Wine
Wilson Creek: A Little More Sparkle in the Afternoon
Temecula’s family-owned Wilson Creek Winery makes room for serious reds, a leisurely lunch and its signature Almond Sparkling Wine.
AI-generated editorial illustration inspired by Wilson Creek Winery and its Almond Sparkling Wine; not a photograph of an actual event.
Wilson Creek was my first wine-tasting experience in California. That gives it a permanent place in my personal California wine history, which is considerably less organized than the professional version. Some people remember their first great vintage. I remember the place that got the whole business started.
I remember when wine tasting often meant a free pour or perhaps five dollars. The afternoon required less financial planning than it does now.
Wilson Creek Winery in Temecula gives a wine-loving golfer a compelling place to start. The family name is on the building, the restaurant provides a reason to stay, and the wine list leaves room for both Cabernet Sauvignon and almond-flavored bubbles. Nobody needs to apologize for finding the latter appealing. We already have golf to make us question our judgment.
A Family Took the Leap
The Wilson family’s story begins well before the first tasting-room pour. Gerry and Rosie Wilson decided to pursue the winery in 1996, sold their South Pasadena home and moved toward a very different sort of family business. Three of their children and their spouses followed to Temecula the next year. The tasting room opened in 2000.
Gerry had been a financial adviser; Rosie had hosted a television cooking show. Between them, someone could explain the risk and someone could feed everyone while they worried about it.
That family origin gives the place a useful point of reference. Wineries can talk about heritage until the word needs a chair. Here, the story involves a house sold, a family relocated and a business built together. Those are fairly substantial commitments to an afternoon drink.
Today’s visitor has several ways to enjoy the result. There is the tasting room, the courtyard, the gardens and Creekside Grille. For a group whose enthusiasm for discussing fermentation varies considerably, options are an excellent invention.
Give the Reds a Turn
The famous sparkling wine can wait a moment. Wilson Creek’s broader range deserves attention, particularly if your usual response to a wine list is to head directly for the reds and establish a defensible position.
Its published awards list includes Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Syrah and Petite Sirah, alongside whites and sparkling wines. Think of that list as a starting point for questions at the tasting bar, rather than a guarantee that every vintage is being poured when you arrive. Ask what is open, explain what you normally enjoy and let the staff offer a comparison.
The Library tasting provides another approach: a seated experience built around reds and whites, with small bites available to purchase. The winery lists reservations as required, with walk-ins subject to availability, and specifies that this space is for guests 21 and older. A little time in a chair can improve the conversation considerably. Golfers have been making that discovery after the eighteenth hole for generations.
There is a useful strategy here for couples or friends with different tastes: resist ordering the same thing merely to maintain diplomatic relations. Ask about a white alongside a red, compare what appeals and accept the possibility that someone else prefers something different. Wine should survive this development. Most marriages have already negotiated considerably more difficult subjects, including thermostat settings and how early one really needs to arrive for a tee time.
A tasting is also a chance to find a bottle you would actually enjoy with dinner, rather than one you feel obliged to admire. If a description leaves you puzzled, ask for an explanation. Nobody was born knowing the vocabulary. Some people have simply had more practice deploying it before lunch.
Something Interesting Beneath the Vines
One of Wilson Creek’s more worthwhile stories concerns the soil. The winery describes a regenerative agriculture program involving cover crops, reduced tillage, soil testing, plant monitoring and grazing sheep. Its Block 9 Cabernet Sauvignon is associated with that work.
The detail is worth asking about. Soil health sounds less glamorous than a polished tasting bar, but the vineyard does rather depend on it. The sheep, meanwhile, have managed to secure outdoor employment without being asked to wear a branded polo shirt.
Wilson Creek also lists a regenerative agriculture tractor tour among its visitor experiences. For anyone curious about how the property is farmed, that offers a more useful question than whether the tasting room matches the photographs: what is happening out in the rows, and why?
You need not acquire a degree in agriculture before lunch. A little curiosity will do nicely.
Lunch Is Part of the Plan
Creekside Grille makes a sensible centerpiece for the visit. The winery’s dining overview describes seasonal, wine-inspired food and a setting beside Cabernet vines. This is a perfectly respectable reason to leave a generous gap in the afternoon’s schedule.
The restaurant primarily welcomes walk-ins, with a limited number of advance reservations. Check its current arrangements before assembling a party and promising everyone a table. Confidence is admirable; twelve hungry friends can expose its limitations.
For a golf weekend, I would allow Wilson Creek its own unhurried stretch of time rather than treat it as a hurried stop between appointments. Arrange a designated driver or other transportation before tasting. The scorecard has already received enough questionable decisions for one day.
You’ll find the winery at 35960 Rancho California Road, Temecula, California 92591. Check the official hours and directions before leaving, especially around private events, and confirm tasting or tour arrangements through the winery. The phone number is 951-699-9463.
Finish With the Almond
I’d finish with the almond champagne. Wilson Creek now calls it Almond Sparkling Wine, but that is the bottle I mean. The winery’s separate Almondsecco is a less-sweet offering; it is not simply a new name for the original.
If it weren’t for having to keep it chilled the entire time, that would probably be the bottle I’d take with me on a golf course, where permitted. As it is, my golf bag already contains enough equipment that needs looking after. Adding temperature management seems an ambitious expansion of the job.
Better to give the almond its moment after the round, properly chilled, with the clubs safely out of the conversation. They have had their chance to impress everybody.