Tom Plant

I first met Rosie Boorman last year at The Wine Company. She and her associate Val were pouring samples of wine from their winery in La Cresta, an area adjacent to the Santa Rosa Plateau. I saw Rosie and Val again a few weeks ago at Francesca's where they were holding a wine blending party. Guests were given four varietals of wine and asked to create their own wine blend.

I was intrigued and asked Rosie if i could come visit their winery and see what she and her husband Todd were doing there. Temecula is renowned for its wine country, but I wanted to see what was going on in La Cresta. When I arrived, Rosie was dipping the tops of the bottles in food grade plastic and then handing them to Val to cool in water.

It's a labor intensive process, but so is everything they do at Boorman. I spent nearly an hour and a half visiting with Todd Boorman. He told me how they had moved to the area from Orange County in 1986. They wound up purchasing the land they now live and work on. There were already Cabernet Sauvignon grapes planted, but Todd knew nothing about grapes. He spent the first four years landscaping and building their home. He then started taking extension classes to learn how to take care of vineyards. He eventually began taking care of the grapes by himself, buying a sprayer and then a tractor.

Todd became interested in the process of making wine and soon began making wine from his own grapes. His first release was the 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon. He also bottles Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Pinot Noir and purchased 800 of the first 2000 Petit Verdot vines made available from France which he uses in his Metaphor blend.

I left incredibly impressed with Todd's committment to producing a quality product. In his words: "wine is an art that's being lost to commercialization." He also told me "I just want to make good wine." He's doing exactly that.

Murrieta Real Estate Expert – Tom Plant, REALTOR® - Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage – Active Rain Ambassador  (951) 907-9701

It would be my honor to show you the incredible Temecula Valley, a place I’m very proud to call home.

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The baseball season must surely be upon us. Spring training is drawing to a close. Across the country, fans are gearing up for opening day. Teams, both minor and major league are getting ready to welcome the crowds. What sorts of promotions can you expect to see this year? Well, In Lake Elsinore, The Storm has a unique idea for their Tuesday night games. In addition to all you can eat for $13, the first 250 fans will receive their very own Subtle Butt.

Listen, you can't make this stuff up, really. If you think about it, an all you can eat promotion does carry built-in hazards. At least The Storm is thinking about its fans. Play Ball!

The Storm's mascot - Thunder.

Murrieta Real Estate Expert – Tom Plant, REALTOR® - Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage – Active Rain Ambassador  (951) 907-9701

It would be my honor to show you the incredible Temecula Valley, a place I’m very proud to call home.

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Dan Atwood is no stranger to The Wine Company. He's been of part of it since its inception in its first location on Ynez Road. He was just much more in the background than he is now. Since the end of last year, however, Dan has stepped out of the shadows to take a much more active role. These days, more often than not, you're likely to find Dan either behind the counter and visiting guests from table to table.

Dan moved to Temecula twelve years ago. He purchased horse property on Rancho California Road that was also planted with Chardonnay grapes. Unfortunately, the vines had been attacked by the glassy-winged sharpshooter and needed to be torn out. Dan turned to a friend at Leonesse Cellars who told him he  should plant Syrah grapes in their place. With help from Leonesse, Dan has been producing a superior Syrah and is getting ready to release the 2006 vintage.

Dan hired Jim Lilly to build a wine cellar in his home and was asked if he might be interested in investing in wine store. They became partners and Jim ran the business for several years. Last year, Dan decided he wanted to try his hand at running the business, and he's implemented several changes already.

Dan's philosophy is simple. He wants The Wine Company to be a fun place to hang out... low-key and comfortable. There's a bigger emphasis on Temecula Valley wines now. Live music continues four nights a week. Future plans include adding an outdoor patio, and opening up the inside even more. If you want to try some good wine and get to meet some neat people, give The Wine Company a try.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As an added bonus, while I was writing this post, I saw Janice Sutton on twitter. After more than a year of visiting via active rain, we decided to meet in person at The Wine Company. Active Rain and twitter - a winning combination.

Murrieta Real Estate Expert – Tom Plant, REALTOR® - Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage – Active Rain Ambassador  (951) 907-9701

It would be my honor to show you the incredible Temecula Valley, a place I’m very proud to call home.

Taken with my Blackberry - sorry it's not sharper.

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Laura and I went to one of our favorite destinations last weekend. We drove to Paso Robles for the Zinfandel Festival. Zinfandel has become my favorite varietal and they sure make some good Zin in Paso. We met our friends Denny and Jodi at Tobin James winery, visited with our friend Tim Booth, and drove west on highway 46 for a few more stops.

First up was Zin Alley. Frank Nerelli is the owner and he makes a superior wine in very small quantities. Frank is very down to earth and makes you feel right at home.

Our final stop of the day was at Jada Vineyard. Operations manager Susan West had arranged a private tour for us and it was something we'll never forget. We walked down to the barrel room and were shown the new wine "eggs" that they have begun using in addition to the wooden barrels. The eggs are made of concrete which allows the wine to "breathe", something it can't do in stainless steel.

The egg is to the right of the wine barrels.

We then got in Susan's car and drove around all of the vineyard. It was a glorious spring day and the views were magnificent. We went back to the winery where Susan had a table set up for us. We tasted barrel samples of their various wines paired with different cheeses. If you visit Paso Robles, make sure you stop at Jada.

Later, Laura and I returned to Tobin James for their James Gang Reception. Food from about 20 different restaurants, live music and lots of wine. They had a new product called "plush puffs", flavored marshmallows that we got to roast over a flame.

Steve Anglim makes excellent wines which you can sample in the tasting room of Anglim Winery in the train depot downtown. That was our first stop Saturday morning. We sampled some of Steve's wines while we nibbled on salami and cheese and visited with Steve and his lovely wife Steffanie.

Next stop, four blocks down on Pine Street was the Mid Life Crisis Winery.

Jill and Kevin Mittan are the owners and winemakers. During the week they work in Hollywood. Jill works in post production on the TV series 24. It was great to visit with Jill, sample some more fine wines and pick up some sparkling wine for our upcoming wedding.

From there we went to Zenaida Cellars where they were celebrating a "Zen" fest. Flute music was playing, and we entered the candle-lit barrel room, where they offered "library" tastings of their different wines, vintages from 2003 to barrel samples of 2007 wines accompanied by delicious hors d'oeuvres. Winemaker and owner Eric Ogorsolka was on hand along with cellar master Tyler Russell.

The wildest part of the afternoon was at Four Vines Winery. Shortly after arriving, winemaker Chris Tietje led a group of about thirty of us into a dark barrel room, lit only by candles. He told us about his wines, mostly Zinfandels, and we tasted barrel samples. The last taste came from a glass carafe that we held above our mouths and let the wine flow in - extremely bizarre. Make no mistake though, Four Vines makes superb wines.

Sunday morning we drove to the end of Vineyard Drive and began the day at the fabulous Carmody McKnight Estate Vineyards. Laura and I found this place last year on our first visit to Paso and we just love it. We passed a bicyclist on the way and we met him when we were parking the car. It turns out he was winery owner Gary Conway. You may remember him as an actor from Burke's Law or Land of The Giants. We had a nice visit, then proceeded to the barrel room where winemaker Greg Cropper was just getting ready to sample the barrels for the days' visitors. We were extremely happy that he asked ask to taste along with him. Carmody McKnight's wines are world class and the work Greg puts into them really shows.

We had two last stops to make. We discovered Dubost Winery on our last visit and met Kate Dubost then. Kate's son Jacob is the winemaker, and he is one of the very talented new winemakers making his presence felt. Jake's making some delicious wines, and we also enjoyed some very tasty barbeque before heading down the road for our final stop.

Finally, we pulled into Starr Ranch. Owner Judy Starr sells grapes to many of the area wineries. She opens her gates a few times a year. We've been lucky enough to be there on two occasions when she's been open. Laura is very fond of her Gypsy Rose. I'm partial to her Cabernet Franc and Odysseus blend.

Phil Stevens was on hand and he is just getting ready to release wines under the Del Real label. He gave us a great tour and let us taste several barrel samples including his phenomenal Zinfandel.

We're already looking forward to our next visit to the Central Coast. We'll be staying in the winemaker's loft at Zenaida cellars. You can see a few more photos if you visit my photo blog.

Murrieta Real Estate Expert – Tom Plant, REALTOR® - Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage – Active Rain Ambassador (951) 907-9701

It would be my honor to show you the incredible Temecula Valley, a place I’m very proud to call home.

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It's heartening to see new businesses become established and successful. Diane Walden called me yesterday to invite me to take a look at the California Tea & Coffee Brewery. Laura and I dropped in this morning, met Diane and her husband Vern and checked it out. Wonderful smells hit your nostrils the moiment you step in. They offer forty different loose leaf tes, with flavors like Caramelized Pear, Cinnamon Plum and Apricot Dream as well as the more traditional Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Oolong and the like. They also serve coffee. As Vern put it, they major in tea and have a minor in coffee. I had a dark roast coffee and Laura tried a Vanilla Earl Grey Latte. Both were delicious.

Diane bakes pastries and they also offer herb pizzas and omelet pretzels. It's a welcome addition to the neighborhood. Next time you're in the mood for a great cup of tea or coffee, give them a try. I think you'll become a regular.

Murrieta Real Estate Expert – Tom Plant, REALTOR® - Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage – Active Rain Ambassador  (951) 907-9701

It would be my honor to show you the incredible Temecula Valley, a place I’m very proud to call home.

 Subscribe in a reader