About

Wine Tasting San Diego blog-site site features information about San Diego area wineries and their wines, local wine news, local wine blog posts, as well as wine tourism in San Diego County and beyond the region.

Wine Tasting San Diego is also the public blog presence for leading San Diego region wineries including International and National Award winning Eagles Nest Winery. Eagles Nest Winery & Cottage is a luxurious wine and vacation lodging venue modeled after the finest Italian “agritourismos” or farmstays.

Why you should visit Eagles Nest Winery: Fine wines. We the medal “winningist” Boutique Winery in the Ramona Valley and San Diego region.

Eagles Nest has won 30 medals for our wines and Ports during the 2009-2010 competition season. Every (100%)  2007-2008 vintage wine and Port we have released are winners/medalists.

Eagles Nest Winery & Cottage is minutes away yet worlds apart from the urban scene. Located in the scenic rural Ramona Valley AVA we’re a short but beautiful 35 minute drive from Downtown San Diego and just up the hill from Poway in West Ramona.

Eagles Nest is one of Southern California’s most unique luxury wine tourism destinations.

The Owners and Winemakers

Eagles Nest Winery is family owned and operated by Dennis and Julie Grimes. The winery and a portion of our vineyards are located on our gated country estate overlooking the west Ramona Valley and just up the hill from Poway.

We have great respect for education, hard work, and practical experience. We have studied winemaking and viticulture with world renown University of California, Davis. We are technology professionals and both veterans, Dennis is a U.S. Naval Academy (Annapolis) graduate and retired from a career in Naval Aviation (P-3 Orion aircraft) and Julie served with the U.S. Army. Dennis is also a former Eagle Scout.

In parallel lives, Julie’s a highly regarded Computer Science professor at local college, where she earned national design awards, teaching e-Commerce and Internet design and Dennis is a senior program manager and Systems Engineer with the Federal government, and a former, now part-time college IT/Business professor. Many of the college science faculty enjoy assisting us at the winery during their off hours.

We invite you to experience our wines, the full winemaking experience and the serene beauty of our private gated estate including the Winery, vineyards, and stunningly beautiful vacation accommodations that share unsurpassed views of the West Ramona Valley. Rest assured, there is truly nothing quite like Eagles Nest (please see actual Guest Comments by Clicking here).

Our Winemaking Philosophy

As a Sustainable Boutique winery we take great personal pride our intimate hands-on style of winemaking. We are an industry member of The Wine Institute, American Society for Enology and Viticulture, and yes the Farm Bureau! Our focus is making only quality wine. Our estate vineyards, quality sourcing, and hands-on winemaking give us complete control over the quality of the grapes going into our wines. And as the saying goes “Quality wines begin with quality wine-grapes.”

We are recognized area leader in Sustainable low-impact vineyard and winery operations. being featured in TV (click here) and print media publications (click here).

Our red wine varietals include Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Merlot, Tempranillo, the Rhone staple Syrah/Shriaz, and others. Our white varietals include the popular Rhone varietal Viognier, and we are experimenting with Picpoul Blanc and others. We are continually researching quality varietals that compliment the excellent Ramona Valley climate for future vineyards and meet our customer’s needs.

Making fine wine is both an Art and a Science

How we maintain our quality:

• Make our wines by hand in small releases to allow close monitoring of quality and nuances of each vintage year harvest & grape varietal
• Use carefully selected equipment including bladder presses to gently press our grape must – avoiding excess tannins caused by crushed grape seeds and mashed skins
• Operate under sanitary, temperature controlled conditions to maintain quality – we encourage visitors to tour and inspect our well equipped facilities
• Close hands-on monitoring of each barrel during the fermentation and aging process
• Close monitoring of vital wine chemistry

Community Giving – Enjoy our custom artwork labels featuring community service organizations. Eagles Nest takes great satisfaction in the opportunity to support community service, charitable, and industry organizations. We donate, or have donated our personal time, services, product, and facilities to these worthy organizations that benefit and better our community and enrich lives.

Eagles Nest has contributed to area charities and organizations including:

• Intermountain Fire and Rescue
• Ramona Trails Association
• Ramona CDF Air Show
• Ramona Garden Club
• Wildlife Research Institute
• Area Religious Organizations
• San Diego Amateur Winemakers Society

We actively encourage and support quality winemaking practices and the sharing of oenology knowledge, as well as ethical and responsible business practices through our current and past Business and Professional memberships in:

• San Diego County Farm Bureau
• American Society for Enology and Viticulture
• The Wine Institute
• Ramona Chamber of Commerce
• Julian Chamber of Commerce
• Ramona Valley Vineyard Association
• Ramona Valley Winery Association
• San Diego County Vintners Association

Ramona Valley American Viticultural Area (AVA)
Ramona Valleys AVA is South Coast’s third and San Diego County’s second AVA. Ramona Valley in San Diego County was designated as an American Viticultural Area by the Federal Taxation and Trade Bureau, effective 6 January 2006.

The Ramona Valley AVA is located 30 miles from downtown San Diego within San Diego County. The wineries located within Ramona Valley AVA produce high quality wines due to the hot days and cool nights which are influenced by the coastal marine layer and fog.

The AVA covers over 89,000 acres and 139 square miles of rural country side in the unincorporated town of Ramona, California. The Ramona Valley Vineyards Association currently has over 13 active Vineyards located within the Ramona Valley AVA.

The Ramona Valley AVA is home to over 14 bonded wineries however County restrictions limit tasting rooms.

We warmly welcome you to Eagles Nest Vineyards & Winery. Please view our  luxury accommodations on Eagles Nest Winery & Cottage website at http://eaglesnestwinery.com

“Fine wines inspired by breathtaking views”