In my fianc’ and I’s wedding venue tours, we were able to explore a bunch of Temecula wineries that we hadn’t been to before. While doing online research, I became obsessed with Avensole Winery. However, with a guest cap limit of 150 people, there was no way we were going to be able to make it work for our huge wedding. But that doesn’t mean we can’t dine there anyway!

Avensole Winery has a gorgeous pond and lawn out in the front. The restaurant is set back a ways. We sat outside on the covered patio, and sounds of live music from the pond area drifted down. The patio is enclosed with plastic to keep the wind out but let the cool breeze and warm sunshine in.

The food is delightful. We started with the cheese flight, which for normal people comes with triple creme French brie, Spanish manchego and Danish blue cheese. However, Sean and I both hate brie and are iffy on blue cheese, so we were able to get the cheese flight with three servings of delicious manchego instead! The toasted baguette, savory crackers, sweet honey, crunch Asian pear, dried apricots and almonds were great pairings.

For entrees, I opted for the Mediterranean flatbread without chicken, which also had fresh mozzarella, artichoke, sun-dried tomato, b’chamel and pesto. It was too much for one flatbread, making it pretty soggy, but hey I like anything with cheese so I was happy.

Sean ordered the scallops, one of his favorite foods, which came with spring pea puree and fresh shaved asparagus salad.

Of course, no visit to a winery is complete without some wine. We had been sipping champagne all weekend during our wedding venue tours, so we opted for some fresh white wine sangria.

This spot is not only delicious, but has an impressive vibe, sure to satisfy any date you want to impress or out-of-town family you want to treat.