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One of the most asked questions we get from brides that are looking to book Wiens Family Cellars for their wedding is what is happening in the vineyard certain times of the year and what the weather is like. We have broken down each season below and added information and photos to help visualize the vineyard and weather during each season. We hope this helps!

 Spring (March-May)

 Vineyard:

The grape starts its growing season in the spring. We are signaled by the “pushing” of a bud break by the bleeding of the vine. When the vine is cut, sweet tasting water containing a low concentration of organic acids, hormones, and sugars “bleed” from the vine. Shortly after, the first bud will break through starting bud break. The first bud break is usually around the 3^rd week of March and the vines grow very quickly (up to 1” per day). Usually the first grape flowers will bud around the end of April and fruit set will start close to the end of May.

Bud Break

Grape Flower Buds

Weather:

The average rainfall totals are around 3” of rain from March to May with March being the wettest of the three months. The average temperature is a high of 70-80 degrees and a low of 40-50 degrees.  

Angie Smith Photography

 Summer (June-August)

 Vineyard:

During the summer, the grapes are still growing and will enter the stage of Veraison. Veraison is the start of the ripening process. The grapes will turn from small hard green to red/black or yellow/green depending on the variety. This color changing is due to the chlorophyll in the berry skin being replaced by anthocyanin (red wine grapes) and carotenoids (white wine grapes). The grapes will start to soften and grow dramatically as they accumulate glucose and fructose and acid levels begin to fall.

Veraison

 Weather:

The average rainfall totals are around .25” of rain from June-August. This is the driest and hottest time of year. The average temperature is a high of 90-100 degrees and a low of 55-65 degrees. If you are planning an outdoor evening reception, this is the time to do it!

Full Grown Vines

 Fall (September-November)

 Vineyard:

Fall is the busiest season for us in the vineyard. It is when the grapes are harvested and crush starts. Usually harvest starts in September but can be earlier or later depending on different factors such as ripeness, weather, mildew, and diseases.

Once the grapes are harvested, the vines start to store carbohydrates in their roots and trunks for next year. Once the carbohydrate levels are high enough, the leaves will turn from green to orange/yellow.

Turning Vines

Weather:

The average rainfall totals are just around 1” for all three months with the wettest month being November. The average temperatures vary between a high of 75 degrees to 90 degrees and a low of 45 degrees to 55 degrees.

 Winter (December-February)

 Vineyard:

 Following the first frost, the vines will lose their leaves and enter the dormancy stage.

Weather:

The average rainfall totals are just around 3” of rain for all three months. The average high is right around 68 degrees and the low is just above freezing.

“The most dangerous food is wedding cake.” James Thurber

 We are lucky enough to have Cakes to Celebrate as one of our Preferred Vendors and have worked with them for the past five years. Debbie McLaughlin, owner and award winning cake designer, is not only one of the nicest people we know, but has a special talent to create amazing tasting cakes that are absolutely stunning as well. We had the opportunity to interview Debbie recently, and are happy to share her insights with you.

Wiens: What is the average amount of time you spend making each cake?

Debbie: The average time I spend working on a wedding cake is 5 hours.

 Wiens: What are the differences between and fondant, whipped cream, and buttercream? What is the most popular?

Debbie: Buttercream is the most requested frosting for wedding cakes and is very delicious.  Fondant is a sugar dough that is rolled thin and placed over the buttercream and is very exciting to decorate with.  I don’t use whipped cream as it is not stable enough to be on a wedding cake that is generally displayed for several hours.

Wiens: How many tiers for guest counts?

Debbie:  Wedding cakes made with 3 round tiers can serve 85 or 4 round tiers can serve 110.  Round cakes have a more traditional look.  Square cakes are more contemporary and serve more than round cakes.  The most popular 3 tiered square cake configuration serves 115.  There are many configurations that can be used to meet the amount of servings you need. 

Wiens: How many flavors and fillings do you offer?

Debbie: I offer many flavors of cakes and fillings.  My specialty is using champagne from the local wineries and making cake with them! I also offer delicious classic flavors like French Vanilla, Dark Chocolate and Red Velvet just to name a few. I love to make special requested flavors and gluten free cakes as well!

Wiens: How can you customize your cakes to fit Wiens?

Debbie: One of my most popular cake flavor is made with Wiens Orange Champagne with chocolate chips and orange Bavarian cream filling!  I love to join rustic and vintage designs at Wiens and they always look so beautiful on display at Wiens with the rich wood-paneled walls and beautiful lighting.  

Wiens: How fresh are your cakes?

Debbie: I start working on the wedding cakes 2 days prior to the wedding. Only the freshest ingredients are used for each cake and they are never frozen.

Wiens: How many different colors can cakes be?

Debbie: Cakes can be any color you like.  Most cakes are white or ivory buttercream or fondant and the color is added through the use of ribbon and/or flowers etc.

Wiens: What makes your cakes different than every other baker’s cakes?

Debbie: What sets my cakes apart from other baker’s cakes is how incredibly moist and delicious they are!  Also, I am passionate about making wedding cakes and that is evident when seeing the end product.  I love to meet with the bride and groom for a cake tasting and watch them enjoy my cake!  I listen carefully to their inspirations and then create a delicious and beautiful wedding cake that will be remembered and talked about for years to come!

Wiens: Do you recommend keeping the top of the cake for a year? Do you offer a small cake after one year fresh?

Debbie: I recommend using the top tier as part of the servings at the wedding.  I will make a fresh and yummy cake that tastes exactly as it did on their wedding day for a reduced price.

Wiens: How did cake become your passion and business?

Debbie: One day, 8 years ago I decided to go to Joann’s and sign up for a cake decorating class.  I have been baking ever since I can remember and once I saw that my cakes could look as good as they tasted I was hooked.  My husband encouraged me to take classes from several famous Food Network Stars.  I learned quickly and developed my own style.  I loved cake decorating so much that after a few short years I found myself teaching others and sharing my passion.  Even when I was taking my first cake decorating class I saved my coupons and bought wedding cake pans.  One day I said to myself, why are you buying all of these pans, you are never going to make a wedding cake!”  I had it in my heart all along and I really knew I had found my passion after I made my first wedding cake!!    About 3 years ago I decided to open my own bakery and every day I’m thankful to do what I love and love what I do!

www.cakes_to_celebrate.com

We heart everything lavender… the color, the smell, the flower, the calming properties, and even the taste. Lavender is elegant and rustic at the same time and compliments most wedding décor. Here are some great and local ways to include lavender into your wedding.

Ceremony:

Replace bird seed, rose petals, or rice (yuck!) with lavender flowers. You can buy it in bulk from Temecula Valley Lavender Company.

http://store.temeculalavenderco.com/35612-05054.html

Favors:

Did you know that giving lavender as a gift is supposed to be good luck? Here are some great lavender favor ideas.

Lavender Sachets

http://store.temeculalavenderco.com/home-gifts.html

Lavender Seed Packets- DIY packets and buy the seeds here:

http://www.burpee.com/perennials/lavender/?cid=PPC

Lavender Soap- Temecula Valley Olive Oil Company sells the best Lavender Olive Oil Soap….and it smells so good!

http://www.temeculaoliveoil.com/index.php/bath-body/lavender-soap.html

Desserts:

Ever had a Lavender Lemon Bar from Robin’s Nest in Old Town Temecula? Well, you should! Include them as part of your dessert bar.

www.robinsnestdesserts.com

Décor:

From bouquets to boutonnieres to centerpieces, lavender is a perfect wedding flower.

This country chic lavender bouquet is so awesome!

 How about lavender boutonnieres?

Lavender is so classic and elegant as well.

Well since Wiens Family Cellars is a winery, and we do weddings, it is perfectly fitting (and totally awesome) to include a wine ceremony during your wedding ceremony! This ceremony, known as the Loving Cup Ceremony, has its roots in ancient times. Many different cultures and religions have used it to symbolize the union of the bride and groom. While there are many variations of the ceremony, the foundation of all the variations is the bride and groom sharing a glass of wine symbolizing their union.

Our favorite variation, is a blending of a glass of white wine and a glass of red wine. We will provide a wine barrel, white glass of wine, red glass of wine, and an empty wine glass. You will each pour the red and white glass of wine together into the empty wine glass. After the wine is blended, you will both take a drink of the wine symbolizing your union. Your officiant will usually say some words about the blending of the bride & groom and respective families.

Although we encourage the blending of white and red wine for the ceremony, we do not suggest it at any other time in your life under any circumstance!

We get asked all the time by our brides what kind of vineyard inspired guest wedding favor ideas do we suggest? Even though it seems like an innocent request, to us, that is quite a loaded question. Immediately, the part of our brain only us wedding coordinators are born with, perfectusfavoris, which is solely dedicated to helping brides find the right wedding favor, goes into overload. Just like a super computer, our brains quickly analyze the bride’s style, color palate, and personality to make sure we come up with the best favor ideas. 99.6% of the time we are able to suggest the most adored favor suggestion.

Here are a few of our favorite past suggestions:

For the romantic bride: Personalized wine bottles. Print your own, or have us do it for $100 a case plus the wine cost.

For the purposeful bride: Wine bottle candelabra. Just so cool….you can buy them in bulk here:

http://www.thefind.com/gifts/info-bottle-top-candelabra

For the Hipster bride: I moustache you for a glass of wine, wine charms.

On Etsy- http://www.etsy.com/listing/108349221/mustache-wine-glass-charms-moustache?utm_source=googleproduct&utm_medium=syndication&utm_campaign=GPS&gclid=CP6rrpDh7bQCFUxxQgodkyYAuQ

For the DIY bride: Wine cork key chain favors. We have the corks!