The day was beautiful. We ended our trip to Temecula at Mount Palomar for dinner. We arrived early so we did a wine tasting. We split one. Price is $30 a person. A bit high when your having dinner. After we were seated, I wasn't to excited about the place we were at. We made our reservations a week in advance and it was our 39 anniversary. When you have dinner at an outdoor winery you expect to see the fields. Not so much. We received a number of emails informing us not to be late, they don't seat you if your 15 minutes late. What!!! Ok, will go with it. When we were given the menu , the food is limited. The only full meal was the salmon. My husband had the salmon. He enjoyed it. I ordered the Chicken. I received 3 tomahawk chicken pieces. Cooked to where the chicken was hard. Not a meal you want to eat. We'll try else where next time read more

Ambiance A+ Wine C+ Food C+ Service B Great venue to sit and enjoy some live music. The backdrop with the sun setting behind the vineyards was beautiful. The band was pretty good, and had people up and dancing. The servers were very nice, but they seemed a bit unorganized. Unfortunately, the wine and the food was lacking. Their red selection was almost non-existent. The whites we tasted were okay, but not great. We wound up with the Vermentino with our dinner upon recommendation of our waitress, it was unimpressive, especially in comparison to other wines we had experienced during our tour of wineries that day. We ordered hummus as an appetizer and a Mediterranean salad for starters. It took 45 minutes for the first course to arrive. The hummus plate was excellent, and the salad was enjoyable. It was a good start to the meal, save for the wait. Our entrees, braised short rib and salmon were good. The short rib and mashed potatoes were very tasty, but the accompanying root vegetables were under cooked. The salmon was well seasoned, but slightly over cooked for my taste. It was paired with broccolini that was very enjoyable, and a spicy yogurt sauce, that was good on its own, but seemed out of place with the rest of the plate. After that we ordered the s'more dessert upon the recommendation of our waitress. We waited for about 30 minutes for that to be served. While we were waiting, my wife ordered coffee and it was absolutely horrible. It had a sour vinegar undertone to it. It was either really bad coffee grounds, or they need to seriously clean their coffee maker. When the dessert arrived we were severely disappointed. Our waitress really built it up with her description. Visually, it looked like 3 piles of marshmallow bird poop with three small piles brownie poop sitting on top of that. It's served on a wood log plank. My wife and I joked that it looked like S.O.S. The brownie was not a great consistency, somewhat grainy, and way too sugary. The marshmallow was brûléed and the sugar applied to the top just made it feel gritty in the mouth. The Graham cracker had very little flavor, and it was a little soggy which also added a displeasurable mouth feel. Some dried goji berries were sprinkled on the plate, and just did not fit with the dish. We ate just a few bites and decided that was more than enough. We ultimately left disappointed with our experience. We had made reservations after reading many good reviews. The dessert literally left a bad taste in our mouths. The rest of the meal was pretty good, but not remarkable or memorable in any significant way. The saving grace was the venue itself. It made everything else bearable, because it's hard to be upset when you're in such a nice environment. read more

Amazing customer service! Food is delicious. Good entertainment! Friendly manager! Nice location. Good ambiance. read more

Mount Palomar Winery - Awesome burger! - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Temecula, California

Nice winery in Temecula. Large winery, plenty of space to social distance while enjoying your wine. They have shaded & non shaded areas, & misting fans! When we came on a Saturday, they had live music. We shared a tasting & the wines we had were tasty. read more

Mount Palomar is such a beautiful winery. Very homelike, cozy feel to the place. I came on Father's Day and we ate at the bistro. For Father's Day they had a menu different from their usual. My dad got the BBQ picnic plate which was a great mix of different flavors. It had tri tip, chicken, watermelon, corn bread, cole slaw, and potato salad. It looked small but it was definitely filling for the $30. My mom and I got the lobster sandwich which was the sandwich, cole slaw and chips. They actually give you a good amount of lobster and the chips were so good. I got a "Mojito Me Crazy" which is a mojito with a blueberry twist. It was great! We didn't get to wine taste. They closed as soon as we finished dinner. But I will definitely be coming back! They said it was 6 tasters for $20 and you get a souvenir wine glass!!! Sounds like a great deal to me. read more

Came here to attend WienerFest. Came early even because they warned parking would be limited. When we pulled up, a lady in a 50's style polka dot dress who worked for the winery very rudely asked us "what are you here for?" When I told her we were here for wienerfest she even more rudely said "there's no parking for that, I need you to turn around." She then took a call on her cell phone and when I asked "where should we park for the event?" She responded "I don't care where you park, turn around and go that way." This is a winery. In Temecula. There's no other publicly available parking for miles. Why would you plan an event and then not have a plan for the crowd attending? This event happens every year and runs for 5 hours. We were there when it first started. What are they going to do about all the other people that show up late? My wife and I spent $350 on a hotel room in the area to be here for the event. We couldn't even get in. Waste of time and money. Definitely never coming back to this winery based on how the woman treated us. read more

D'on Harris is the best and I'll always come back to get drinks from him, I'm so picky and everything he's made me was amazing. Can't wait to come back, love it here so much such a great vibe in the mount Palomar restaurant. read more

Been going to Temecula for wine tasting since the late '90s. Found Mt. Palomar about 20 years ago. Decided to become members about 15 years ago and cannot recommend them enough. Though I do no longer attend the pick up parties, the winery is always a relaxing place to visit and enjoy. The views around the property are outstanding. Also, their limited selection of wines are superb. Mt all-time favorite is the Solara Cream Sherry. Their Cloudbreak is also wonderful. read more

Mount Palomar Winery - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Temecula, California

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Been trying to coordinate a tour of the wedding venue with Shellie (Director of Wedding and Events) via email. She is so rude and has no knowledge of basic email etiquette whatsoever. She just sounded so hostile, my fiancé and I felt completely put off and unwelcome. The fact that she's the Director of Wedding and Events at the venue came as a complete shock to us as we expected an intern to be behind the unprofessionalism. We had the big decision to either suck it up and tour as it is such a beautiful venue, or cross it off our list. Ultimately, we crossed it off our list because even if we fell in love with the venue and have chosen in, we would have dreaded working alongside her. read more

Had a very pleasant time at Mount Palomar celebrating our wedding anniversary with a tasting and lunch. My wife and I found the wines to be very tasty and we ended up buying a bottle. This winery is beautiful and has excellent views. They even had cornhole set up, which we just had to play before lunch. We then had lunch at the little restaurant there and it was AMAZING! I had the club sandwich and my wife had a grilled chicken sandwich and both were fantastic. The fries were the real treasure though as they were absolutely delicious. They were cooked perfectly golden brown and crispy. We will definitely return! read more

First of all, the winery is beautiful and the wine is great. But unfortunately, I can only give this place one star due to their outside bartender being one of the rudest people I've ever encountered. My sister and I took our 75 year old mother on the Grapeline Wine Tour for her birthday. We were having a great time, and Mount Palomar was our 2nd stop. The outside bartender (didn't get his name but he's an older man with a mullet-type long hairstyle) was rude from the get-go. Other than general rudeness, the first incident happened when I noticed something floating in my wine. He looked and said it was just a piece of cork, but I asked if I could please have a different glass. You would've thought I asked for something incredibly unreasonable the way he reacted. He rolled his eyes dramatically, but eventually dumped my tasting and got me another one. The second incident was by far the worst. My mom was a little tipsy and forgot to bring her glass back up for her next tasting. He asked for her glass, and, being as she's completely deaf except for her cochlear implant, she asked him to repeat himself since she didn't hear what he said. He again rolled his eyes and mumbled, "What, are you stupid or something?!" I was absolutely shocked. Just because you're hard of hearing it does not mean you're stupid. Completely unacceptable. At the end of our tasting, I decided to buy one of the pricier bottles of wine. He rang me up and literally threw my card back at me. I'm an idiot and still ended up tipping on the bottle of wine... I guess it's because I've worked in the service industry and I know it sucks... and also I was trying to be the bigger person... but I wish I could have that $11 back! This behavior is absolutely unacceptable. Whoever hired this man needs to rethink their decision. He completely ruined what was otherwise a lovely birthday celebration. read more

Wedding guest review: WOW!! This venue is gorgeous. The altar views are stunning and the property is beyond beautiful. I was brought to Mount Palomar for my cousins wedding the last week of August and was blown away by its beauty. The landscaping was so well kept, the staff was friendly, and the food was INCREDIBLE. Parking was a breeze for their large party and they even offer overnight guest parking if you speak with an employee to get a car pass. Which we ended up doing because the reisling was bomb. They had an awesome open bar to enjoy during cocktail hour and continued on through the evening. This place was awesome! The food was so good. The crab cakes and tri tip were two of my top favorites but each thing was delicious. Mount Palomar doesn't just do weddings, they are wedding pros from the seems of it. I can't wait to return one day and hopefully wine taste very soon. read more

Mount Palomar Winery - Stunning location of the first dance - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Temecula, California

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We made our first winery trip to Temecula. There are so many to choose from but as we were arriving Temecula around 4pm, being open till 6pm, Mount Palmar was our pick. I can say it was the right choice! The big barrels with the place's logo on are placed around the patio and the whole place had a resort feel to it, which is perfect for our weekend getaway. We tried the wine tasting but at first we wondered into their proper restaurant realizing we came to a wrong place. If you are walking into the winery from their parking lot, you can find the wine tasting section near the patio and the restaurant is located in the back but the sign to the tasting area is not very noticeable. The restaurant staff was kind and gave us directions to the tasting area. One ticket gives you a wine glass with the place's logo on it and you get to choose 6 kinds of wine out of their wine list. Some are only available to the wine club members. We could choose from white, red, sweet & dessert wine categories so we were satisfied with the basic selection! Our favorite was the Cortese white wine but the sherry was also delicious. The staff there are patient and knowledgeable, which makes it easier for the beginners! I recommend checking out their deals and possibly buying the wine bottles with your friends to get the discount (ie 50% off). I liked their snack collections at the wine tasting area too (chocolate bars, bread snacks) but I wish they had a small cheese/olive plate, which was only served at the restaurant. Overall we loved this lovely location and their service on top of their quality wine collection. We would love to try this place again possibly with our parents especially when they have the live music performance. I also realized many people mentioning Groupons so maybe we will try that as well. Once we visit more wineries, we will be able to compare with other ones but we definitely loved the experience here. read more

Mount Palomar Winery - You can walk around their grape vineyard and relax at their wood table. - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Temecula, California

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Stopped at Mount Palomar for a wine tasting on a Thursday at 11:30 a.m. and found the tasting room empty, which was fine with us! Two of us decided that we would split one tasting (because, well, 11:30 on Thursday morning...), so know that this is an option here. I cannot recommend the 2016 Cabernet highly enough - I think it's one of the best wines I've ever had. The 2015 Cloudbreak is right behind it. We also tasted some white and rosés, and others in my little group were very happy with them. The women behind the tasting bar (hi, Jenny and Ariel!) were superb ambassadors for the winery and we thoroughly enjoyed talking with them, even while the room filled up (and emptied again before we finished - people really don't take their time with these tastings, do they?!). We walked around the stunning grounds before leaving. I think this was my favorite wine tasting experience ever and I can't speak more highly about the wine, the staff, and the grounds. If I lived nearby I'd be back very soon. read more

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We went here for the Kenny Cetera's Chicago tribute concert. The venue was cute for the garden. I did not like how it felt closed in because one could not walk the grape vines. I felt the drinks were also a bit over priced. Not impressed. read more

Mount Palomar Winery - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Temecula, California

Great Winery. My first time visiting this winery but definitely won't be last. They have a great variety of wines from red to white wine and dessert wines. Customer service is also outstanding. I went on a weekday and they were into busy but it was wonderful, we got to see a lot and walked around the winery. Highly recommend it read more

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Amazing time. The band Indica Roots was so good, playing on the background while we enjoyed our tastings. The food was BOMB. We were a party of 4 & we order 2 Mikes sandwiches... de- freaking- Licious!! Rhonda from the tasting room, and the girl with the blue eyes at the bar was cool too. We will definitely be back. read more

Beautiful property with amazing food as well as the barrel room is perfect for events. Thanks for the great service Mount Palomar! read more

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Lisa is amazing. Her service is one of a kind. I've been a member for some time however Lisa has been one of my favorite wine tenders ever! Her energy and hospitality is unmatched. Thank you for everything Lisa read more

Excellent winery with varieties of red, wine, sweet & sparkling wines. Enjoyed our visit. The host and staff guided us through wine tasting, explained and answered all our questions. Ended up joining their wine club. Great value and quality wines. We also ate at their restaurant. Members get discounts on bottles & food. Ended up not to pay for Wine tasting. read more

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Worst run winery in all of Temecula. We had planned for our dream wedding here in 2020, booked in mid-2019, and due to Covid-19 had to move our wedding date. Strange that it took some convincing on our part for Mt. Palomar to accept, when there was a pandemic going on. We rescheduled for 7 months later, everyone expecting Covid-19 to settle down by then, but it was early 2021 and it was still really bad. State and County Orders specifically said no Receptions are allowed, so we asked Mt. Palomar can we move our date again or we will have to cancel, and they ignored our emails and calls and just took the money we had already paid for our wedding (nearly $20,000), and ran away with it. How is this legal? Well, it is not, and that is why we are hiring lawyers to get our money back in full. We understand small business is affected by this global pandemic, but so is the customer. Also, they kept pushing for us to continue with our wedding during the pandemic even against State and County Orders. I even emailed County Legal Counsel who confirmed in writing that Receptions were not allowed at the time, but Mt. Palomar was running a shady business and having large Receptions all along. Their wine is not very good anyway, they sent us a few samples as part of our wedding package, way too sweet. Nothing crisp. Take your money elsewhere. Shellie Milne is a disaster of a Wedding Coordinator. Mt. Palomar is a terrible run winery. read more

Loved loved loved! I went to Mount Palomar for their Galentine's Day Brunch and I left wanting more. I had their flight and it was so tasty but that wasn't even the best part. The FOOD was! I ordered the chilaquiles and my friend ordered the shrimp enchiladas. They were so flavorful and fulfilling. Check out that charcuterie board though! So tasty with so many options. We had their smores board (I think that's what it was called) and omg, delicious! So aesthetically pleasing, which was great for the insta. Thank you Chef Jon for the incredible food! Will definitely be coming back :) read more

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D'on Harris was AMAZING. Such a personable and friendly person. His Espresso Martini was the BEST my friends and I have had. 10/10 experience because of him and his service. read more

Almost all the wines don't taste like they should. Every category. They taste flat and tart. No flavor. No body. No sweetness. They can't make one glass of wine that tastes better than any $8 bottle at the grocery store. Bring a date here if you don't want to finish any glasses of wine and be disappointed with the food. Because... The food is trash Has always been trash Over priced and gross It's not a lobster roll it's a cold lobster salad with imitation crab meat in it. $30 and gross. Shrimps are cut in half to seem like there's more and Over charge you. No seasoning. I've tried going here 3 times now. Nothings improved. It's the worst food of all the wineries. This place honestly doesn't have any love in their food and wines. Hate for this review to sound harsh But facts shouldn't be offensive. It has good views and chill environment With horrible wine and food. They don't know what their doing. read more

Great Wine, Great People! We enjoy coming to Mt. Palomar on the regular. The grounds are beautiful & relaxing, and the wine is excellent! Reds in particular, recommend the Trovato & Cab Franc (the Merlot is surprisingly good too), but the real stand out for me is their Port! Also the tasting room staff is incredibly knowledgeable and friendly. Ask for Ariel or Ken! read more

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This review is for their wine tasting (that was on GroupOn!) - I've only done so many wine tastings so I don't have the palette or wine vernacular to contribute to any meaningful wine discussion... I'm limited to: yeah that's sweet/bitter/sour/just my type or 'Ugh!' That said - I appreciate that the gentlemen here were super kind, friendly and very informative. No egos - tyvm! You get a menu of wines to choose from (I liked the 2012 BOV Merlot and 2013 Castelletto Trovato- don't ask me why:)). But what I liked most is that you're not confined to an hour .. you can stay as long as you like and roam their winery, come back for another pour and then roam some more! Try it.! read more

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So disappointed how this placed changed. I used to be a member and loved it here. There used to be great customer service in the tasting rooms and restaurant. I'm sad to say that's changed for the negative. We sat awhile at the table no server to be found and in the tasting room I've never had such small pours especially for 25 bucks. The event manager was super rude to the new staff and asked with attitude "do you know who I am?" I hope things changed Update it's been almost an hour. We got up and left. read more

This older gentleman who was taking care of our grape line tour group didn't explain anything about the wines he sampled us. We even caught him pouring other wines into our glasses and grabbing our tasting cards for each pour without even asking us what we wanted to try.... He was taking advantage of how drunk some of us were and that wasn't cool at all. This winery is really disappointing read more

Had the best day at Mount Palomar Winery yesterday! Definitely recommend visiting on a Monday to skip crowds and get extra special tlc ;) Pros: -Groupon for 2 - $15 ~ 6 tasting pours -Very friendly and knowledgeable staff -Tasty food in the bistro -Beautiful grounds -Lots of parking Cons -Only con I can say is that they had noisy construction going on that day Don't forget: -Try and purchase a Groupon -Order the charcuterie!! -Go early in the week read more

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A nice place to spend a birthday or engagement or wedding party. I had a nice dinner here with friends and we celebrated our friend's birthday. There is live music and people dancing. The food is okay but people come here it looks like for the winery mainly and the happy atmosphere. read more

Let me just say, the scenery around the winery is beautiful (except for the unfinished turf). That said, we will NOT be returning. First, the service was very, very slow. Waiters were folding napkins, and not serving food. We got our appetizer served with our entrees--Really? It was supposed to be an appetizer. The seafood pasta was supposed to have mussels, but we got calamari...and we weren't informed that they had run out of mussels. Just bad business. They did give a discount and a 20% off coupon for our next visit. But we won't be back. You're better off going to Miramonte. The food is better and so is the service. read more

Went to a girls night out fair for family over memorial day weekend and bought my daughter and grandson. They advertised bouncy house and face painting but absolutely nothing for the kids to do. Also said live music and it was a DJ. I guess he is alive but really expected a band. read more

First, I would like to say we've been members for almost 3 years. Our first few years were great, and we enjoyed watching the construction, and looked forward to the renovations that were happening. It has turned out just beautiful! The last 4 times we've been in, we've noticed a change in the service at the restaurant. The wines have been just OK. But the winery pourers we've had were great, especially, The Dude, Tim & especially Rhonda. We live in OC, so it's not really close to us, but we decided to try one of their events, The Hawaiian Luai On Sunday August 18. We got our tickets, got a place at the Pechanga, and also decided to try their brunch as we had never tried that either. To say the least, both were disasters! It took 45 minutes to finally complain about where our food was. He forgot, he admitted. Food finally came & it was cold. I sent it back & waiter said he would comp my order. I ordered the chilaquiles which were horrible. Soggy Chips with 1 egg. Then we decided to listen to the band "Still Kicking". Excellent! In fact, all the bands we've seen there have been great! We got to the winery at 5:30 pm for the event which was from 6 to 9 pm. Finally, around 7, they told us the buffet was ready. WE all get in line going up a hill to the buffet, and in the meantime, the show started! We missed 4 different dances that we couldn't even see while in line. WE finally get up to the food & they're running out of food. I had to give my husband some of my chicken, and he didn't get any macaroni salad. This was a ticketed event, so they should have been prepared with enough food. We got to see 1/2 the show & then the fire dancers came on for over 30 minutes. They didn't start the raffle till 9:15 pm. This event was so unorganized I would never go to another event there if it was free! We are seriously considering stopping our club membership. Sad because it is a beautiful winery with gorgeous views. So disappointed. Richard S. read more

Great wines! Stopped by here before we got to Pala Casino. Decided to do some wine tasting here before hitting up the slot machines. Founded in 1969 by John H. Poole, Mount Palomar Winery has been growing and producing award-winning wines. The winery, vineyards, and citrus groves of Mount Palomar Winery are situated on more than 315 acres in the heart of Temecula Wine Country. Mount Palomar makes a range of fine wines with special emphasis on classic, Bordeaux style blends and Italian varieties. Mount Palomar also has a thirty year history of producing excellent Port and Solera Cream Sherry. The winery uses two main brands: Mount Palomar and Castelletto. The Castelletto name ("little castle" in Italian), used by Mount Palomar for their Italian style wines, comes from the family of their founder's wife, Olivia de Reya Poole. The Tasting Room is open 7 days a week. You can enjoy six wines from their tasting menu at your choice of two tasting bars for $12 Monday - Thursday from 10:30am to 6:00pm and $15 Friday - Sunday 10:30am - 7:30pm. Somehow we got to enjoy seven tastings instead of just six. My dad, sister, and I all chose to taste different wines. We ended up getting three wine servers that kept on rotating around the bar. One of the servers poured more than the typical 1 oz pour, no complaints on that. These were the wines I tasted: 2010 Sangiovese Rose - Tropical fruity aroma with a crisp and refreshing taste 2009 Castelletto Trovato - Aromas of prune and mandarin orange, a bit of oak taste with a smooth finish 2010 Dry Riesling - Tropical fruit and citrus aromas with a sweet and refreshing finish. I thought this would be the perfect summer wine 2010 Viognier - Ripe pear and orange aromas. I did not like the taste of this one at all. 2010 Castelletto Cortese - Citrus and floral aromas, acidic taste. 2011 Riesling - Nice fruity aroma, fruity and sweet taste. 2009 Cinsaut - Aromas of strawberries, rich and earthy flavor Overall, I enjoyed most of the wines I've tasted here. There's a lot more I haven't tried so will be back here to taste some of the other wines! read more

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Do you want the best ambience and wine, entertainment, service, and food in Temecula Wine Country? Well hello! Mt. Palomar Winery is the place! Here are the people and reasons to go, as I continue to do for 21 years now: Dr. Chaudri, the new owner, who is working in creating a new lake, a first ever amphitheater in Temecula Winery Country for entertainment, and a new restaurant in a new Bed and Breakfast hotel. And then there is this amazing staff: Nathan: Winery General Manager Ashlee: Restaurant Manager (she is the bomb. always has your back, but then they all do) Cole: Tasting Room Manager Shellie: Special Events Manager (especially weddings) And amazing staff like Ariel, John, Evan, Tim, Tristan, Bethany, Justin, and so many more. Yes. Right. All sounds like a paid advertisement.  NOT. My name is Super Dave. And this is what I do to support places and people I love. Period. So please show up and find out for yourselves! Thank you! read more

This is the only winery I visit whenever I'm in Temecula. It's been my tradition for the past 18 years. I know there are plenty of wineries out here but I just don't feel like trying anything else. I already did that when I first visited Temecula while I was in college. Back then I knew nothing about wine nor did I have the palette to distinguish between a good wine and a bad wine. Actually, I still don't have the palette but this place was the only winery that had something that I liked. I checked out other wineries in the area like Baily, Callaway, Maurice Carrie, and few others I can no longer remember, but none of them had anything I liked. Mount Palomar used to make Late Harvest Riesling at the time and that's the wine that got me hooked. It was a very sweet wine but that's what I liked back then and I still prefer sweet wines over dry. Mount Palomar discontinued Late Harvest Riesling while back but still make great tasting Riesling so I still return here for them. Along the way I found few other wines that I like. Back around 2006 Mount Palomar carried a sweet, sparkling wine called Moscato which I really liked. It was a very refreshing wine which I hope they bring back. I was bummed I didn't see it on my most recent visit. Wine tasting costs $12 Monday-Thursday and $15 Friday-Sunday. It sure has gone up since I first came here, Used to be only $6 even on weekends. Wine tasting tickets can be purchased at the register on the right when you first walk in. You get to choose 6 from their list. It's best to go with another person so each person can get something different and get to try 12 different wines. On my most recent visit, these are the ones I liked: From the white wine list I liked Castelletto Cortese which has citrus, apricot, and green apple aroma with little bit of oak. I also liked Sangiovese Rosé which is very smooth with tropical fruit aroma. I've never been a fan of red wine so didn't really find much from this list but I did like Cinsaut the best. It's pretty light with strawberry, anise, and cinnamon aroma. As usual, dessert wines were my favorite, especially the Riesling which has apricot and pear aroma. I always liked the Cream Sherry here as well, which has hazelnut, caramel, and almond aroma. I took this one back to my car and drank with some lavender chocolate I got from Front Street Jerky. Mount Palomar is located on a hill so you get a nice view from the high vantage point. The area is gorgeous. There's usually some private party or reception going on here especially in the summer time. read more

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Just because you CAN grow wine grapes doesn't mean you SHOULD make wine, and nowhere is this more evident than Temecula, California. I know I sound like the worst wine snob imaginable, but let's get real: the wine here is basically junk. Wineries seem to be making money by selling a wine that should sell for no more than $3 for $50. It's borderline insanity. We were just passing through Temecula for a night so I looked up wineries so we could do a casual tasting. I saw that Mount Palomar Winery was not only the oldest winery in town (1969) but they also had a sweet Groupon deal on a tasting for two. Thankfully we only invested $17 in the entire deal or else I would've been most unhappy. The winery's grounds are lovely. It's obvious they do a huge wedding and private party business. There's a gigantic parking lot that leads to a gigantic outdoor terrace with plenty of al fresco seating options. The small cellar serves as the indoor tasting room. This seems like more of a place to come hang out all day with your girlfriends to sit and drink or just another pit stop for the wine party bus. This is not a place for serious wine connoisseurs. We headed into the cave and were promptly given a very friendly greeting by the two employees (Shar and another older fellow). Both took care of us and treated us really well, they didn't have condescending attitudes like some of the big boys in the Napa Valley do. Each person is given a wine glass and a receipt and each time you select a wine off the very extensive menu, your receipt is punched. Each person gets 6 very generous tastes of wine. The winery makes a lot of different varietals, and we tried most of them from the whites, rose and cab franc to the zinfandel, dessert riesling and the "special" cab. None of the wines were very good, and most were quite unpalatable. I could only see someone drinking a bottle of this stuff if they were already plastered drunk or had never, ever had any experience with wine. Not only was the wine not very good, the prices were CRAZY! I'm talking $35 to $50 for pure swill. I am not exaggerating, wine lovers. Interestingly, most of the reds we tasted looked more like brown colored water than dark, lush, ruby red wine. And nearly all of the reds being poured were older vintages (2010 and 2011), even the Zinfandel. I'm not sure why the wine here is aged longer than in other wine regions but I'm guessing it's because it must be astringent as heck when it's first put in the barrel / bottled. I did enjoy the lovely hospitality we received, and we were treated like valued guests which I appreciated. All of our questions were confidently answered and we had a fun time in the tasting room (we just didn't like the wine). There was no hard sell to join their wine club and we were only reminded once that they could indeed ship to our house. Guess we gave off pretty clear "don't waste your time we ain't buying" clues. There are not-so-subtle huge tip jars that line the tasting bar so don't be a jerk and pony up $5, especially if you don't make a purchase. These folks worked hard! As we were ready to leave, a huge group of mommies and their (fussy) kids came rolling in, pushing us out of the way with their gigantic stroller. That's the type of clientele these wineries cater to, not serious collectors. You've been warned. read more

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I had my wedding at Mount Palomar Winery in September, and it was such an amazing day! I actually visited about a dozen venues (mostly wineries) in Temecula, and it didn't take long to narrow it down to Mount Palomar. These were my reasons: - The venue is beautiful, with many different locations for guests to explore and for the wedding couple and bridal party to take gorgeous photos. - This wasn't the cheapest venue in the area that we visited, but it was definitely on the lower end. The prices might've changed since I booked the venue in early 2014, but I think you can still trust me on this--I used a spreadsheet to compare all the venues using different variables (number of guests, number of hours, with or without unlimited wine & beer). - I was worried that we could not reach the guest minimum at most venues. However, Mount Palomar would allow us to upgrade the linens, purchase bottles of wine for the wedding day, etc. to reach the equivalent cost of the minimum. We ended up having more guests than expected, but it was nice to have the peace of mind that our money wouldn't simply be wasted if we couldn't fulfill the guest minimum. - Although the winery is open to the general public during the day, the ceremony site was distant enough to keep the wedding event private. Many other wineries we visited were too commercial and did not offer enough privacy. - I really wanted to have my reception in a barrel room, and the one at Mount Palomar provided such a beautiful and unique setting. Overall, our expectations were met! The food was a small downside for us--it wasn't bad, but it wasn't amazing either. The winery partners with a catering company, so we didn't have much of a choice there. Also, our wedding cake came with three different flavors, but only two of them were served (we certainly didn't need to order an extra sheet cake like our cake vendor suggested). When one of our guests requested the cake that hadn't been served, a staff member--not sure if this was Mount Palomar or the catering staff--just told the guest that there wasn't such a cake available. This was my only disappointment with the service, and it was a small one in the grand scheme of things. The wedding day would not have gone as smoothly if it weren't for the coordinator Lauren, her assistant Cassie, and the staff at Mount Palomar! Lauren and Cassie answered any questions I had from the day I first toured Mount Palomar to the day before my wedding. Even though many people warn against just having a "venue coordinator," Lauren was essentially a "day-of-coordinator." Lauren contacts all your other wedding vendors prior to the wedding day, and can help you plan out and coordinate the wedding timeline. We were also able to drop off any of our DIYs (card box, engagement photos, favors, etc.) for the staff to set up for us on the wedding day. So many guests commented on how beautiful the venue was, and that my wedding was the classiest one they've ever been to. I highly recommend considering Mount Palomar as your wedding venue! read more

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Great environment, great staff , great property with a lake!! Live music great Sunday football drink and food specials

First time in Temecula and of course being a Wino, I can't pass up an opportunity to go wine tasting... This was our first stop on our wine tasting adventure and glad we came here first. The staff were friendly. The ambiance was nice and pleasant. We went on a Sunday so it was not crowded at all. I can see this place getting packed considering the bar is a bit small. I'm glad that it wasn't too busy so I can enjoy a great wine. To top it off with a great start, we get to keep our wine glass. SCORE! Not bad considering the price was $15 for 6 wine tastings. I love the wine glass. It has Mount Palomar written on it. Nice souvenir to take home and put to good use. My favorite of the wines is sangiovese. I liked it so much I came back the next day to get a 6 pack of that wine. I am itching to go back here. Mama needs to restock her wine rack. We will definitely be back and probably bring more friends. Wine tasting is so much fun expecially with great company, Roderick U! read more