Temecula, CA Wine Country

I moved to Murrieta, CA about 7 weeks ago.  And we're right next to Temecula (Murrieta and Temecula are pretty much "twin cities").  Today, my grandma, Nan as I call her, suggested we take a drive to the Wine Country in Temecula, on the Southeast side of town.  After some maneuvering through town for about a half an hour- there was a ton of construction and we still get turned around- and a trip to Starbucks we made it to our first winery.  No, we didn't actually sample anything; we just wanted to look around.

It kind of sucked that all the trees are dead right now, but it was still a gorgeous day.

This winery is actually owned by a friend of ours.  Well, co-owned and he doesn't do much with the business.  It's a beautiful place.  All the photos to follow are from there.

This is the view from the wedding site.

Inside the tasting room.

The last time my mom was here with my step-dad she said there was no one here, but the place was busting with people when we were there.

These trees always remind me of "Under the Tuscan Sun" when her friend is standing under them and she calls them "creepy Italian trees."  So, true they are weird.

Even though the vines are all dry it's still a gorgeous view.

After we left Leoness, we took a long drive to the end of the wine trail then circled back around to head back into Temecula.  We thought about stopping for lunch, so we stopped here at Ponte Winery.

However, the restaurant was not cheap, and so we just meandered into the tasting room to check it out (and we used the bathroom :)

Nan, shopping in the Ponte tasting room.

Lots and lots of wine.

After we left here we headed back to Temecula, and went to Panera Bread for lunch.  All around it was a fun day out in Wine Country.  Can't wait for friends to come and visit so we can share it with them.