Temecula Wine Country, Old Town & Pechanga

One of Temecula's most-visited wineries, producing the sparkling Almond Champagne that has become the region's signature celebration wine since 2002. The estate covers 20 acres of Rancho California Road's hillside; the Creekside Grille restaurant serves lunch on a patio overlooking the vineyard, and the winery's location near the creek bottom produces a distinctive microclimate for Grenache and Viognier.

The oldest winery in Temecula Valley, founded in 1969 by Ely Callaway (who later founded Callaway Golf) on 720 acres of the Rancho California hillside. The estate Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon established the valley's reputation as a serious wine region; the tasting room terrace faces directly west across the rolling vineyard landscape that characterizes the Temecula appellation.

The Temecula Valley's full-service resort winery, with on-site dining, spa services, and 76 grape-view villas among the vines. The GrapeSeed Spa uses crush-house byproducts in its signature treatments; the Vineyard Rose Restaurant sources from the estate's herb garden for a menu that pairs each course with estate wines.

A hillside boutique winery producing estate Syrah, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot from 55 acres of the De Portola Wine Trail — less visited than the Rancho California Road corridor but producing some of the valley's most age-worthy reds. The view from the tasting room terrace extends 30 miles across the Santa Rosa Plateau and the Santa Ana Mountains.

The estate restaurant's dinner menu is built around wood-fired proteins and seasonal vegetables from the property's kitchen garden, paired exclusively with South Coast Winery estate wines. The dining room faces the vineyard through floor-to-ceiling windows; the Syrah and the Petit Verdot are the kitchen's preferred pairings for the lamb and the duck.

The 1890s commercial district of Old Town Temecula stretches along Old Town Front Street — wooden boardwalk facades, the 1891 Machado Adobe (one of the oldest remaining structures in the Inland Empire), and antique shops in preserved Victorian commercial buildings. The Temecula Valley Museum in the 1927 County Court building documents the area's rancho and wine country history.

Old Town's most beloved breakfast institution since 1927 — a counter-service American diner serving ranch-style breakfasts of eggs, biscuits, and house-made jam to the cowboy hat crowd that has occupied these stools for three generations. The biscuits and gravy are made from a recipe unchanged since the café opened.

The Pechanga Band's cultural center documents 10,000 years of Luiseño occupation of the Temecula Valley — the world's largest collection of Luiseño basketry, the acorn processing tools, and the rock art documentation from the Temecula Valley sites. The Pechanga people's creation stories explain the geographic features of the valley; the docent-led tours connect the collection to specific landscape features visible from the center.

A hillside wine country lunch on the De Portola Wine Trail, with a terrace overlooking 55 acres of estate Syrah, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot vines. The menu focuses on California farm produce paired with Leoness estate wines; the cheese boards, flatbreads, and seasonal salads are well-suited to an afternoon that continues with hiking at the Santa Rosa Plateau.

A 9,000-acre reserve 15 miles west of Temecula preserving the largest remaining stand of Engelmann oak woodland in California and one of the last intact vernal pool ecosystems in Southern California. The mesa trail network covers 18 miles; the main viewpoint delivers a 360-degree panorama from the Pacific Ocean to the San Bernardino peaks on clear days.

A converted 1913 bank building serving regional Mexican cuisine in Old Town's most architecturally interesting space — the original vault serves as the bar, and the banking floor hosts tables. The Baja-style fish tacos, the house-made mole, and the craft margaritas with fresh-pressed juice are the menu anchors.

California's most intact gold rush town outside of the Mother Lode — Julian's 1870s commercial district is preserved largely as-built, with the Julian Hotel (one of Southern California's oldest continuously operating hotels, welcoming guests since 1897) and the Eagle and High Peak Mine offering underground tours of the original 1870 gold workings. The town sits at 4,235 feet in the Cuyamaca Mountains; the apple orchards planted by early settlers still produce the pies for which Julian is famous.

The town's most beloved institution, operating since 1981 from a small shop on Main Street, producing apple pies from Julian's heirloom orchards in 15 varieties — the Dutch apple crumb and the boysenberry-apple are the annual best-sellers. The pies ship nationwide; the wait on a fall weekend can be 45 minutes.

A craft brewery in a 1913 building on Main Street, producing ales and lagers that use local mountain water and Cuyamaca-area botanicals. The Julian Gold Rush Ale is the flagship; the seasonal Harvest Cider uses Julian apples. The best lunch option in the downtown area.

A 4.4-mile round-trip to the 5,730-foot summit of Stonewall Peak, which rises above Cuyamaca Lake in one of the most undervisited state parks in Southern California. The final 0.5 miles involves a series of iron handrails bolted into the granite face; the summit view extends to the Pacific Ocean, the Salton Sea, and the Anza-Borrego Desert. The park burned severely in 2003 and the fire ecology recovery is visually dramatic.

A serious farm-to-table restaurant in an 1890s hillside farmhouse at 4,500 feet in Wynola (3 miles from Julian), with a menu built exclusively from the surrounding mountain farms; the pork is from a heritage breed operation in Warner Springs, the vegetables from the kitchen garden visible through the dining room window. Open Friday through Sunday.