Local wineries hit by bad economy, but some growers thrive

Despite the slow economy, Temecula’s Wine Country continues its popularity, attracting thousands of visitors per year.

However, many of the Temecula wineries are noticing an influx of local residents who, facing tough economic times, are staying close to home and taking advantage of the wine tasting, live music and quaint restaurants featured at the wineries.

Cougar Vineyard & Winery workers Group Sales Manager Jamie Schmutzer, and wine pourers, Kim Chace and Michael Bryceland.

Going beyond just wine tasting, more local wineries are adding live entertainment, restaurants, banquet and wedding facilities, along with unique innovative items and features to broaden their market and expand their scope of sales. Some have piano bars and local talent while others are booking well-known entertainers. South Coast Vineyard and Spa will be featuring famous singer and performer, Kenny G, in September and are expecting to draw a large crowd of locals, as well as tourists to the winery.

Some of the smaller wineries rely on less commercial means and attract guests by creating a quaint and inviting atmosphere and personalized service to keep them coming back. One such winery is Temecula’s newest addition, Cougar Vineyard & Winery, owned by husband and wife team, Rick and Jennifer Buffington.

The Buffington’s began their winemaking as a hobby over 16 years ago in Washington. Their first local wines were harvested from back yard vineyards of their Fallbrook home. Production began with 82 cases annually and currently they make over 3,000 cases a year and hope to reach up to 7,000 in the near future.

A unique attraction at Cougar’s is their Wine Dog, Diego, a yellow Labrador and his sidekick, Mocha a black Lab puppy. Diego meets the customers at the door creating an immediate intimate and relaxing impression.

“Customers bring tennis balls for Diego, our older Wine Dog and we have a new puppy who will be trained to meet and greet the guests very soon. The visitors love them and they are part of the family and here for the whole winemaking process,” Buffington said.

Cougar Vineyard & Winery is a smaller quaint winery where guests given a glimpse of what a winery is all about-a nice cool temperature with a wine cellar atmosphere flavored with friendly workers pouring wines and conversing with customers. Cougar’s is a full onsite production winery with enormous stainless steel vats in the back area where white wines are produced. Barrels of red Italian wines are scattered throughout the tasting room and line the seating areas where guests listen to live music while drinking Cougar’s award winning wines.

Jennifer Buffington said that the biggest change has been that many more locals are coming in on a regular basis.

“July of this year was when we really noticed that sales and tourists had went down,” Buffington said. “The weekends and especially Saturdays are normally our busiest days, however we have noticed a significant change and are seeing more locals who are also coming out during the weekdays to visit and support the winery.”

Jamie Schmutzer, group sales manager for Cougar’s described the aging process of the red wines-aged up to two years prior to bottling and the stainless steel vats and filters used for the white wines. She speaks highly of the owners and says that they pride themselves on creating an unpretentious relaxed atmosphere where guests can gather and enjoy fine Italian varietals.

Cougar’s Vineyard & Winery along with Callaway’s Winery are the only two in Temecula Wine Country offering free daily tours of their wineries.

Bailey’s Vineyard & Winery is family owned by Phil and Carol Bailey who operate with the philosophy that good wine tastes better with good food and vice versa. They were one of the first to add an adjoining restaurant to their winery. Carol’s Restaurant has a European feel with a taste of medieval times and live music. Across a shared courtyard with a bubbling fountain is Bailey’s Wine Tasting Room, where customers sample wines and enjoy stunning views of the vineyards.

Maurice Car’rie is located on Rancho California Road and is one of the larger wineries in Wine Country. The winery is in a huge farm-like Victorian building with green grassy areas and outside verandas. Also, part of the tourist attraction for Maurice’s is the weekend Craft Fair where vendors’ wares range from locally grown honey to handmade purses and jewelry. Another unique item that draws many repeat visitors is the fresh homemade sourdough bread filled with Brie cheese and covered in a garlic sauce-made to order.

Tourists come from all over to experience their festive, carefree and party-like wine tasting area and mingle with others who share their love of wine.

Linda and Randy Middleton from Parker, Arizona said they come about once a month, strictly to visit the Temecula Valley Wineries.

Grapes at Bailey's Vineyard & Winery are awaiting harvesting in September and are part of Bailey's La Serena Vineyard surrounding the visitor area.

The sour economy has not cut into their visits to the area.

“When you love wine, you manage to fit it in,” she said. “We have been coming here for years and we still manage to come just as often.”

Still, the hard times have hit local businesses.

“All the wineries in the valley have been affected by the economy but we are still seeing about as many visitors on the weekend,” said Bob Lant who specializes in Wine Club promotions for Maurice Car’rie. “I think we have been hardest hit with a decline in Wine Club memberships. When it’s a choice between eating and putting gas in the car, many see the monthly Wine Club as a luxury they can do without.”

Wine Club’s offered by most of the Temecula wineries, provide members with regular featured wines and free wine tasting and tours for themselves and up to three guests and have been an ongoing means of income for the local wineries.

Callaway Vineyard & Winery, the largest producer in the Temecula Valley Wine Country recently celebrated its 40-year anniversary and opened a new restaurant, Meritage, that overlooks the 70 acres of vineyards.

Since 2005, Callaway Winery has been owned by the Lin family of Del Mar and has taken on a more local approach to sales and marketing, again producing more locally grown grapes and taking steps to increase production.

Callaway remains the largest producer in the Temecula Valley today and is chiefly responsible for bringing notoriety to the Temecula Wine Country and putting it on the map.

Callaway’s general manager, Peter Chang, said sales have remained about the same this year, but he has noticed the average consumer spends 20 to 30 percent less.

“In the past, the average consumer would spend $100 to $150 per person on wines or gifts while wine tasting, but that has changed dramatically,” Chang said.

Callaway employs about 50 people, mostly locals, and this may increase during harvest and bottling, Chang said. There have been no layoffs or reduction in hours, he said.

Chang said they saw more of a decline last year and are actually seeing some improvement this year.

“Our main goal at Callaway is to have the Temecula Wine Country become as well known and visited as the Napa Valley Wine Country,” Chang said. “We team up with the Temecula Wine Association to advertise and promote the local Wine Country hoping to increase the reputation and guests to the entire region.”

Tags: callaway winery, SWRNN, Temecula, temecula wine country

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 20th, 2009 at 6:34 am and is filed under Arts & Entertainment, Local News, News, Travel . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.