Bernardo Winery
The oldest continuously operating winery in Southern California has been pouring since 1889, twenty-five miles north of downtown San Diego — and it wears every wonderful year of it.
Before Temecula planted its first commercial vine, Bernardo Winery had already been at work for the better part of a century. Founded in 1889 on land that was once the La Cañada de San Bernardo land grant, it survived Prohibition the classic way — sacramental wine — and has been owned and worked by the Rizzo family since 1927. That unbroken run makes it Southern California’s oldest continuously operating winery, and one of the oldest in the country.
The place feels less like a tasting room than a village that grew around one: weathered timber buildings and courtyards under enormous old pepper trees, wine barrels and bougainvillea, small artisan shops in the old outbuildings, and approachable wines poured without ceremony — walk-ins are the tradition here. For a Temecula visitor it is the easiest of all these detours, and the most humbling: this is what a wine property looks like after thirteen decades of simply not stopping.
What to expect
| Go for | Southern California’s oldest working winery — 1889 in the glass and in the woodwork |
|---|---|
| The house | On the old San Bernardo land grant; Prohibition survivor; the Rizzo family’s since 1927 |
| The visit | A village of old buildings, courtyards and artisan shops under the pepper trees; walk-ins are the tradition |
| From the valley | The neighbor — well under an hour south of Temecula; the easiest detour on this list |
Featured videos
A hundred and thirty-odd years in one courtyard — the elder statesman of Southern California wine on film.
More beyond the valley
Every entry here had to be worth leaving Temecula for — and worth the drive back.