Although Southern California is not as noted a producer of quality wines as Napa Valley, it makes millions of gallons of all kinds of wine a year and ships it everywhere. Wine tours in Southern California focus on the two areas where most of the wine is grown. The first of these two areas is the coastal region around Santa Barbara which includes the Pala Mesa Mountain area and the Cape Horn area.

The second is the Temecula wine country just south of Los Angeles and a little north of San Diego. This little wind swept frontier town is truly remarkable and provides a focus to those wine tours in Southern California stopping there.

Temecula Wine Country Tours

A tour to this region can be as wonderful an experience as you wish to make it. Although Temecula has a comparatively young set of wineries, they are already well into the process of providing a selection of wine tours in Southern California that are world class. Day trips from Los Angeles or San Diego are a popular format used in Southern California wine tours that are offered in this area. However, luxury is also available. French Chateaus with elegant dining are now also part of the expanding program.

There are twenty or so wineries in the region to visit. Most of them provide a wine tasting room and a wine-tasting session available for fewer than twenty dollars, often fewer than ten. Wines from this region are not yet expensive and are good value for the quality provided. Southern California wine tours in Temecula often result in considerable amounts of wine purchased.

This particular region is also very popular with avocado growers. This makes the Temecula variety of wine tours in Southern California quite likely to see a fresh sample of this unique fruit served alongside a fresh white wine in any restaurant, or tasting room.

Santa Barbara Wine Country

The Santa Barbara coastal region, particularly Santa Ynez, is yet another unique wine growing area with a culture all of its own. Nestled between beaches and mountains, Southern California wine tours in this area may just as likely be a walking tour of downtown Santa Barbara, or a limo ride in the gorgeous green hills just outside of the city. In fact, the Santa Barbara Winery is itself located in the heart of Santa Barbara, not far from the beach.

Organized Southern California wine tours in this area are a little less popular, as the access to the wineries is so straightforward and the lifestyle of most of the local inhabitants a little more casual. However, those that do offer organized tours also offer an all inclusive pricing that can be well worth the deal. These tours might last five or six hours, visit two or three wineries, but most importantly, the providers of wine tours in Southern California usually do the driving.