Suveg Cellars

We hit Yucaipa for some solid apple picking, heading out there from LA. We figured we’d finish the outing with some wine tasting.
Suveg Cellars is a vineyard and winery run out of the owners’ home. Entering can unsurprisingly be a bit awkward, since it involves pulling into a residential area in front of a house with no doorbell, walking past the garage and the pool, past the Cabernet vines, and into the cellar where the wine is made. That said, what’s back is there is some great danged wine.
The website can be a little confusing, so to be clear you do need to call them at the number on their site to setup an appointment to have a tasting. I forgot to ask how far in advance was required, but we called 4 days prior. We showed up late, and they were very accomodating.
I think the strength of Suveg is the personalized experience. The winemaker, Craig, is really excited to talk about wine, and he really knows his stuff. I do want to caution they’re not setup for people to get drunk on heavy pours, as you might on a wine tour in Solvang — and it’s clear Craig isn’t looking for that kind of customer. It’d probably be weird to get a bunch of people sloshed on your home property anyway. He’s really looking to show his wine-​making skills to people who like a good wine.
For our tasting we had 6 wines, including a Viognier, Cabernet and Grenache, and most impressively a wine made primarily from blueberries, that most certainly smelled strongly of blueberry while still certainly being a wine. Like most good tastings it comes with some Trader Joes chocolate and cheeses.
The wine comes from grapes (and blueberries) grown both on the property, and around southern and central California, and some of it is partly made off-​site. Apparently the legal intricacies of selling wine are quite intense, and he’s only allowed to use 25% of his own grapes in any given wine, until Yucaipa is certified as a designated Viticultural area.
If he does land that certification, I wonder how much competition will dive into Yucaipa. My guess is Suveg will end up being a higher-​end winery surrounded by several places for your more typical wine tasting customers looking to get drunk.

Yucaipa. Known for it’s parks, churches, thrift stores, mountain views, winery… wait, what??? «Did he just say winery?» Yes. Yes I did. Having recently moved to the area from Rancho Cucamonga, one of the first things I did was search for nearby wineries in the area. Unfortunately, my search did not yield any results. Fast forward to January of 2014 when I come across an article in the local paper re: Yucaipa’s first winery. Score!!! Suveg Cellars recently opened to the public, and currently offers private tastings by appointment only. I had the pleasure of visiting the winery this past weekend and was not disappointed! The owners were gracious hosts and very knowledgeable about their wines. It’s obvious they have put a lot of time and effort into their business. I love that they have their own vineyards and have built a small but quaint tasting room. Now on to the wine! Our tastings consisted of 2 whites, 3 reds & a blueberry dessert wine. I was very impressed with the Viognier, Syrah & the Cab. I also enjoyed the blueberry dessert wine, which had a little tartness and was not too sweet. Craig described each wine and the history and process of making each wine while we enjoyed our tastings along with some cheese, crackers & chocolate prepared by his lovely wife Karen. Tastings are $ 10pp, but if you buy a bottle, the tasting fee is waived. Overall, this was a great experience that was close to home, and we will definitely be back. Unfortunately, they are currently only open on the weekends and by appointment only… but don’t let that stop you!
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Stay thirsty my friends…