i love finding and being introduced to local gems. i'm not the most pleasant person to be in the car with for long periods of time (i might have an issue with road rage), so when there are spots that make you feel far away, but are really only an hour away, this makes me really happy. luckily, i have a friend that's amazing at finding these spots, sharon. she put together our latest getaway to lorimar winery. we invited 6 other ladies to join us, and here's what we did!

we started our morning at our rental located basically in the middle of the vineyard. the house perfectly accommodated all 8 of us, had gorgeous views and was just a golf cart ride away from the winery. we sampled lorimar's bubbly while we introduced ourselves and waited for everyone to arrive. upon arrival, all of the girls received a fun bag of goodies to remember their time with. we made each girl a bracelet with their name, it was a fun little piece of jewelry and was way cuter than name tags! i paired it with my wine (diy letter necklace from h&m) necklace and basics for a comfy tasting outfit. a white tee prob wasn't the way to go for tasting red wine all day, but i did okay.

we were whisked away on our golf carts up to the winery for our first tasting. we took a tour of the property (which by the way has an amazing space for weddings or events!) we drank more wine from secret barrels located in the vines, learned a little about flavors and how the wine is made. my favorite part was when we were told that what makes a wine great, is the memory you create while drinking it. wine is kind of like a scent… you know how you smell something and it immediately reminds you of a great time with your family? it's like that, but with flavor. we learned other technical things about wine, but this idea was more up my alley;)

after our tasting at lorimar, we were picked up by limelight limos and taken to our lunch at leoness cellars. holy crap you guys. they are known for the fries (heaven) and had about 8 different flavors. obviously we tried them all. and that is all i remember from that winery…

just kidding! we grabbed a glass of our favorite wine and headed out on a walk through their vineyard. our limo driver thought it would be a quick walk (ha!) but there were selfies to be taken, grapes to taste (yes, they said it was ok, and they were delicious!), and shoes to photograph. you know, regular blogger activities if you're in the middle of a vineyard. we took a quick tour through the barrel room where they host events, then back into the limo.

our last tasting was at wiens cellars. they had some delicious blends that i would definitely recommend if you make your way out there!

lorimar hosted a beautiful dinner back at the winery. they brought in a caterer who paired each item with their wine perfectly. they started us off with a signature wine cocktail (the lorimaitai!) that sharon collaborated with them on to create custom napkins for us, so cute and such a fun touch. the attention to detail for our small dinner was much appreciated. from the signature cocktail bar to the custom arrangements, everything was gorgeous.

then we took pictures in the street, as you do after dinner…

and finally, barged into one girls room and sat on the floor chatting until the first person fell asleep (me).

the following morning, we headed off to breakfast at eat marketplace and a walking tour all organized by visit temecula valley. first, let's talk about eat marketplace. brunch is my favorite meal. you don't have to get up early, you get to drink champagne, you can eat sugar for your entire meal, or something savory, or both! how can you not love it?! anyways, we were spoiled and were given a taste of their very best items on the menu. three words, chicken and waffles. they whipped up some smoothies, fresh squeezed mimosas and brought several kinds of coffee for us to taste. every dish was accompanied by a brief explanation of where all of the ingredients came from (majority locally sourced) and the inspiration behind the dish. i would seriously consider driving the hour to eat here every weekend.

after breakfast, we were taken on our walking tour. we visited old town spice merchant where i purchased some really fun flavored sugars. can't wait to use them on cocktails and desserts soon! old town sweet shop where i purchased fuel for our ride home. this store had every single old school candy you could ever want, so fun. next we visited temecula lavender co where we sampled all of the lotions and things. i brought home some lavender pepper that will make an appearance here soon. and finally, we made our way to temecula olive oil co. we tasted pairings of olive oil and balsamic vinegars. this was very new to me. we actually drank it, without bread. what?! but it was delicious and you were really able to pick up on all the different flavors in each and see how the vinegars changed the taste of the oil. i picked up a taster set of 3 of each of their best sellers that ryan and i enjoyed that night before dinner, but with bread;)

it was such a fun (and fast) trip and i learned about so many other areas i need to spend time exploring. i cannot wait to go back and spend even more time there! if you have 24 hours to spend in temecula, i really recommend trying to fit these places in, so here is a list of the spots on our itinerary to make it easier for you to plan.

have you been to temecula? what spots are your faves that we didn't get a chance to visit?

where to taste:

Lorimar Winery

where to stay:

http://www.vrbo.com/577993

how to get around:

Limelite Limousine

have lunch and admire the view:

Leoness Cellars

another great place for a tasting:

Wiens Cellars

have dinner catered by: