A Foodies Journey Through Temecula Winery’s Harvest Celebration Weekend

Once again, LA Foodies and Friends took a weekend off from LA’s fine dining scene to visit the mecca of fine wines for the Temecula winery Harvest Celebration weekend.  A day later, they reported that their minds were still spinning recalling the 20 or so wineries that they were able to fit into two days.  As expected, the group was typically WOW’d by Temecula wine.

As the group started their day Saturday at 10am on Rancho California, they were surprised that few wineries were ready with their food which was not a total loss as these wineries helped them forget this oversight with generous pours.  This early hour called for tasting the rarest of Temecula wines – white wine – which often required them to move to Champaign. Around 11am, they started finding that wineries were finally ready to serve.  Unfortunately, most Temecula wineries served beer food rather than grasp Napa’s lesson of how food impacts the flavors of wine. For example, how do Tacos compliment a fine Sarah?  When served Tacos, they once again retreated to Champaign.

While the group was quite happy to drown their disappointment about the food with many awesome Tempranillos, Sandioveses and Cabs, they continued their searched all day Saturday for the scrumptious food they had read about in the ads.  At the end of Saturday, they ran into a very pleasant group visiting from Texas who claimed that “one winery off De Portola Road had a mind blowing short rib that tasted more like filet”.  Everything seemed fuzzy to them about which winery so the foodies decided to dedicate their Sunday to finding it.

While much harder to get started Sunday, the group began that rainy day on De Portola at Oak Mountain Winery (http://OakMountainWinery.com) -- a beautiful winery overlooking the valley.  Not only were they happy to see this winery ready to serve food at 10am but they found the mind blowing short ribs served by Temecula Catering.  Beautifully presented, these ribs were served with freshly made chimichurri sauce and micro greens – a perfect pairing for Oak Mountains award winning Cab Franc.   After a brief talk with Executive Chef Michael from Temecula Catering (http://Temecula-Catering.com), they discovered the secret – these ribs had been cooked three days using Sous Vide.  The foodies lingered to savor their discovery and were rewarded with a Temptations sounding band.

The rest of Sunday was a pleasant blur.  They returned to bed to sleep it off and look forward to dreaming of the fine Sirahs, Pinotages, Merlots and Ports that they enjoyed.   The foodies look forward to their next pilgrimage to Temecula.

About Temecula Catering
Temecula Catering is owned and operated by Executive Chef Michael Cragg, formerly of the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel. He founded Temecula Catering in 2010 with the goal to bring high-end fine dining experiences to the Temecula Valley. He has catered events at several wineries, including Leoness Cellars, Bel Vino (formerly Stuart Cellars), Oak Mountain Winery, Danza del Sol Winery, Miramonte Winery and the new Lorimar Winery. Temecula Catering specializes in modern gastronomy using sous vide, creating unique meals that stun and amaze his clients.
Contact: Chef Michael Cragg, 951-553-4459 or mac@temecula-catering.com .
Web site: http://temecula-catering.com 

Contact Information

Jack Gregory

Association

LA Foodies and Friends

MAC@Temecula-Catering.com