Temecula Travel Guide
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60 miles (97km) N of San Diego; 60 miles (97km) NW of Julian; 90 miles (145km) SE of Los Angeles
Located over the line in Riverside County, Temecula is known for its wineries and the excellent vintages they produce. The town's very name (pronounced "ta-meck-you-la") provides the first clue to this valley's success in the volatile winemaking business/art. It translates (from a Native American language) as "where the sun shines through the mist," which identifies two of the three climatological factors necessary for viticulture. The third is Rainbow Gap, an opening to the south through the Agua Tibia Mountains, which allows cool afternoon sea breezes to enter the 1,500-foot (450m) elevation. It's also one of the few California towns that still goes by its Native American names--Cholame, Lompoc, and Pismo (Beach) are three others. Helen Hunt Jackson used the region as the setting for her 1884 novel Ramona.
Temecula has a couple of claims to fame. Granite from its quarries (most of which closed down in 1915, when reinforced concrete became popular) constitutes most of San Francisco's street curbs. The last person sentenced to death by hanging in California was Temecula's blacksmith, John McNeil, who killed his wife in 1936.
Temecula is not as well known for its wines as Napa or Sonoma, because those wine-producing regions have been at it for 100 years longer. Franciscan missionaries planted the first grapevines here in the early 1800s, but the land ended up being used primarily for raising cattle. The 87,000-acre Vail Ranch operated from 1904 until being sold in 1964. Grapevines began to take root in the receptive soil again in 1968, and the first Temecula wines were produced in 1971.
