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California wine tasting
tours are one of the top adult attractions. Popularized in a movie, Sideways,
the wine tasting experience is enjoyed not only on California's Central
Coast, but in Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino wine country. It also can be found
outside Sacramento in California Gold
Country. There are many fantastic wineries,
wine tours and vineyards offering lots of wine tasting in San Diego and Riverside
County, especially in places such as Temecula located north of the city of
San Diego. California is home to over 400 wineries―many
of the export to 165 markets worldwide.
One of the top
California weekend getaway attractions,
wineries have gotten so swamped that in
places such as Temecula you have to get a
coupon book for tastings. Some smaller
boutique wineries on the Central Coast and
the up-and-coming spots still do courtesy
tasting, but that's fading. The wine
industry has done so much for tourism, it's
tapped into a market of adults who don't
take kids with them and is an ideal
demographic timed with the aging boomer
population. Wine has come into its own and
is no longer the poor cousin to French,
Spanish and Italian vineyards, to name a
few. When you want a great wine,
Californians have learned how to make it.
You recruit some of the best winemakers from
around the globe and with their help, you
get California gold in a bottle. So when
you're out around the wine regions of
California (there are many now but at least
5 that we know of), expect quality and
pleasure in a bottle. You won't always find
it, but as the wine industry grows up in
California, it just keeps getting better.
Oh, when you're traveling and wine tasting,
another trend is the weekend boom with
hotels fully booked. Napa outright tells you
to try to come on weekdays. That's when
their actually are some rooms available.
If you think the
California getaway isn't going strong,
just follow the money as you discover that
it's not so easy to find hotel deals on
weekends in wine country.
Some facts: The U.S. ranks
fourth in world wine production. United Kingdom is the #1
consumer of California wines internationally. Annual wine
consumption in gallons, per capita: 1) France 15.85; 2) Italy 15.68; 3)
Portugal 15.44; 4) Luxembourg 13.31; 30) United States 1.9.
tours
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