A handful of Temecula wineries have successfully made the transition from small mom and pop businesses into large wineries that welcome thousands of visitors every month. But instead of faceless corporate entities, these wineries manage to retain a personal family ambiance. Why? Maybe it's because mom and pop are still running the show. Two of those family wineries stand out: Wiens Family Cellars, and Wilson Creek Winery.

Wiens on wine
The Wiens family's preoccupation with wine started 10 years ago when Doug Wiens planted a 7-acre vineyard near Lodi. Eventually, he and his brothers opened Wiens Family Cellars. After several years, the family decided to relocate the winery to Temecula, where visitors were plentiful and land was still available.

"When we made the decision to move here, we looked for enough property to support a winery, and then started to brainstorm ideas about how big it should be," explains Dave Wiens. "We started in a trailer in December of 2005 while we built our winery, which I have to admit is twice as big as we originally planned."

"We looked at wineries in Napa, Paso Robles and Santa Barbara to see what worked and what did not work," adds Dave's wife Leslie, the tasting room's unofficial greeter. "We decided to make our tasting room spacious so people could easily enjoy the experience and not feel crowded."        

The large yet cozy facility includes the tasting room, barrel room, special event facility, outdoor patio with tasting bar, and an amphitheater.

Wiens wines run the gamut from solid selections such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Zinfandel to exotic whites including Blanc De Cabernet, sparkling wine with orange essence, and a white port that pairs perfectly with white chocolate chips.

"Originally, we started with what Doug wanted to plant up north, which was Cab, Merlot and Chardonnay," says Dave. "We started experimenting with other grapes to see how they worked. Some of it is a personal taste of what we like to drink, and also what's available to us. We have our mainstays, but we're branching off into other whites and reds that are off the beaten path yet people seem to enjoy."

Wilson Creek: A sip of success
Gerry Wilson and his wife Rosie started selling their bottled elixir in October 2000 out of a small building on their property at the far end of Temecula Valley. Little did they know that, five years later, their winery would be one of the largest facilities in Temecula, growing from a few thousand bottles a year to an annual production that now numbers nearly 70,000 cases. Their wine club is one of the fastest-growing clubs around.  The secret, says Gerry, is good wine, good people, and a healthy dose of good luck.

"You can get good wine anywhere, but what we try to do here is offer a warm, family-type feeling," says Gerry, whose sons Mick and Bill are involved in the business. "We treat this as if you're stepping into our living room. We also try to take wine off the snob shelf and not talk down to people. We get a lot of young people from Orange County who are out to have a good time but also want to learn something, so it's our chance to sell them on wine."