Grenache Rosé, White Wine Margarita, Red Wine Sangria served on a shaded courtyard or inside the air conditioned tasting room. Picnics can be ordered for delivery 24 hours in advance of your visit from our web site, or BYO.
Estate grown, produced and bottled, awesome views, great wines. Awards include 2022 San Diego County Wine of the Year – 2018 Siren’s Song rhone blend.
Open Saturdays 11-5 and other days by appointment (760) 315-9011
Summertime Sips: June Rosé Case Special!
2021 Blush
Our new wine press enabled us to make rosé in the “direct press method”. This means the grapes are sent directly to the press and the juice is quickly strained off from the grape skins. Our rosé is crisp and has a pleasing combination of citrus and minerality. The perfect summertime sip.
In the Spring of 2009, the first three acres were planted at Vineyard Grant James, and now there are seven and a half acres planted on our beautiful property. Our vineyard, with sweeping views of the valley, is ideally situated for growing and harvesting a variety of grapes. Our main varietals include Syrah, Merlot, Sangiovese, Orange Muscat, Greco, Refosco and Nebbiolo.
At Vineyard Grant James, we strive to express the purest form of wine. When you drink a Vineyard Grant James wine, we want you to feel the sense of place and hard work that went into making that bottle the best. We use all of our estate grapes, as well as source grapes from other local vineyards in Ramona Valley. We want to keep Ramona wine pure and focus on the boutique quality that stays true to the region.
Come taste the beauty of Vineyard Grant James wine on our stone veranda overlooking our Sangiovese vineyard and the hills of the Ramona Valley. You will be welcomed with pure hospitality and have the opportunity to experience luxury wine in a perfect relaxed countryside setting. We hope that you come to visit us in Ramona, California for the chance to enjoy our wine and share in the simple pleasures of good wine and good people.
While you’re here be sure to try our popular and award winning wines, including: Viognier, Rose of Syrah, Sangiovese, Zinfandel, Nebbiolo, Merlot, Syrah and Petite Sirah.
ZXQ Vineyards is located in San Diego’s San Pasqual Agricultural Preserve on Highland Valley Road.
The owner, Andrew Klotz (you can call him “Andy”) moved to this area in 2002.
At that time, the property was planted almost entirely with Hass Avocados.
In 2007, the Witch Creek and Guajito fires scorched most of the property and destroyed the main residence.
After rebuilding his house and seeing that the avocado trees were never going to come back (and ever-increasing water prices) Andy made the decision to remove most of the avocado tress and replace them with grape vines.
Andy studied Animal Behavior as an undergraduate at U.C. Davis during his pre-veterinary studies, but he made sure he took some classes in Viticulture and Enology as well.
As an undergraduate, his dorm building also housed students with family names like Heitz and Phelps. (Those guys brought some pretty good wine to the parties!)
Little did Andy know at that time they he would return to viticulture and enology all these years later.
Our goal is to produce full-bodied, vineyard-driven wines that are true to their varietal character. In 2015, we placed an emphasis on bottling minimally-blended and minimally-manipulated wines, produced from estate-grown grapes…. so that the taster could appreciate what a particular variety grown in this region is really supposed to taste like. 2016 brought challenges that caused us to acquire varieties not grown here on the farm, and to create some interesting and complex blends (with some pretty fanciful names) along with our stand alone estate Cabernet Franc and a limited amount of Zinfandel!
Although the current industry trend is to move toward lighter, “easy-drinking” wines, there is still a place in our hearts for big, full-bodied red wines! This is a goal, but not always the end result. Tradition and dogma are important, but so are innovation, creativity, and variety. We are still waiting to see what the “previously-avocado-grove” terroir produces in the long run, but the aim to produce enjoyable and hopefully complex wines from great grapes grown with TLC.
Rules? Who needs rules? Weather and other factors are usually beyond our control, so we work with what he have! It’s definitely a work in progress and we hope you get a chance to share in the “fruits” of our labors. Cheers!
