Wine Country
More than 40 years after Richard Break and Leon Borel first planted 56 varieties of wine-making grapes in five different locations for the newly formed Rancho California Development Corporation, the Temecula Valley has become recognized as a full-fledged appellation. In 1967 John Moramarco planted the first 1,000 acres of commercial winegrapes for Brookside Vineyards and Winery. Today there are more than 35 wineries and more than 3,500 acres (14 km2) of producing vineyards. The wine country is east of historic Old Town Temecula, with a variety of tasting rooms. The annual Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival is held at nearby Lake Skinner. The festival offers live entertainment, hot air balloon rides, and wine tasting, with many of the area’s local wineries represented.
Golf
Golfers can use one of the nine local golf courses including Pechanga’s Journey, Redhawk, Temecula Creek Inn, Temeku Hills, CrossCreek, Pala Mesa and the SCGA Member’s Course (in nearby Murrieta).
Sports
Temecula was a proposed city for a charter membership in the California Inline Hockey League. The California Inline Hockey league was a grassroots minor league professional inline hockey league with clubs based in the state of California but later added two teams in Nevada. The CIHL awarded the city of Temecula a club which was to be a part of the CIHL’s first season in 1995. The club was named the Temecula Desert Rats and they were going to be members of the CIHL along with the San Francisco Seals, Santa Barbara Sandsharks, Los Angeles/Sacramento Golden Bears, High Desert (Adelanto) Rattlers later moved to Las Vegas, Fresno Fire whom merged with the Bakersfield Bombers, Orange County Crushers, Sacramento/Reno Express, Carson City/Modesto-Stockton Mavericks, Santa Cruz/Monterey Bay Tritons, and a proposed team in San Diego (the San Diego/San Jose/Golden Gate Goals) which like Temecula suspended operations for 1995. Temecula’s reason for suspending operations was because no suitable rink was available for the club and was the reason the club moved to Phoenix, Arizona for the 1996 season. The team was going to be called the Phoenix Desert Rats, but the team reappeared in Palm Desert, California to become the Palm (Springs) Desert Rats, to replace the Roller hockey team the Palm Desert Silver-Cats whom later relocated to Ontario, California to represented the Riverside-San Bernardino area. The CIHL folded in 1999 with the remaining teams: the California Desert Rats, Inland Empire InlinE-men (Ontario), (Orange) County Web Warriors (also the name of a team in Pro Beach Hockey) and SouthLand Sun-Dogs of San Diego and Del Mar, California (Solana Beach).
Temecula is also known as the home for the Freestyle Motocross group Metal Mulisha with members such as Brian Deegan, Jeremy “Twitch” Stenberg, and Ronnie Faisst living in or near Temecula.
Old Town Temecula
“Old Town Temecula” is a collection of historic 1890s buildings, antique stores, hotels, specialty food stores, boutiques, gift and collectible stores, and antique dealers. Old Town is also home to such events as car shows, western days, and summer entertainment. On weekends, Old Town also hosts a growing nightlife.
Old Town is also home to the Temecula Museum which features exhibits about the local band of Native Americans and the local natural history and city development. The newly completed City Hall is located in Old Town.
In 2001, the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians built the $262 million Pechanga Resort and Casino complex. Linked together in an architectural design that subtly highlights the tribe’s Luiseño culture, the facility includes: an 85,000-square-foot (7,900 m2) casino, 1,200-seat bingo hall, 515,000-square-foot (47,800 m2), 13-story, 522-room hotel and 38,800-square-foot (3,600 m2) convention center, 1,200-seat showroom, 200-seat cabaret lounge, and seven restaurants. The new casino also features 2,000 slot machines, 60 card tables and over 50 poker tables.
In 2004, a new gaming area was completed. It is almost 400,000 square feet (40,000 m2) in area, including a new nightclub, Silk, and the Round Bar. Silk has a capacity of 1600 people and has five bars inside the club. The Round Bar features California’s largest glass structure. The new casino also features a new sportsbar and restaurant, Kelseys, and five new eateries at the Festival of Foods.
Pechanga Resort and Casino is Temecula Valley’s largest employer, with about 7,500 people employed.
Festivals
- Temecula Bluegrass Festival
- Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival
- Temecula Valley International Film and Music Festival
- Temecula Valley International Jazz Festival
- Children’s Matsuri
- Temecula Street Painting Festival
- Dutch American Heritage Day
- Taste of the World
- Temecula Rod Run – Old Town Temecula
