Page 23 - Expert Issue 2015 (2)

Wine in San Diego County?

By Tammy Rimes Photos Courtesy of Tammy Rimes

When people mention California wine country, most think of Napa Valley: food is a priority for many at their own family meals. And why shouldn’t
Paso Robles or Santa Barbara…not San Diego. But if you understand a bit wine be a part of that? With grapes that are grown in San Diego, made
of wine history…this is where it all began! With close to 100 wineries across from local family wineries, it’s a great compliment to any locally served
San Diego County, this is one of the fastest growing wine regions in the meal. When dining in restaurants or shopping at local markets, more are
nation. starting to offer local wines. On any given weekend, the answer to the
Currently, almost one new winery opens every month in San Diego. Why so question “What should we do for fun” is easy - “Let’s check out San Diego
much growth? Well, the laws changed. The County of San Diego recently Wine Country!”
Photo Courtesy of Dr. Mary Anne Fuchs, MD, FACEP overhauled its antiquated winery laws that were highly restrictive. With an
opportunity for increased agritourism, pressure from local wholesale winer- About the Author: Tammy Rimes owns Hacienda de las Rosas Winery,
ies and the need to switch to low-water use crops, the local laws regarding featured on the front page of USA Today, winner of the San Diego
wineries were changed to allow tasting rooms. Wineries weren’t the only Chamber of Commerce Innovative Marketing Award, and voted as
ones to benefit from the change. A whole cottage industry is growing as well 2014 San Diego Reader’s Poll Top 5 Wineries in San Diego County.
Tammy is the author of “Drink Fine Wine…Ride Fine Horses – Leading
the Life of Your Dreams,” a book that provides a fun and informative
guideline on how anyone can begin their own dream life. She
entertains and motivates audiences across the nation with her
keynote addresses.
Learn more about Tammy and her winery at http://sdwinery.com/ or
reach her directly at tammy@tammyrimes.com

San Diego Woman

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– tour companies, bed & breakfasts, local restaurants, wedding planners -
it’s an opportunity for many businesses.
To review a bit of California wine history, the art of wine making started with
San Diego Mission de Alcala…the State’s first mission. Not really known for
its taste or quality, this early wine was used primarily for communion. In the
late 1800’s, grape growing took off in leaps and bounds in the San Diego
and Los Angeles areas. Later, when prohibition hit, grape growing gave
way to citrus and avocado crops, which were considered more lucrative at
the time. However, specific wineries across California were allowed to stay
open and given special permission to continue making communion wine for
the Catholic Church. When Prohibition was finally lifted, grape growing took
off again, this time in northern California. So history reversed itself from the
south to the north and that’s why many people don’t think of Southern CA
as grape growing country. But it is perfect for grapes! Much of San Diego’s
terrain and microclimates are similar to parts of Spain and Italy. Red vari-
etals, and some warm weather loving whites, grow exceedingly well here.

Is the wine any good? You bet it is! San Diego wines are winning awards
and taking home gold metals. In fact, a recent visitor who owns a winery in
Tuscany, Italy commented that the locally made Sangiovese and Barbera
wines was as good as any he had tasted in his country. An additional fea-
ture that makes San Diego County unique is that most of the wineries are
small family operations. A visitor will not only taste wines that are hand-
made from locally grown grapes, they will also meet the owners, winemak-
ers and be served by their family. Having an impromptu tour, meeting their
horses or ranch dogs, or seeing behind the scenes wine-making activi-
ties are highlights that make each visit unique and special. There is no
corporate feeling here, and the wines are usually reasonably priced for the
amount of work that went into each bottle.
Farm to table is a huge movement across the country. Eating locally grown