Briar Rose, named after the Grimm's version of Sleeping Beauty, is a quaint boutique winery hidden in the hills of Temecula wine country. Like the entryway waterfall which hails from the original Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland.
Built for his wife in 1968 by Belden Fields, one of the creators of Disneyland, the Snow White cottages sat atop a vast valley of olive trees and orange groves. Callaway, his closet neighbor at the time, actually gifted him with one of their olive trees for a 25 cent deliver fee when the groves were torn out to make way for their current day vineyards. This massive, still producing olive tree shades the grounds outside Briar Rose and remains the oldest olive tree in Southern California. This property is peppered with whimsical tributes to Disney including original artwork memorabilia, fairytale statues and hidden messages in the plaster of the cottage walls only visible at sunset.
It is obvious why Les and Dorian Linkogle fell in love with the property and decided to start one of the Valley's most unique boutique wineries, offering super premium mega wines.
Officially opening its doors in 2007, Briar Rose Winery produces some of the most award winning wines in Temecula. In addition to their most awarded Petit Verdot, Briar Rose wines have won numerous international competitions in the $100 and over category and been served at the Playboy Mansion and White House for Presidential Inaugurations. With three different tasting menu offerings, Briar Rose has a wide variety of premium wines from their $24 2004 Malbec to their 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon at $1,300.
We were invited to Briar Rose for a personal tour with Dorian Linkogle and saw firsthand the uniqueness of this hidden gem. After greeting a group of visitors, Dorian leads them to the cottage tasting room where everyone is seated and met by winemaker Les Linkogle. We sat in on this typical, appointment only tasting to hear Les educate these tasters on the history of the winery, his winemaking techniques and introduce the wines of the day.
This day's tasting lineup was from their standard wine menu offering a variety of reds, whites and their truly one-of-a-kind Talking Frog Wine Lager. We'll tell you more about that amazing concoction later. While explaining his Old World methods of winemaking, Les decides to also let his guests taste the newly bottled 2009 Fume Rose which has yet to make it to the menu. We also tried this dry, peppery sauvignon blanc varietal that is really a unique offering in wine country.
Creating a personal and educational experience at Briar Rose, every guest is treated to a hands-on wine tasting tutorial. Today we heard from Carly on how to properly swirl, smell, trill and taste a glass of wine. Most surprising, was the difference in aroma when swirled in a clockwise vs. counterclockwise motion. Guess you learn something new every day! Capping this informative tasting was the aforementioned Talking Frog. This true innovation is new to the world of wine and required its own classification in order to be bottled. The wine grape varietal in this bubbly treat is 100% Viognier with a Hefeweizen lager, giving the appearance of champagne with a surprise beer infusion. The Talking Frog wine lager, aptly subtitled Hefe-N-Wine, is a must try for open-minded wine tasters! We hope to visit again soon and maybe even try some of their Ultra Premium Wine selections.
So if you are looking for a completely different wine tasting experience when visiting Temecula Wine Country, be sure to put Briar Rose Winery on your itinerary. It will surely be a memorable one!
