 Winery construction was completed 1981 and was used primarily for champagne production through the late 1980’s. In the early 1990’s the winery began producing high quality red and white varietals. Today Fallbrook Winery is one of the leaders in California’s emerging South Coast wine region. The winery consists of 36 acres resting between the Pacific Coast and the Pala Mesa Mountains. The topography of the region creates an ideal microclimate. A climate characterized by consistent and moderate temperatures throughout the growing season with warm days and cool nights. These conditions allow for the grapes to develop the optimal sugar and acid levels needed to create a very flavorful and balanced wine.
 The winery’s central building has two aging cellars built directly into the hillside and is used primarily for wine aging in oak barrels.
We recently completed planting 12 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Petite Verdot and Cabernet Franc. The hillside vineyard is 1,000 feet above sea level with a northwestern exposure. The lower acres are terraced. Sangiovese grapes were planted on the hillside vineyard in the spring of 2005. The winery is also helping to develop other vineyards in the Fallbrook area and is in the process of applying for a vineyard designation of “Fallbrook.” Additional vineyards are also under contract in the La Cresta area west of Temecula and on the Temecula Valley floor. A recent acquisition of 19 acres adjacent to the winery will allow for future plantings of additional selected varietals during the spring of 2006.
All red grapes are hand picked and bin fermented in 175-gallon fermentors. This allows for optimal fermentation conditions. The manual punch down during fermentation enhances the intensity of the fruit and permits the winemaker greater control over the winemaking process.
The winery has recently entered into a joint venture with the Cavas Valmar Winery in Baja, Mexico. Tempranillo wine from the San Vicente Valley and California Merlot were blended and produced the “Trasiego” wine. Trasiego is the Spanish term for racking of wine from barrel to barrel.
Winemaker Duncan Williams
A member of the American Society for Enology and Viticulture, Mr. Williams began his winemaking career in the early 1980’s with the Montevina Winery in California’s Sierra Foothills. From Montevina Duncan moved on to Shenandoah Vineyards. At Shenandoah, he took on responsibility for winery operation and vineyard management. Duncan’s training and experience helped to instill in him a preference for the more traditional winemaking techniques. This wine making style lends itself well to the creation of very distinct and flavorful wines. Duncan became Head Winemaker of Fallbrook Winery in 2001. Under Mr. Williams’s direction Fallbrook Wines have won several prestigious medals at California and National Wine Judgings.
Winemaker Vernon Kindred
Vernon started making wine with his dad in their home kitchen as a child and never gave up winemaking as a passion. Bolstered by classes at UC Davis, and 25 years of cold climate winemaking at Idaho wineries, Vernon has developed his own rich style of making wine from the ground up. Now teamed up with Duncan Williams, as co-winemaker at Fallbrook Winery, this collaboration not only recognizes the uniqueness of the grape quality from this regions micro-climate, but places emphases on the expressive style that comes from this team effort.
Plans and Progress
Fallbrook Winery remains committed to produce the highest quality wines from the South Coast (Fallbrook/Temecula area) and other major grape growing regions of California. Our primary focus (as always) is to provide local wines of exceptional quality at competitive prices. In addition, key restaurant, hotel and club accounts are being developed throughout major markets across the United States.
Tours of the vineyard and aging cellars are available by appointment only. Feel free to contact the winery Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. to schedule. Weekday wine tours are available Wednesday through Friday for $7 per person. Evening, weekend and holiday tours are also available for parties of 12 or larger at $15 per person.
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