Each year, Chad and I plan a special day for May 26. This is the day we met, and while our wedding anniversary will be important (we celebrate our first one this November!), we want to keep the tradition of Charci Day as a momentous occasion!
We headed to Temecula, a wine town located south of Manhattan Beach. Near San Diego, this sleepy town has a million family-owned wineries and a laid back atmosphere. I found a small resort online last month called South Coast, after much research on rates and deals, we settled on a visit for two days. The pinnacle of the event would be a hot air ballon ride. We checked in Wednesday afternoon and proceeded to start happy hour the moment we arrived (yes, I am a Hall (now Helenthal) girl!) Our villa was tucked in the rows of vines and we had a perfect view of the mountains in the distance and flowering grape vines on our villa porch. 
After a few Manhattans and Cosmos, we decided to make our way to the tasting room at South Coast. We then sauntered (slowly….) to dinner at the restaurant. A tart French man was our waiter, and we immediately assumed, “Oh great, he will be immensely annoyed with us.” But, after we talked Tour de France and discussed our trip, he was immediately warm and helpful. We started with a 2005 Merlot from South Coast, their “Rolling Hills’ blend – it was rich and loaded with flavor. We had ceviche as an app, then headed into main courses of filet mignon and ribeye. Both were fantastic. We teetered home and crashed for the evening, super tired but really excited about Charci Day.
Failed to mention, the hot air balloon company called during our dinner and let us know one of the balloons was out of service. We could either reschedule to Friday or cancel. Since a hot air balloon ride is basically one of my top bucket list items, and it is super romantic, I wanted to still go. Even though it wouldn’t be ON Charci Day, we decided to go. Charci Day might not have a balloon ride in it, but we were making it a wine fest instead!!
Instead of getting up at 5 a.m. for the balloon ride, we got to sleep in! WINNING! We lounged for a few hours in our villa. We finally got a move on and headed to breakfast at the lodge. Chad had Eggs Benedict and me, Huevos Rancheros – mimosas included, of course! Since downtown Temecula was only a few minutes away, we decided to explore. The downtown is about 8 blocks of shops filled with antiques and interesting knick knacks. We did an olive oil tasting at the Temecula Olive Oil Company and bought quite e few bottles of vinegars, lotions, and soaps. The rest of the morning was spend tooling around the shops and sightseeing for interesting finds. I love old books and hoped to stumble on good condition classic hardbacks. Chad wanted antique fly fishing reels or fly boxes for his growing fishing collection. Mid-afternoon, we settled in at a cheese shop in a little corner on a back alley on Temecula. There, we ordered a cheese and meat platter, complete with olives, fresh fruit, organic almonds, brie, pecorino, goat cheese, and prosciutto. Flights of wine complimented the platter – we could not believe how fresh the almonds tasted – they were not processed, leaving them completely flavorful and pure tasting. The sun was out, the wind was breezy, the white wines were cold… we were in heaven!
After some more shopping, we headed to winery row back toward our resort. At the olive oil shop, a local recommended Hart Winery. Luckily, it was on the way home! We stopped in to an unassuming warehouse nestled on the side of a vine-covered mountain. We walked in to a winery in progress, the wine vats and packaging took the majority of the warehouse space, and tucked in the corner was a small tasting area for visitors. You could immediately tell this was a small vineyard with no frills. We pulled up to the tasting bar and started with their delicious wines. We each tried six wines. Before heading to Temecula, I had it in my mind we would be tasting primarily reds. But, this region produces nearly every type of wine you could imagine – over the course of this week – I swear I think we tried a dozen new types of wines that we have never experienced. Chad loved their port – it was chock full of berries and was sweet and served with a chocolate. I loved their (white) Roussane – it was peach and mango flavored, hinting a citrus note. The woman at Hart was lovely, she respected the winery and spoke highly of those who worked vineyards in the area. Another woman, who was visiting, was also interesting and knew a lot about the area. We came to find out she owned Cougar Winery, a few miles away – we promised to visit her on Friday.
Temecula is an eclectic group of wine people – they respect each other, are completely accommodating to visitors, but are equally unassuming and laid back about what they do. It is not a hard sell to love their wine – instead, they invite you to enjoy and decide for yourself.
Next, we headed to Lionesse Winery, we heard they had the best view from their tasting room in Temecula. A short drive brought us to this gorgeous spread atop the mountain. Indeed, the view was breathtaking – the mountains coupled with the rolling hillsides of vines created a Tuscan feel. We (again) pulled up the tasting bar at Leonesse for 6 more! At Lionesse, we preferred their Roussane as well. The Meritage (red) was also delicious. To end the tasting, the beautiful server offered us chocolate truffles with our port. WOW! The sweet flavors of chocolate and berry was outstanding – I don’t know if I have ever tasted something that decadent! Knowing we had tasted 18 wines at this point, we found it necessary to get back to South Coast before we tried any more! But hey, once we got there, we thought, better do some tastings at South Coast! Chad’s best line of the day, “We are getting drunk… one ounce at a time!”
After a quick break at the villa, we headed to South Coast’s tasting room. Since this was open until 6, a lot of those making their rounds get to South Coast last, as it is open an extra hour (most close at 5). The ambiance at South Coast was much more frenzied, there were a ton of people and the tasting bar was packed. We tried 6 more (yes, that brings our tasting total to 24!) – and marginally enjoyed the Meritage. They also had a blend called Group Therapy (great name) that Chad enjoyed.
Since we felt strongly that staying away from a car was wise, we ventured to the lodge restaurant another night. Phillippe was our waiter again, making it special. We decided to surf, not turf tonight. Chad had the Frutti de Mare, a pink pasta dish with mussels, clams, scallops, shrimp and while fish. I had the Lobster ravioli. Both were cooked perfectly and hearty!
Being that we had to be ready for our balloon ride at 5AM, we headed in for an early night after dinner.
All said, Charci Day was one for the ages. Finding someone to live your life with is special, but finding someone you share common interests with is over the moon! Chad and I love cycling, traveling, wine – we are always up for an adventure. We will try anything and love to experience new things together. This was the first big trip for us since we got married – I feel infinitely blessed to have someone that cares for me and loves a good adventure with me. Chad is my heart and I cannot begin to count our blessings together – we always make our time together special and we make a point to celebrate our life together every day. But today, Charci Day, celebrates the day two good people decided to make a go of it – and I could not feel more loved and blessed on this day.
