More Local Wine-Tasting Rooms to Open

The wine revival in the Valley of the Sun continues. At least five wine-tasting rooms are open to the public, and there are more coming. Carolyn Harris, board member of the Ramona Valley Vineyard Association (RVVA), told me she expects two to four more tasting rooms to be open within the next 60 days. Here’s the current list, including hours of operation, addresses and contact information. One has an Escondido address but it is an active member of the RVVA.

Cordiano Winery, Wed - Sun, 11am – sunset, 15732 Highland Valley Road, Escondido, CA  92025, 760-480-6673, www.cordianowinery.com

Mahogany Mountain Winery, Sat & Sun, 1pm – 4pm, 14905 Mahogany Ranch Road., Ramona, CA  92065, 760-788-7048, www.mahoganymountain.com

, Wed – Sun, 11am – Dusk, 17948 Highway 67, Ramona, CA  92065, 760-788-7160, www.salernowinery.com

, Sat & Sun, 10 am – 6pm, 17677 Rancho De Oro Road at State Route 67, Ramona, CA 92065, 760-789-7547, www.schwaesdallwinery.com/ .

Woof’n Rose Winery, by appointment, call 760-788-4818, www.woofnrose.com

If readers are aware of any more regularly open tasting rooms, please use the comments section at the end of my column to let me know. This list is based on my research, plus information from the RVVA.

Lots of wineries are going through various stages of “going public.” Some of these had limited operations, by appointment and so on, before passage of the Tiered Winery Ordinance in late 2010.

Further evidence of the wine revival can be seen in the growth of the RVVA. Bill Schweitzer of Paccielo Vineyard was one of the association’s founding members. He told me that a dozen people showed up at the first organizational meeting in February 2002.

Compare that to the association’s first meeting of 2011, when 67 people filled the banquet room of Sizzler in Ramona.

Just two days prior to that meeting, another gathering also demonstrated how far the wine community has come. At the Ramona Chamber of Commerce’s annual installation and awards dinner, the RVVA was one of four community organizations nominated for the chamber’s “Non-Profit of the Year” award. The Ramona Kiwanis Club and the Ramona Rotary Club were named co-winners, but all the finalists received plaques in recognition of their contributions to the community.

The chamber also presented a plaque to Carolyn Harris for her “outstanding dedication and service to the community of Ramona.” Carolyn and her husband Andy, co-owners of Chuparosa Vineyards, were there to accept the award on behalf of all the members of the RVVA’s Wine Ordinance Committee, which Carolyn chairs.

Carol Fowler, chair of the chamber’s Economic Development Committee, praised Harris as “a class act who knows how to handle herself. Without her it [the ordinance] never would have happened.”

Fowler said the chamber “supports the winery ordinance and the whole concept of wineries by right. We think it’s great for the area.”