Wine tasting in San Diego County is truly a unique experience

First of all, the county is enormous, larger in area than the combined states of Rhode Island and Delaware! Additionally, due to its varied topography and exposure to a combination of ocean, mountain and desert influences, the county is home to an extraordinary number of microclimates. All this provides a virtually limitless palette of conditions for those growing grapes and making wine here. Consequently, wineries are to be found in almost every corner of the county, benefitting from unique growing conditions in each specific area. With over 60 grape varieties in cultivation here and a wide array of wine styles being produced, San Diego County offers wine lovers an unmatched diversity of tasting experiences.

Another distinguishing feature of the local wine industry is the scale of the wineries themselves. Unlike other wine growing regions which are anchored by high-volume producers, San Diego County’s wineries are essentially all small, family-owned operations. The owners/winemakers are engaged in the day-to-day operations and are often present even in the tasting rooms. This provides and up-close-and-personal tasting experience for visitors – very different from that encountered in more famous wine regions. It’s not at all uncommon here for the person pouring your wine to be the person that actually made it! For lovers of artisan wines hand-crafted with soul and passion, it doesn’t get any better than that.

IMAGE COURTESY OF VINAVANTI URBAN WINERY

IMAGE COURTESY OF CHARLIE & ECHO

IMAGE COURTESY OF WOOF’N ROSE WINERY

IMAGE COURTESY OF WOOF’N ROSE WINERY