On Sunday, November 8, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the 11 family wineries of the De Portola Wine Trail open together for their Harvest Celebration. Visitors will treat it as a day trip. If you live in Santiago Ranchos, it's a chance to try five miles of your own road one plate at a time. You'll find out which kitchens are worth a Wednesday lunch once the crowds leave.
The trail describes itself as "a five-mile hillside road lined with vineyards, oak trees and horse ranches" at the valley's southeastern end. The horse ranches in that sentence belong to the neighbors. For the people who live behind those fences, the useful thing to bring home from November 8 is a short list of restaurants they can visit any week of the year.
The Road, Lowest Address to Highest
Ten of the eleven wineries have De Portola Road addresses, so the house numbers work like mile markers. Here they are in address order, with one detail from each winery's own site:
- Fazeli Cellars, 37320 De Portola Road. First vintage in 2006, and home to Baba Joon's Kitchen, a Persian-Mediterranean restaurant.
- Somerset Winery, 37338 De Portola Rd. Founded by lifelong friends, with Rhône and Spanish wine programs started by its winemaker in 2009.
- Robert Renzoni Vineyards, 37350 De Portola Rd. The family's winemaking goes back more than 100 years to northern Italy, and the kitchen is Mama Rosa's Trattoria.
- Altisima Winery, 37440 De Portola Road. Spanish roots, local-family ownership, and a Spanish-inspired restaurant called Gaspar's.
- Gershon Bachus Vintners, 37750 De Portola Rd. Family-owned and founded in 2005.
- Leoness Cellars, 38311 De Portola Rd. Its calendar runs Sunday brunch, live music, and an annual Winemaker Dinner.
- Danza del Sol Winery, 39050 De Portola Rd. Set in a 40-acre vineyard.
- Frangipani Estate Winery, 39750 De Portola Rd. Family-owned, on a plateau above its own vines.
- Cougar Vineyard & Winery, 39870 De Portola Rd. Estate-grown Italian wines from 17 family acres, plus an in-house Osteria.
- Masia de la Vinya, 40230 De Portola Rd. The name translates to "Manor house of the vineyard," and the winery calls itself the end of the trail.
The eleventh, Oak Mountain Winery, is just off the main road at 36522 Vía Verde. Its wine cave sits 104 feet underground, and its restaurant is called the Cave Restaurant.
Five of these eleven wineries run a full kitchen, and each has its own cuisine: Persian at Fazeli, Italian at Renzoni and Cougar, Spanish at Altisima, and whatever comes out of a cave at Oak Mountain. The Harvest Celebration is the one day when a single ticket gets you a bite from most of them.
How the Day Works
The mechanics shape where your day starts, so they're worth knowing before you buy.
- You pick a starting winery at checkout. The trail's online store asks you to choose a check-in winery, and it says any location missing from the list has hit its check-in limit.
- Masia de la Vinya is already off the check-in list. As of late October, the store shows ten check-in choices and Masia isn't one of them. That suggests the winery at the far end of the road filled up first.
- Price. The trail's store lists the ticket at $79.99. The Temecula Valley Winegrowers event listing still shows $89.99 for tickets bought after September 15, so go by the price you see at checkout.
- Designated drivers can buy a $39.99 ticket with no alcohol, which comes with food and a different drink.
- Transportation is sold separately as a Grapeline ticket for November 8.
- Bring paper. Print your email confirmation and bring it to your check-in winery. The event runs rain or shine, and there are no refunds after purchase.
If you live close enough to know which stretch of De Portola backs up on a busy Sunday, the starting winery is the decision that matters most. Starting at the high end of the address range or the low end decides which kitchens you reach while you're still hungry.
Five Pairings Are Confirmed So Far
The trail has posted a menu of wines and bites for the day. Five wineries have filled in their entries. The rest are still marked to be announced.
| Winery | Pouring | Harvest bite |
|---|---|---|
| Fazeli Cellars | Boland Rooz non-vintage Sauvignon Blanc; 2021 Italian Style Blend; 2021 Rhone Style Red | Fesenjoon, a Persian stew of chicken simmered in pomegranate molasses and walnut sauce over saffron basmati rice |
| Danza del Sol | 2023 Estate Grenache; 2023 Estate Syrah; Syrah barrel sample | Mediterranean lamb skewer, olive tapenade, micro parsley |
| Frangipani | 2025 Field White; 2021 Sangiovese; winemaker's selection barrel tasting | Italian minestrone with fresh vegetables, garlic, herbs and pasta |
| Cougar | 2023 Arneis; 2019 Primitivo; 2020 Montepulciano | Spicy Arrabbiata meatball on garlic-rubbed crostini with Parmesan, with Cougar Primitivo in the sauce |
| Masia de la Vinya | 2022 Garnacha; Garnacha barrel; 2023 Malbec | From Savage Chef: spiced filet mignon, crostini, whipped manchego, seasonal fruit agro dolce and herbs |
Two of these plates point straight at a regular menu. Fazeli's fesenjoon is a sample of Baba Joon's Kitchen. Cougar's meatball is cooked with its own Primitivo and gives you a taste of the Osteria. Both show you what a weekday lunch at that winery could look like. Somerset, Robert Renzoni, Altisima, Gershon Bachus, Oak Mountain and Leoness hadn't posted their pairings yet, so check the menu link again before you pick a check-in spot.
The Kitchens That Are Still Open After November 8
The ticket covers one Sunday. The restaurants on this road keep regular hours, and three of them post those hours in full on their own sites:
| Restaurant | Winery | Posted hours |
|---|---|---|
| Baba Joon's Kitchen | Fazeli Cellars | Mon, Wed, Thu 11am–5pm; Fri–Sun 11am–6pm; closed Tuesday |
| Mama Rosa's Trattoria | Robert Renzoni | Kitchen Mon–Thu 11am–5pm, Fri–Sat 11am–7pm, Sun 11am–5pm; bar Sun–Thu 11am–6pm, Fri–Sat 11am–8pm |
| Cave Restaurant | Oak Mountain | Mon 12pm–8pm; closed Tuesday; Wed–Thu 12pm–8pm; Fri 12pm–10pm; Sat 11am–10pm; Sun 11am–8pm |
Gaspar's at Altisima and the Osteria at Cougar don't list regular hours on those pages, so call ahead or check their sites before you go.
If you're planning around a weekday, note that Baba Joon's Kitchen and the Cave Restaurant both close on Tuesday. That's the same day Cougar's free-pizza happy hour starts. The trail's events calendar lists Cougar's "Happy Hour Free Pizza" from Tuesday through Thursday, so the Tuesday gap at the low end of the road gets filled near the top of it. Oak Mountain stays open until 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays. That's the latest of any posted hours on the road. Fazeli and Renzoni's kitchens close by early evening.
The Rest of November on De Portola
The Harvest Celebration falls between several smaller events on the same road, each one booked through its own winery:
- Friday, November 6, and Friday, November 13, 5–9 p.m.: the 2026 Winemaker Dinner at Leoness Cellars.
- Saturday, November 7, and Saturday, November 14: live music at Leoness. Brunch and live music also run on Sunday, November 8, the day of the Harvest Celebration.
- Thursday, November 12, 6:30–9:30 p.m.: Noches de Altísima at Altisima Winery. It's 21 and over, at $25 per person plus tax, and includes a welcome pour, an amuse-bouche and live entertainment.
- Thursday evenings: game nights at Danza del Sol appear on the trail calendar as a recurring event.
The ticketed Sunday on November 8 has a winemaker dinner on each side of it, plus Thursday events at Altisima and Danza del Sol. You can follow up a harvest bite at one winery with a full dinner at another within a week, and all of it happens on the road you drive home on.
On ranch roads, the neighbors usually know which gate swings hard and which trail floods first. This road also has a Persian kitchen, two Italian ones, a Spanish one and a cave, and every one of them is on the trail map. If you'd like to talk over what life on the De Portola side of the valley looks like day to day, from the Sunday crowds to the quiet weekday lunches, Gena Elfelt is happy to swap notes over a glass on the trail. And if a harvest weekend has you wondering what your own property is worth, get your instant home valuation and we'll go from there.
