Brown grape vines hang seemingly dead, lined with red and yellow leaves, against green rolling hills and beige boulders. But the dormant scenery doesn’t deter wine tourists from swirling blends of merlot, cabernet and pinot in their sampling glasses.

The Temecula wine country is often an afterthought among California’s prominent wine valleys, largely because it is relatively new to the scene.

“You can’t compare a 5-year-old surfer to a 25-year-old surfer,” said Gerri-Lynn Becker, director of operations for the Camarillo-based California Wine Club, a business that highlights California wines.

The wineries vary in size from small tasting rooms, where the person doing the pouring may be the owner and vintner, to what some locals call the “bigger wineries.” Though some of these have established themselves in the Southern California market, you’re not likely to stumble across bottles from most of them in your local Vons.

Local vintner Don Frangipani, owner of Frangipani Estate Winery, said the larger operations, many of which are situated on Rancho California Road, are in the hospitality-centered part of town, near hotels and restaurants, whereas the small wineries on De Portola Road are in a more rural area and are “a little more laid back.”

Though the area is not paved over with roads and buildings, Becker said she thinks of Temecula as “urban wine country” because of its proximity to San Diego.

“People head to San Diego for so many reasons, but it’s such a great surprise to get down there and realize that Temecula is so close,” she said. “They offer a nice variety, with spas and restaurants.”

Becker said grapes that thrive in hot, dry climates grow best, which produce nice syrah, zinfandel and sangiovese wines. She pointed out it would be difficult for Temecula winemakers to compete with the specialties of some of the well-known California wine valleys.

“Being the next cabernet king might be difficult for them,” she said. “That gives them the freedom to mix things up. … They get very creative with blends down there.”

Some vintners, such as Frangipani, fell into winemaking because it was one of the only things to do without commuting.

“We wanted to do something that would keep us here in Temecula,” Frangipani said.

He said the weather and activities draw people.

“We’re a very diverse area,” he said. “We have the climate, the temperature – we have hotels, we have casinos, we have a lot more going on here.”

Rides can be arranged and tours booked to both the bigger wineries and the smaller operations, though these are often limos that have no particular arrangement with the wineries they visit, so the tasters end up paying for the vehicle and labor on top of the wine tasting. However, the tours offer tourists the opportunity to make use of the local knowledge of their guides.

The area also boasts eight golf courses open to the public, though scores tend to be lower before visiting wineries.

“When you talk about golf in the Temecula Valley, you have a lot of options,” said Randy Shannon, director of golf for the Professional Golfers Career College, which teaches golf course management. He said the area offers good value as well as high-end courses, such as the acclaimed Journey at Pechanga.

Old Town Temecula, near the Rancho California Road exit from I-15, offers an antique escape with mom-and-pop diners, cafes and a farmer’s market on Saturdays.

Labels: wine tourism