Winery Visit

A Trip to Orfila Winery

The best climate for producing wine is Mediterranean climate, where you get dry, warm summers, and cool, wet winters. The climate of San Diego is similar to the Mediterranean climate, as a matter of fact, there are over 30 wineries in San Diego county!

Image taken from San Diegan

Eager to try out San Diego's local producers, I went to Orfila Winery at Escondido, just a 5 minutes drive from the San Diego Safari Park. I went to this winery after doing my research on how soil and climate impacts the taste and aroma of grapes. However, I did not research on Orfila's vineyard soil composition in order to prevent any form of prior expectations.

The moment I drove into the winery, I saw a dramatic difference of the vineyard soil characteristics compared to when I visited a winery at Napa Valley just a few weeks ago. Just by looking at the different color of soil, I can start to imagine how the wine will taste like. If we compare the two vineyards together as shown below, the one on the left is the Orfila Winery at Escondido, and on the right is the Robert Mondavi Winery at Napa Valley.

Left: Orfila Winery, Right: Robert Mondavi Winery

The difference in soil color greatly influences the temperature of the soil. Light colored soil does not absorb as much light as dark colored soil, resulting in the light colored soil to have a higher range of temperature between day and night compared to the dark colored soil. 

Orfila Winery Tasting Room

Some of the wines I tasted includes the 2011 Pinot Noir, Element 119. 2010 Estate Merlot and the 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon. The Cabernet Sauvignon is known to be a full-bodied wine that pairs perfectly with a piece of steak. However, this wine was not as strong as I would imagine, having tasted numerous Cabernets from different producers, strong and bold is what I normally describe a Cabernet. Interestingly it was only the aroma that smelled 'spicy', but the taste had a round body that was not over powering. 

After the tasting, I asked the wine steward what soil are the grapes grown in. His answer was opposite to what I can imagine. Their soil mixture incorporates granite and composted materials such as the use of dead grass. The main components of the soil originated from the mountains of Escondido, rock particles made their way to the ground surface due to erosion over time, resulting to this unique soil composition. The use of compost such as dead grass provides insulation to the soil which will elevate the soil temperature at night, causing a smaller range in soil temperature. This will greatly benefit the growth of wine because the less differentiation in temperature towards harvesting time results in better wine quality. This could possibly be the major component in producing such round bodied wines that are known to be bold and acidic.

Orfila Winery Soil

I highly suggest local San Diego residents to venture out to local wineries and experience a new form of pleasure. Adding to that, San Diego's Mediterranean climate is also the perfect climate in growing grapes for wine production. Click here to see Award-Winning wineries located through out San Diego.

Interested in Orfila Winery? Click here to visit their website.