As a fellow veteran of the food industry, I first became aware of Charlie Curry's premier wine making in the summer of 2006, thru a mutual food industry acquaintance of ours. My wife and I had been presented with a sample bottle of his first, just released, 2004 Syrah. We tried it… and wow…. immediately we knew we had to seek him out, and find out more about this new, but certainly not novice, boutique wine maker. Now, over the past several years, we are convinced that Charlie Curry is among a handful of premier local boutique winemakers!

Like his neighboring fellow mates, Don Frangipani and Nicholas Palumbo, Charlie is another who has transitioned his passion for "cheffing" and fine foods, into the art of crafting fine wines. Born in San Francisco, Charlie began his love affair with fine wines in the 1970's, while running the kitchens of great restaurants on the San Francisco Peninsula. Becoming an expert in the realm of prime meat cuts, he moved into the retailing of gourmet meats and seafood…. to even finer restaurants, from Frisco, all the way on up into Napa's wine country. Spending much of the '80's and '90's, in Napa's explosive winery growth region of these years, he found himself often dreaming of starting his own vineyard and winery.

While vacationing to visit his wife Michele's brother in Temecula, during the late nineties, the Curry's found themselves floored by Temecula's burgeoning wine and grape growing region. With careful planning, in 2000, the Curry's bought 16 acres, moved in, and immediately planted Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and a little later, Cabernet Franc. Learning from other experts in the area, Charlie's grapes quickly became contracted to some longstanding local wineries, who quickly created gold medal winning wines from his luscious produce. One even won a gold metal at the Sacramento/California State Fair, for their Syrah, produced from 100% Curry grown grapes! Deciding he should use some of those award winning grapes for his own production, 2004 saw the legal bonding of Curry Vineyards and Winery, and the same gold metal grapes going into his own first crush, for the now infamous maiden flight of his 2004 Curry Syrah!

Truly a boutique winery, only producing about 150 cases of Syrah, and another hundred or so cases each of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cab Franc, and Zinfandel annually, there is nothing small on the quality and collect ability of his solid red wines! Unfortunately, Curry Vineyards is not open to the public, at this time, for wine tasting or tours, but Charlie most certainly welcomes phone inquiries about his wine making, and new releases. His wines are exclusively found on the internet at ShopTemeculaWines.com. They can also be found at several great local restaurants.  His wines are also retailed at Temecula House of Wine, on Front Street in Old Town Temecula.  Don't miss these wines! Oh…..when you call him, please tell him "Hello", from LeRoy  & Phyllis at ShopTemeculaWines.com!