Wine Country

A trip with Matt and Natalie in the RV for their 5th Wedding Anniversary.
It was not Hawaii, but it was fun!

We had some Fun in the RV and at Pechanga Casino Sat Eve.

I was up 100% on a slot machine and got greedy and lost it all (could have walked away with $2).

Matt did good on the craps table and then hit a jackpot on the slot (yeah !)

They have many wines to choose from and for a mere $10 you can "Sample" 6 wines.

They have special poreers that give you 1 oz. of wine to taste.

You could sample the Merlot, or a Chardonnay, or maybe something dry to quench your thirst(?).

Generally, they all tasted the same to me, yuk to double-yuk.

WELCOME to the Wine Making Tour.

It all starts hear with Grapes on the vine. It takes 3 to 5 years before a vine can produce good fruit to be harvested. Vineyards in this area were hit by a bad "Pest" called "SharpShooters" that killed many plants. This made many winemakers pull the vines and re-plant fields, meaning no income for 3-5 years as they waited for the plants to mature.

When the grapes are done being "Hand Picked" they are placed in the Giant Hopper.

The White grapes are FIRST, as they are ready earlier in the season, followed by the RED.

White get de- skinned and seeded, RED go in with Skins an stuff to help the color/ flavor.

The Grapes are placed in LARGE Two Layered steel tanks where the stuff can be mixed and temperatures are maintained to exacting standards !

When the wine is done fermenting (rotting)

It's put in the barrels to "Age" (get more rotten)

It was only a 24 hour turn around trip but a great little get away.