November 30th, 2009 by admin

Sparkling wine is about festivities and celebration and it’s a perfect way to celebrate the holidays with family and friends. If you’re traveling to California for the holidays, you may be surprised to learn that Southern California has its share of world class wineries

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Sparkling wine is about festivities and celebration and it’s a perfect way to celebrate the holidays with family and friends. If you’re traveling to California for the holidays, you may be surprised to learn that Southern California has its share of world class wineries and vineyards.

Whether you’re flying to Los Angeles, Orange County or San Diego for your holidays, Temecula is centrally located. The Temecula Valley Agriculture Viticultural Area (AVA) is situated midway between Los Angeles and San Diego and makes a perfect day trip to find the perfect sparkling wine for your holiday gathering. Along with any wine tasting you do, Temecula and its wineries offer great dining and shopping.

Champagne is a sparkling wine made by inducing the in-bottle secondary fermentation of the wine – this makes the bubbley stuf. Generally, Champagne is produced exclusively within the Champagne region of France and most countries limit the use of the term to only those wines from this appellation.

Temecula Valley’s vineyards neighbor each other along the valley floor so it’s possible to visit quite a few wineries in one day. A number of wineries make sparkling wine and choosing your favorite may not be an easy task given nearly every winery has something special to offer.

Both dry or brut and sweet or sec sparkling wines are available from Temecula Valley wineries. Listed are three wineries that are recognized for thier sparkling wine – one or more of them is sure to liven up your holiday celebration.

Wilson Creek Winery and Vineyards
Wilson Creek Winery and Vineyards makes Almond Champagne, a sweet sparkling wine with almonds. The winery also makes a Grand Cuvee. Choose a bottle of either with a custom celebration label for .95 (Hanukkah, Christmas, New Years, Holiday Season) or the just as attractive standard label for .95.

Thornton Winery
The Thornton Winery uses the Méthode Champenoise process to create fine quality sparkling wine and Champagne. The Winery features Café Champagne and jazz on the Fountain Terrace. The NV Almondage is and 1999 Brut Reserve is ; mid-range sparking wines are also available.

La Cereza Vineyard and Winery
La Cereza, a Spanish-inspired winery, received Best Voignier in the State of California. It produces a “flirty” raspberry-flavored Champagne (.95) and a sparkling Peach Girls Champagne (.95), both designed to appeal to the female-palate. La Cereza also offers their traditional La Cereza Champagne for .95.

The award-winning wineries of Temecula Valley have a bottle that fits every sparking wine or Champagne connaisseur’s taste, as well as reds and whites for every food paring imaginable. While you’re in the area, discover Southern California’s wine country this holiday season.