Birthday Getaway | Temecula Valley, CA

My hubbie knows me pretty well. He planned an awesome celebration for my 35th birthday: a getaway to the Temecula Valley Wine Country, complete with winery tours, tastings, photo-ops, and insanely good food. He even bought me some new photo software I’d been wanting (OnOne Perfect Photo Suite). All in all I’d say it was a pretty perfect birthday! I couldn’t have asked for better.

Our home base for this trip was the beautiful South Coast Winery & Resort. During our stay we enjoyed happy hour, dinner, two breakfasts, and a wine tasting on their property. The wine was excellent, the food fresh and delicious. If you are planning a trip to the Temecula Valley I highly recommend the South Coast Winery & Resort for your lodging.

For the day of my birthday we went on a tour with Grapeline that took us to four different wineries and included a picnic lunch. The price of a such a tour might seem daunting, but when you consider that each tasting averages $15 per person (there goes $60), includes lunch AND a driver, the $99 per person rate suddenly seems quite reasonable, especially considering you avoid the possibility of drinking and driving. (They did give us a small military discount, kudos to them!)

Our tour stops included Leoness Cellars, Robert Renzoni Vineyards, Mount Palomar Winery, and Callaway Winery. All were fantastic & we ended up bringing home a few bottles from South Coast, Leoness, Renzoni, & Callaway. Our wine rack is well stocked at the moment!

I’m sure you want to see a few photos, so here are my birthday favorites. All photos below were captured handheld with my Canon 7D and Canon 24-105 L lens.

Processed in Lightroom 5

Processed in Lightroom 5 and OnOne Perfect B&W

Processed in Lightroom 5

Processed in Lightroom 5 and OnOne Perfect Effects

Processed in Lightroom 5 and Nik Color Efex Pro

Processed in Lightroom 5 and OnOne Perfect Effects

As you can see, it was a pretty spectacular day! Our day was topped off with a fantastic dinner at the Temecula Creek Inn’s Farm House Restaurant with my hubbie’s aunt & uncle.  It was AMAZING! Definitely a treat! Excellent food and even better company. I truly couldn’t have asked for a better birthday!

If you have tips for my next visit to the Temecula Valley (and believe me, there will be a next time) leave me a note in the comments. If you have questions about my trip, I’d love to hear those, too!

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