Ranch & Coast Magazine

I CONFESS: AS A ONETIME BAY AREA resident who enjoyed easy access to the renowned Napa and Sonoma County growing regions, I hadn't given Temecula the credit it deserves. My early experiences were of the less epicurean variety (I'll admit to being a passenger on a party bus or two), and despite roughly a half-century of winemaking history, the region had primarily seemed like a beautiful day destination for Southern Californians for whom a visit to a more established wine region was out of reach. How wrong I have been. Producing highly rated wines that stand up to some of the steepest competition, Temecula Valley is a legitimate wine-lover's destination whose time has come. In any wine growing region, the landscape will lure romantics to dream of living on a vineyard and bottling their own wines, and Temecula is no exception. According to Robert Renzoni, proprietor of his namesake Temecula vineyard, there's far more reality to the winemaking life. "It's a labor of love, there's no question," he says. "It's a lot of work, it's a lifestyle, it's a passion. And if you're looking to make a quick buck, you're in the wrong business." Representing his family's fourth generation in the business, Renzoni, who was named by another Robert (Mondavi, that is), would know. And through this hard work and investment in his operation, together with his winemaker, Olivia Bue, the Robert Renzoni label hasn't had a wine rated under 90 points in five years, though he says Bue's determination to hit above 95 is what drives her to continue to generate excellent wines. "I want people who know wine, who like wine, to want to come here because they know they're going to get a good product," he tells me from a patio table outside his tasting room and adjacent Italian trattoria with views of Worthy Praise Temecula Valley is earning its reputation as a top-ranking wine destination Detour destinations BY DEANNA MURPHY Ponte Vineyard Inn PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF TEMECULA VALLEY WINEGROWERS ASSOCIATION @ranchandcoast ranchandcoast.com 70 MAY 2022 RANCH & COAST MAGAZINE

• Cover