Championing Wine and Wellness in Temecula

For the seasoned visitors of Southern California, visiting Temecula is a can’t miss wine country destination. An hour from San Diego, two hours from Los Angeles, and 90 minutes from Palm Springs, this warm climate wine destination has been a valley of renown for generations. First an outpost for Spanish Missionaries looking to spread the word of Jesus, like many religious men before them, they first planted grapes to support the sacrament of Communion. Later, with the rise of the railroad across America, Temecula became a key post office location, providing mail for much of greater California. Temecula has historically had its finger on the pulse of greater trends for a while, with the more recent trend of incorporating wine and wellness together in the vineyards.

What is Wine and Wellness?

Alcohol consumption in this day is not typically considered a wellness aligned activity. But, with the community nature of sharing a bottle of wine and meeting others for drinks, that premise is shaky at best. After all, life expectancy improves with continual and rich social connections. As post-COVID era wine consumption has fallen from the 2020-21 peak, wineries and alcohol brands are adapting their expectations to meet people where they are. Where is that, you may ask? It could be a yoga studio, out on a trail, or at the gym. That’s because many wine drinkers are as concerned with longevity and long term health as they are with job security and their families. Wine drinkers are not only drinking less, but also seeking to have a better connection with their wine. Whether it is touring a winery while on vacation or on a local day trip, incorporating a connection stronger than just “good wine in a glass” has become a key component to retaining loyal customers.

For many of the wineries of Temecula, wine and wellness is easy to come by, in varying forms.

Drink Better, Not More

Not all wines are made equally. Wines from large producers found at grocery stores are often enhanced with additives such at Mega Purple and Ultra Red to boost the body and fruitiness of the juice. While some do use estate grown grapes, there’s also a good chance that they are buying grapes from other growers, introducing a certain level of ignorance into growing practices. In Temecula, anywhere from 65-75% of wineries are considered family or founder owned, meaning that the people who started the wineries are still directly involved in growing and production. With an intimate relationship to the wine and a heart story tied to the brand, you can expect that these wineries are more invested in better product rather than more product.

Tastings Involving Movement

Doffo Winery NAV tours bring guests directly into the vineyards. Photo c/o Doffo Winery.

Instead of sitting or standing at a tasting room bar, the most impactful tastings often involve a little something special. It may involve sips out in the vineyard. These are my favorite types of tastings because you get a chance to learn more about the land and the people of the winery. Certifications like Sustainability in Practice value the wine and wellness of people, places, and prosperity in a winery. I’ll never forget my first time getting to taste in the vines in Idaho wine country. I loved it so much, I visited again on my own less than 5 years later and brought my family with me. But Temecula wineries are doing more than just getting you outside of the tasting room. They’re providing experiential activities that appeal to the wine and wellness geek in us all.

Doffo Winery has Kawasaki tours that put you on the equivalent of an all terrain golf cart to get right into the vineyards and production facilities. There are opportunities for professional photos in the vines–bring your good camera or maybe your photographer friend! Barrel tastings of wine that is still aging is available and you’ll have many opportunities to dive deep into what wine production and grape growing looks like for this property.

$115/person or $95 for wine club members
Only one NAV tour per day; see the farm, motorcycle museum, and production facility.
Guaranteed to be hosted by a member of the Doffo family
Charcuterie included
Experience the Uniqueness of Place: Exclusive barrel tasting of Petite Syrah from two tracts of land 300 feet apart. Both managed and grown the same way, the difference in glass is something you can only taste to believe. For more information on this phenomenon, take a peek at my post about the 1,200 climat of Burgundy, where different plots of same grape vineyards mere feet from each other hold distinctly different predominant flavors and characteristics.
If you have less time or tighter budgets, consider their Cork n’ Torque Guided tour at $95 ($75 for members)

Akash Winery offers outdoor yoga and pilates overlooking their beautiful vineyards. And unlike animal based yoga, you’ll get a legitimate workout! Taught by certified instructors including those from Club Pilates, this is a wellness offering that will really make you earn your post-class glass of wine. Sorry, as a 25 year practitioner of yoga, I can’t endorse goat or puppy yoga as exercise. Unless it helps bring people to try out a new form of movement without fear of embarrassment, I just don’t get it.

$25/person
Weekend Morning Classes at 9 AM (this varies so check their website)
Bring your mat
Enjoy a glass of wine of your choosing after class.

Lower Alcohol Wines

A rule of thumb that I grew up on was that lower alcohol wines had to be sweet. Fortunately for everyone, this is not always the case. While lower alcohol levels can be indicative of sweetness and residual sugar in a wine—see my post on understanding German wine labels for more— it is not always the case. Temecula wineries such as Wiens Cellars and Robert Renzoni Vineyards carry dry wines that have lower alcohol levels. If pressed, I also make my own low alcohol wine by turning things into a spritzer format. Half wine and half sparkling water with a straw over ice is a favorite on a hot day.

Learning about the Wine and Wellness of the Land

Wine and wellness is not just about the wellness of the tasters, but also about the wellness of the land. After the decimation of European vineyards by the garden louse known as phylloxera, many wineries across the world enacted heavy handed pesticide usage. Coupled with herbicides and fungicides, it helped manage the predictability of production levels of the vines for a time, but ultimately sacrificed the overall health and wellness of the vines and soil. Regenerative and biodynamic farming practices and vineyard management has come a long way as growers realized the negative impact these chemicals had on the plants.

wine and wellness in Wilson Creek Temecula — Wilson Creek’s Regenerative Agriculture Tour. Photo c/o Temecula Wines

Wilson Creek Winery offers their Regenerative Agriculture Tractor Tour. It gives insight on how they nurture the land, and ways that you can impart these principles at home.

$50/person or $15 for non-drinkers (wine club members save 20%)
Offered at 11 Am and 2 PM on Saturdays and Sundays
Includes 5 wine tastings

South Coast Winery offers two tours at their winery. One at 60 minutes and one at 90 minutes, showing you the production, bottling and finishing station. While one includes a trip into the vines, the other does not. Call ahead to figure out which is best for you.

Pricing varies, between $50-$95 depending on which tour you choose and whether or not you are a wine club member.
Tours are weekends starting at either noon or 2pm
The Executive Production Tour includes charcuterie but the Behind the Scenes Tour does not

Wine as an Accompaniment with Food

The smartest way, and the ancient way, of enjoying wine, is to view it as an accompaniment with food. It doesn’t take a genius to know that wine on an empty stomach is a bad idea, but the idea of pairing wine to match a meal isn’t always clear. With wineries that take their dining options as seriously as their wine, it is easy to enjoy a few hours at one of Temecula Valley’s wineries.

The following wineries have some exquisite dining options and are worth making a reservation for:

Taking all of these into consideration, a girls getaway, couples trip, or just because vacation to Temecula can really incorporate wine and wellness without feeling like a complete overindulgence. As with everything in life, balance is key!

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JaimeSays

WSET Level 2 Certified Wine Lover, DuPage County Brand Ambassador. DME + Orthotics By Day, Adoring Home Life and Travel by Night.

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Wine drinkers are not only drinking less, but also seeking to have a better connection with their wine. Incorporating wellness components and experiential offerings help wine destinations like Temecula stand out among others.