I'm starting a new thread because the old OC title might be confusing.

Having recently received exclusive insider information from wine.woot's resident Picabo Street impersonator that we have one more reason to get off the dime and plan this thing, I'm hoping someone will. (Why yes; I did intentionally make that sentence as long and as run-on as possible. I'm acting out against the grammatical confines of the university paper I am simultaneously crafting.)

At this point the 26th or the 9th works for me. Temecula sounds like a good idea, but we can be open to other venues.

Come on, SoCal wooters. We know you are out there. Let's rally.

Ther is a greater than 60% probability that I will be in Reno on business during that time frame. If I can find a cheapo flight from Reno to SD (and some cheapo hotel rates to match), I would love to come! I will need excrutiatingly detailed directions, though. Any hints on where I should look for either airfare or hotel?

EDIT: Pretty sad that the second poster on this thread is a NoVA wooter and not a SoCal wooter. Y'all are letting Nallie down!

So sad... but I won't be back in SD until the week of 4 Feb. Then I'm there for 2 weeks (I think).

As for flights, southwest is prolly best bet... as for hotels, I'd offer the couch in my hotel, but that seems a bit overly friendly as we've never met before. ;)

joelsisk wrote:So sad... but I won't be back in SD until the week of 4 Feb. Then I'm there for 2 weeks (I think).

As for flights, southwest is prolly best bet... as for hotels, I'd offer the couch in my hotel, but that seems a bit overly friendly as we've never met before. ;)

Thanks for the offer, Joel. But I don't want to give your sweet honey the wrong idea. Especially since I also love Denver! Depending upon airport, I kinda like the Residence Inn in Escondido.

I forgot to post that I'll be Reno around the 9th. Business will take me there in the 5-8 or 11-14 time frame. Won't know exact dates until probably the week of the 28th.

Looking at the maps, would I be better off flying into SD, or into one of the LA airports. Distance-wise, Temecula looks equal from SAN, ONT, and SNA (John Wayne) airports. LAX isn't that much farther - although I'm rather frightened of LAX>. Never had a good experience there. Fares are looking pretty comparable across all three. Help!

I was just going to say that Joel would have to get a note from his wifey before he could offer you a couch in his hotel room, cj. Thanks for putting the kibosh on that random act of kindness before things got complicated. Joel, out of respect for Michelle and your obvious undying love for her, we're all going to assume you didn't recall that our cj is of the xx chromosome variety. ;)

Although we San Diegans are notorious for being wimpy about LA traffic, my advice is never, never, never fly into LAX. Never. And if you do, expect the drive to San Diego to take 3 times longer than mapquest tells you it will, especially if you are traveling alone and can't use carpool lanes. If we meet in San Diego proper, which is beautiful, you should try to fly into San Diego airport. Don't be nervous on landing. The plane is supposed to skim right over that parking garage, I swear. If we meet in Temecula, which is a tiny bit less beautiful but much wine-ier, probably John Wayne would be the way to go. But I defer to our Orange County experts on that.

I know you are out there, Orange County experts. Don't make me beg.

Did I mention if we pull this thing off there is a bottle of free mystery wine headed our way direct from the wine cave? Let's get this puppy on the books!

My GF and I would be in for an event up in Temecula ... we are going to the winter barrel tasting event the weekend of Jan 26/27 .... so anytime after that we would be interested ... coming up from Clairemont area

nallie wrote:I was just going to say that Joel would have to get a note from his wifey before he could offer you a couch in his hotel room, cj. Thanks for putting the kibosh on that random act of kindness before things got complicated. Joel, out of respect for Michelle and your obvious undying love for her, we're all going to assume you didn't recall that our cj is of the xx chromosome variety. ;)

What?!?! CJ is a girl!?!? Oh wait, I think I might have figured that one out, though girls usually get the bed and I end up on the couch, so I can see where that may have been confusing...

On second thought, you mean I can't use wine.woot to hook up with random chicks in random cities? Damn... I need a new forum... one where my wife is not such an avid reader/poster. What's with all the young, hot chicks on wine.woot anyway? I mean, how is a married man supposed to interact on the internet in a proper fashion under such conditions?

Funny thing is that my in-laws are in SD, so I end up having dinner with them at least once every week that I'm out there, and I'd have to fit a wine.woot event in between. Actually, there's an idea... you could stay with my in-laws!

As for flying... I concur with nallie... (who is another chick I won't be hooking up with, stilletos not withstanding) Fly into SD if it's anywhere close to that side of the world... it's much easier driving north from SD than driving anywhere from LAX. John Wayne is VERY small, and I'm not sure if you'd be able to find as cheap fares.

Did I mention if we pull this thing off there is a bottle of free mystery wine headed our way direct from the wine cave? Let's get this puppy on the books!

I'll have to fill you in when I see what we get from WF for the Denver woot wine tasting.

On a side note, there's this great wine bar in Mission Valley (across the street from my Marriott). It's in the Promenade... low key, have spent some time chatting with the owners, who work behind the bar, yet still have real day-jobs and such. The current Tempranillo offering is awesome, as is the Claret, and Foppianno Lot96. It's really just a great "corner bar" feel. Thought I'd share.

joelsisk wrote:On a side note, there's this great wine bar in Mission Valley (across the street from my Marriott). It's in the Promenade... low key, have spent some time chatting with the owners, who work behind the bar, yet still have real day-jobs and such. The current Tempranillo offering is awesome, as is the Claret, and Foppianno Lot96. It's really just a great "corner bar" feel. Thought I'd share.

Nice post thanks, had never heard of that spot, I will have to check it out

I like that Oggi's pizza there too

tkastorff wrote:Nice post thanks, had never heard of that spot, I will have to check it out

Yeah, the wine lists on the website are a bit out of date, but it's still the same great variety... they apparently update fairly frequently... I guess it doesn't take so long to go through a few cases! Oh, and the prices run from $8-12 a glass, and they are fairly free with the tastings... the first time I was in there, I must have had close to 2.5 glasses just tasting... the couple times I've been in, their "taste"s have been nearly a quarter glass!

nallie wrote:I was just going to say that Joel would have to get a note from his wifey before he could offer you a couch in his hotel room, cj. Thanks for putting the kibosh on that random act of kindness before things got complicated. Joel, out of respect for Michelle and your obvious undying love for her, we're all going to assume you didn't recall that our cj is of the xx chromosome variety. ;)

Nallie and CJ - Thanks for looking out for me. We San Diego gals gotta help each other out. Next time I have reason to visit the folks, we'll DEFINITELY have to organize a get together.

i'm fine with either weekend, wherever.
I'm not a huge fan of the wine bar in the Promenade, my buddy lives there , we went there a couple of times but its alot more than say 3rd corner in ocean beach. (one of my faves)!

cjsiege wrote:Thanks for the offer, Joel. But I don't want to give your sweet honey the wrong idea. Especially since I also love Denver! Depending upon airport, I kinda like the Residence Inn in Escondido.

I forgot to post that I'll be Reno around the 9th. Business will take me there in the 5-8 or 11-14 time frame. Won't know exact dates until probably the week of the 28th.

Looking at the maps, would I be better off flying into SD, or into one of the LA airports. Distance-wise, Temecula looks equal from SAN, ONT, and SNA (John Wayne) airports. LAX isn't that much farther - although I'm rather frightened of LAX>. Never had a good experience there. Fares are looking pretty comparable across all three. Help!

temecula is much easier to get to from ONT than it is from SNA. Actually its much easier from ONT just because there is probably going to be traffic traveling up the 15 freeway from SAN to Temecula

So am I correct in reading that the 9th of February might work for our out-of-town wooters? If so, which seems most attractive and accessible - San Diego or Temecula?

The tricky part seems to be coming up with a place where we can consume our own wines. How important is that to you all?

If we decide to begin the event with a picnic at a pretty winery, I'm sure we could bring at least a bottle of mystery woot wine to get things started, but after that we'd be paying for tastings at most places. Marshall Stuart would probably be accommodating, although that’s right around the time of his big Valentine’s dinner, so he might be swamped. Still, a Temecula wine tour would be a fun and relatively inexpensive way to hang out and drink wine together. I could call around to see what restaurants in Temecula allow corkage for otherwise unavailable wines if we don't want to be dependent on picnic weather, because it can rain here in February, regardless of what Albert Hammond said. I worked at a recent fundraiser with a great guy who heavily promoted a commercial tasting bar in Temecula that isn't winery affiliated. I guess I could research that a bit if it sounds intriguing to anyone

In San Diego, we could have a beachside wine tasting picnic, but again you've got weather issues. And thanks to the spottily enforced but not non-existent alcohol beach ban we'd have to drink wine out of Starbucks cups.

Input? Also, should we be hawking this over on the main thread like the other states? If so, will someone do that, please?

i believe being in SD would be easier. I am not against Temecula tho (never gone). I'm perfectly fine with not drinking my own wine, and with 100% notice i'll book a room at a nearby casino if we do end up in Temecula.

SD is of course much easier, and i know a long list of low-corkage restaurant available. If we can get a set date then it'll be much easier to plan.

Nallie, more people read your posts than mine so feel free to advertise in the main thread =)

The 9th sounds good to me.

I'm thinking Temecula for 2 reasons: 1) Winery Tours, & 2) We should get more people from LA/Riverside areas and not just SD area.

Ramada Inn Old Town Temecula is right off the 15, but is around $135 per night (for 1 reservation). They might give a better discount for more rooms. They have free Continental Breakfast, free High Speed Internet, Meeting Rooms, and a POOL (we can swim)!

There is also the La Estancia Inn for $79 in Fallbrook. They are a Comfort Inn brand (not too bad), and they also offer breakfast, Internet, etc. They are also off the 15.

I'm thinking if we can get enough rooms (at the same place), we might be able to get a free meeting room for wine tasting (if we can stand up from the winery tours).

Ontario isn't too bad to fly in or out of. It's close to the 15, so a straight shot down to Temecula or SD.

mdscholar wrote:Ramada Inn Old Town Temecula ... La Estancia Inn .

I just looked in my AAA guidebook, and it shows Ramada Inn with a range starting at $79. Only 2 diamonds.

There's a Best Western Country Inn starting at $69 with 3 diamonds. They have free internet and breakfast (you can tell I'm an IT geek) too. Off the 15 in Temecula.

According to AAA, both Pala and Pechanga resorts start around $119 per night.

I'd rather spend my money on wine, so my vote is for the La Estancia or Best Western locations.

Nooooooooooo!

A conundrum! Our local Wine supplier (The Wine Country) in Signal Hill is having a Cab Franc tasting on the 9th from 1 to 4 pm.

Arrrgghhhh! Cab Franc Tasting. Meeting Wine Wooters. Cab Franc. FEMALE wine wooters. ARRRGGGHHHH! Bonus: Meeting Joel and picking his brains on cradle-snatching. Brain Hurts!

jejeje.

sorry, wrong id!

mdscholar wrote:Nooooooooooo!

A conundrum! Our local Wine supplier (The Wine Country) in Signal Hill is having a Cab Franc tasting on the 9th from 1 to 4 pm.

any reason we couldn't start at The Wine Country? Or would they run away screaming like a flying monkey if 6 or 8 wooters showed up?

Arrrgghhhh! Cab Franc Tasting. Meeting Wine Wooters. Cab Franc. FEMALE wine wooters. ARRRGGGHHHH!

always go where the women are.... especially the highly intelligent ones who a. like wine, b. shop deals on the internet, and c. are willing to meet up with you sight-unseen. ;)

Bonus: Meeting Joel and picking his brains on cradle-snatching. Brain Hurts!

I think I just gave away too much info for free... besides, there's always the possibility that my cradle-snatched wife may be there too.

joelsisk wrote:I think I just gave away too much info for free... besides, there's always the possibility that my cradle-snatched wife may be there too.

True, all true.

While us wooters showing up at The Wine Country wouldn't be a problem, Signal Hill is in the Long Beach area, south of LA, and about 1 to 1.5 hours away from Temecula. And farther away from SD area (about 1.5 to 2 hours). Since the idea originated as SD/T area, maybe another time?

They have tastings almost every Saturday from 1 - 4 pm for $20. Feb 2nd is Red Wines of Tuscany, Feb 16th is Girls Rule! (All Female Winemaker Tasting), Feb 23 is Red/White Burgundy from France, and March 8th is the "Stars of Santa Barbara" (Au Bon Climat, Alma Rosa, Huber, Di Bruno, Lincourt, Foley, etc.)

The Cab Franc features California, Bordeaux, and Loire Valley wines. But I will sacrifice to meet FEMALE wine wooters. (drool, slobber, pant, wheeze, repeat). ;)

ROFL

mdscholar wrote: But I will sacrifice to meet FEMALE wine wooters. (drool, slobber, pant, wheeze, repeat). ;)
ROFL

You are scaring me just a tiny little bit, but I promise to fight through it if you swear all that drooling, slobbering, panting and wheezing is simply because you are rofl. ;) Either way, hope you can join us, mdscholar. Joel, pleeeeazuh bring Michelle! I would love to meet her!!

I would be inclined to recommend against Fallbrook. The exit in question is just 10 or 15 minutes down the freeway, but it's another 15 or 20 minutes on a windy, badly lit two lane road into town to the hotel. To me, that's asking for trouble after some drinking. I'd be in for a room at a hotel or b&b in Temecula, though.

Thanks for keeping this thread alive, guys and gals. Let’s keep the plan moving forward. Is it the 9th for sure? Sounds like Temecula is accessible to a broader market share of wine.wooters than San Diego proper. Shall we confirm that facet? How about lodging? Anyone want to add to md’s research? How many will get rooms vs daytrip?

mdscholar wrote:
The Cab Franc features California, Bordeaux, and Loire Valley wines. But I will sacrifice to meet FEMALE wine wooters. (drool, slobber, pant, wheeze, repeat). ;)
ROFL

it's actually quite astonishing to me just how many wooters are female... for some unknown-to-me-brainwashed-by-society reason, if the screennames are ambiguous, I assume they are male... and the ones who actually talk about sports and other "male" topics, just makes it more confusing.

joelsisk wrote:it's actually quite astonishing to me just how many wooters are female... for some unknown-to-me-brainwashed-by-society reason, if the screennames are ambiguous, I assume they are male... and the ones who actually talk about sports and other "male" topics, just makes it more confusing.

So, does this mean I can't talk about SportsCenter, PTI, Spring Training, and the odds of the NL East rockin' the World Series anymore??? If I promise not to talk football, do I get my "official girl card" back?

cjsiege wrote:So, does this mean I can't talk about SportsCenter, PTI, Spring Training, and the odds of the NL East rockin' the World Series anymore??? If I promise not to talk football, do I get my "official girl card" back?

nope. to get your "official girl card" you need to have a gender-identifiable screenname... I dunno, something like "Iamagirl" or "chickonboard" or "Ilikeshoes" or "Ihavepms"... you know, something girlie.

seriously, it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, I just find it weird that I assume males. Do any of you women find yourselves in a similar pattern? Do you assume a gender-neutral sn to be male? female?

joelsisk wrote:seriously, it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, I just find it weird that I assume males. Do any of you women find yourselves in a similar pattern? Do you assume a gender-neutral sn to be male? female?

I try not to assume anything based on the name alone. I normally draw my assumptions from the "speech cadence" and word choices. Men tend to gravitate to certain choices and cadences - women to another. So far, the only regular posters to have fooled me are smlauren and txisheaven.

If you think cjsiege is bad, what would you do with my alternate identity...CpprCr8?

cjsiege wrote:I try not to assume anything based on the name alone. I normally draw my assumptions from the "speech cadence" and word choices. Men tend to gravitate to certain choices and cadences - women to another. So far, the only regular posters to have fooled me are smlauren and txisheaven.

If you think cjsiege is bad, what would you do with my alternate identity...CpprCr8?

assume you are a gangster who kills police? It was really just the cj part...I know a couple CJs and they are all male.

nallie wrote:You are scaring me just a tiny little bit

Sorry, but Igor comes out sometimes. Or is it Renfield? So many personalities, so few dates .... Don't worry, I throw undersized (too young) back and I'll use my walker so you can outrun me .... jejeje

nallie wrote: How many will get rooms vs daytrip?

I'm planning on a room, to hide the evidence ... errh, sleep off the wine. jejeje

Temecula is fine. Didn't know about the Fallbrook minefield. Thanks for the info.

joelsisk wrote:nope. to get your "official girl card" you need to have a gender-identifiable screenname... I dunno, something like "Iamagirl" or "chickonboard" or "Ilikeshoes" or "Ihavepms"... you know, something girlie.

seriously, it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, I just find it weird that I assume males. Do any of you women find yourselves in a similar pattern? Do you assume a gender-neutral sn to be male? female?

don't worry ladies - i'm smacking him upside the head for that one.

joelsisk wrote:I think I just gave away too much info for free... besides, there's always the possibility that my cradle-snatched wife may be there too.

wait - i'm going to san diego in a few weeks? shrug. news to me, but okay.

Hi! I've been "on sabbatical" from wine.woot for a few months so I just read about this get-together. I live in southern OC and would love to do some wine tasting with other wine.wooters. I've also been wanting to check out Stuart Cellars in Temecula Valley ever since I read a post from a wine.wooter recommending it.

I already have plans on the morning of Jan. 26, and I may have to work on Feb. 9, but I could probably get to Temecula by mid- to late-afternoon on either of those dates. Is Feb. 2 a possibility?

I really hope I'll have the chance to meet some of my fellow wine.wooters!

danncer

danncer wrote:I already have plans on the morning of Jan. 26, and I may have to work on Feb. 9, but I could probably get to Temecula by mid- to late-afternoon on either of those dates. Is Feb. 2 a possibility?
I really hope I'll have the chance to meet some of my fellow wine.wooters!
danncer

Great! The more the merrier!! I'm afraid I can't do the 2nd, but if you can join us by mid- to late-afternoon on the 9th, that should work out beautifully! Keep checking in for details and feel free to throw in your two cents. This is a group project, so all input is valued (except any input that says ‘let's make it the 2nd so Nallie can't come’; that input would not be valued at all).

michelleshari wrote:don't worry ladies - i'm smacking him upside the head for that one.

lol Actually, I was just going to say that were I posting under an 'ihavepms' identity, he keep his dang 'official girl card' or better yet cram... But I currently have neither pms nor a pms driven identity, so no need to finish that thought.

michelleshari wrote:wait - i'm going to san diego in a few weeks? shrug. news to me, but okay.

Come on, Michelle! It'll be great; you can see your folks and thaw out a little and meet a bunch of wooters in real time. Do it!

Now, how can we tempt jenmonkey down from San Francisco?

Oh and Joel, yes , I do usually guess a neutral identity is male unless the language suggests otherwise. But I'm trying to stop doing that because it seems we have more and more women in our little community.

And thanks for the nice things you said about wine.woot.women. Those comments more than off-set the ill-advised one about identities. I'm just teasing; I laughed over that one, too.

tkastorff, are you and the gf still interested in joining us? Maybe you could do some advance scouting for us while you're up at the winter barrel tasting. Please keep us posted on your January trip.

9th in temecula is fine for me. Let's just do wine tasting at places, and then a dinner at a corkage friendly restaurant? I think that'd be kinda nice (if we can survive till dinner!)

By the way, a lot of places don't allow check-in until 3:00 pm, so I'm thinking of doing a Friday nite check-in wherever we decide to go. Then, if someone needs a place to store luggage, we have a safe room. Just not sure about the occupant ... heh, heh, heh ;)

Cause by 3pm, I'm not sure how well I'll be able to sign a check-in card (especially since my signature isn't the best to begin with).

Temecula Weather for Feb 9th:
AVERAGES
Hi 68°F / Lo 40°F

RECORDS
Hi 85°F / Lo 30°F

EDIT: I'm going to swing by AAA this week and pick up a new SoCal Winery guide. We can then decide which wineries to "visit" and set some timeframe, so someone can join us who starts late due to work or whatever.

woops can't go on the 9th. Chinese new year weekend, need to head back to LA and celebrate. Sorry guys/gals.

clayfu wrote:temecula is much easier to get to from ONT than it is from SNA. Actually its much easier from ONT just because there is probably going to be traffic traveling up the 15 freeway from SAN to Temecula

Thanks, clayfu! If we keep planning for Temecula, I'll fly in to ONT. The prices are still hovering close to identical (within $20 of each other for ONT and SAN).

I'm just sorry that I won't get to meet you. Have fun at the Chinese New Year festivities!

I'm confirmed to be in Reno Feb 5-8. Nallie, am I a "go" to plonk down the credit card and buy some air tix?

cjsiege wrote:I'm confirmed to be in Reno Feb 5-8. Nallie, am I a "go" to plonk down the credit card and buy some air tix?

not that I make the party a party, but my plans won't be 100% confirmed until mid-next week.