban cigar, I would've gotten the lawn chair out of the car and camped out. After another 40 minutes or so, drill sergeant Del ordered us out of there and we then made our way to Cilurzo Vineyard & Winery. The Cilurzo Winery was the best/worst of all since the tasting fee was only a buck for 6 glasses but the wine wasn't that good (in my ever-so-humble opinion). They did have a tasty white dessert wine (the name escapes me - hiccup!) and the service was excellent. Since this was our last stop, we broke out the lunches and we were swarmed by a troop of peacocks. One was so bold as to try and snatch a sandwich from one of our members and another peacock almost went to peacock heaven when it looked like he was going to jump up onto darling Del's car. Fortunately for both the peacock and the car, Bob was able to shoo it away in time. All in all, it was a great outing; we made some new friends, turned a lot of heads and drank some pretty good wine. Thank you Del for a great tour! |
