Van Roekel Winery

Will miss this place…
With Conner behind the membership bar and Denise and Lara behind the tasting area…
At least we still have them at Maurice. Will miss the vibe of this place… sad
I have many good memories here.
Thanks Dell for taking care of us.

Three stars are for the staff — actually 4 to 5 stars for the lovely ladies that served us but the wine was NOT good. I really wanted it to be good — but I can’t recommend it except for the staff

Cute winery! Tasting are $ 10.00 for 5 tastings.
They had a pomegranate sparkling wine which was really tasty! I think it’ll be perfect for mimosas. Compared to the previous tasking room we visited this place was so calm and relaxing. I really enjoyed our visit here.

This place was nice, a little cramped for my taste. But the winery had a little art gallery and snacks. The wine & champagne was good, but I really loved the Muscat Canelli.
It is not crowded, they have really nice pourers and just a more laid back vibe.

I have always enjoyed Van Roekel. Their champagnes are the stars, Wines are so-​so. The staff is always super friendly. I was there on a weekend and they gladly opened the back room with all of the wine casks,. Also, you are welcome to picnic on their grounds so we usually bring bread, cheese, fruit, etc and hang out on the grounds. They always readily offer a glass of wine to take with you, as we are wine club members. I enjoy their quarterly wine club offerings, which usually consist of 2 champagnes and maybe a white wine. These are a nice contrast to the reds offered at other Temecula wineries. I disagree withy some of the reviews about their tasting room. I like the funk and character of the smaller Temecula wineries over the resort style feel of some of the bigger ones. I hope they never change!

This place is awesome defiantly not stuffy great ambience and awesome wine worth the membership to!

My first winery in Temecula! You can get 5 tasters for $ 10 and they were pretty generous with their pours.
My fave was the Peach sparkling wine and the Muscat. Sooo delicious. Would def come back. Everyone was really nice! And you get to keep the wine glasses. Super awesome!

We did some wine tasting here. Overall Temecula doesn’t seem to be very good. The service was very sweet but we had a very sad discovery when we returned home. They packaged us an imperfect glass (we didn’t drink out of it). They said they would «wash it» before putting it in the bag for us and then she quickly shoved a clean glass in and said «eh I’ll just give you a new one». Shady, much? That’s ok, we won’t be back. The wine wasn’t worth the prices.

This was our second stop. And we seen some people leave in their personal helicopter. They had to get here quick. This place is very nice. You can have a glass of wine and walk down to the Art gallery to talk with Riza and Robin with their parakeet. There is some absolutely fantastic folks that work at the art gallery. The art is exquisite. Now back to the wine. Our favorites here is Viogney, Gewürztraminer and Chardonnay. Yummy. Lora was a wonderful and s superb pouring host. She talked to us about the wines and where they originated from. She never left our side. Oh! yes she did because she had some returning customers, it just didn’t seemed as if she never left. Her supervisor introduced herself to us. Her name was Dennice. What a great person to supervise you. I really enjoy my time at this winery. Not just because of the great wines but the people that work here.

Ummm, did I come on a bad day? My group came up here after Maurice Car’rie as a part of the $ 18 passport package they offer and we were basically ignored. Literally the only interaction we had with the pourers was telling them what we wanted, getting a pour, and trying to make eye contact to get our next one. What gives?!
The wines were seriously lacking in character too. They had the same champagnes as Maurice Car’rie so I skipped those, and the reds that I tasted were nothing memorable. Viognier (a white) and the cabernet sauvignon were the only tastings I really enjoyed, but I wasn’t crazy about either. I think the vibe here just kinda killed it for me. The tasting room is essentially a rinky-​dink gift shop with a bar that needs a facelift. At least we enjoyed walking around the grounds after our tasting!
Again though, I think this was just another one of those situations where my rating could have been totally different with a more guided tasting from a friendly pourer. Oh well!

«I didn’t use the restroom but, they were in a good location right next to the grassy area. I wish they would have had more shade. It was pretty warm and there were a lot of bees.»
«There was a small plastic playset for the kids so they have at least made an effort to appeal to families with children. The bathroom entrance is outside which was nice not to have to go inside each time one of the kids had to go potty. Their wines were all pretty good. There were not many picnic tables to set up for a nice lunch and the shade was few and far between. Not the most comfortable or beautiful outdoor space compared to other wineries, but I might go back again.»

The champagnes here are what make this place. The tasting cost $ 10 but the 5 tastes (plus a few ‘complimentary’ ones *wink wink*) and the free glass were more than worth it.
The lady who helped us was more than amazing! She taught us about ‘tears’ and ‘halo’ (all you winos, you know what I’m talking about!) and even threw us a good sangria and mimosa recipe for their champagnes.
Big time bonus? The baked brie bread. You’ve got to try it!

Quaint winery. The ladies working the bar were super cool and very knowledgeable.
The pineapple champagne was super delicious, as was the baked brie bread. & you get to keep your wine glasses with purchase of a tasting. Score!
Would definitely consider coming back.

So I came here because it was the sister winery of the first one I went to, Maurice Winery, and they offered a 20% discount for tasting so off we went!
$ 10 for 5 tastings but we had 20% which equals to $ 16 for me and my bf. We also get to keep the wine glass which was a nice souvenir. The winery itself was more focused on selling bobbles and trinkets then wine itself. To me it didn’t feel like they were passionate about the wine, just selling and making money.
Unlike other wineries, we were about about to try 5 different kinds of champagne which my bf used his tickets for. My favorite champagnes were probably Pomegranate, Peach, and Raspberry. Not very traditional but fun nonetheless.
The other selections they had weren’t as great to me as they could have been. Our server was a young guy and he was cool and somewhat helpful.
Not a bad place to checkout since it’s cheap. Also checkout
because that’s where I found a bunch of deals and coupons. I mostly went for the 2 for 1 deals since I’m cheap like that.

Temecula wine tour stop #2
We were given a wine tasting stamp card with 5 tastings. You get to choose any variety you want: white, red, rose, sparkling… I really liked the Gewürztraminer & Muscat, as I am a white wine drinker. Employees were nice. This is a sister winery of Maurice Car’rie (
). We were able to keep the wine glasses, and were even given a bag for it.

The wines are okay the people behind the bar are nice, but the amin reason we come here is because of the discounted rate, if you buy tastings for this and for Maurice Clarie.
–The peach champagne is tasty sweet treat
–The chardonnay is good for the price
–none of the reds are too appealing, however
–never too busy, which is nice

Great tasting. Love their Muscat Canelli. =)
Papa’s Red and Gewürztraminer were delicious also.
Super laid back people working there. We got the case discount even though we split the payments. Their sister winery is more uptight about this…=/…sigh…

5.21.11: They have such a great value on their Tasting. We opt for the $ 15 for 12 tastings: 6 tasting at this place +free glass and another 6 at Maurice + free glass. That is so Worth IT!
The cashier was really nice, the person pouring our drink seemed a little unhappy. It was very quiet and it felt a little sad as if no one is excited. But my best friend and I still had fun. We even end up buying a bottle. It was the Merlot.
This place is perfect for a picnic. I’m not sure if they have live music all the time, but that day they did. It was a perfect picnic under the trees. I really enjoyed that it was nice and quiet.
Ssssh, I’m sleeping under the trees and enjoying this beautiful music from the guitarist.

Look for the small windmill along Rancho California Road for the entrance to the brick-​walled, tile-​roofed tasting room of La Cereza Winery. Tulips, patios, fountains, vineyards and event spaces border lush picnic grounds. The ambiance is European in flavor and features VR and La Cereza (Spanish for cherry) premium wines.
The winery produces 22 varietals and blends including Chardonnay, Viognier, Fume Blanc, Gewürztraminer, Zinfandel, Grenache, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, a flirty Raspberry-​Flavored Champagne and a Tempranillo from grapes grown in Guadalupe Valley in Mexico.
The tasting room is large & decorated in Spanish style with brightly colored paintings on the walls — many of which have been used as label art for their wines. A big & long tasting counter and the staff will help you with your tasting; FYI some are nicer than others… =) This winery has a great big gift shop & its a great stop for an all girl’s group wino trip. =)
Their sister winery, Maurice Car’rie, is next door, and you can buy a «Passport» for tasting at both places.
Most popular wine: 2006 Viognier

This place was good! $ 10 for 6 tastings, or $ 15 for 6 tastings here, and 6 more down the street at a sister winery. We opted for the $ 10.
I stuck to white wines, and none of the disappointed! They had some unique options that other wineries don’t have, like «Girlfriends» which was a slightly sweet blend of different whites, and their Peach Champagne. Yum!
The free glasses you get to take home are awesome! They are really nice quality, with cobalt blue stems that are little flowers where they meet the glass. I uploaded a pic — check it out!
Outside they have a few tables and chairs to sit at and sober up before driving to the next winery — always a plus!