TAKING THE SENSIBLE ROUTE : WINE-TASTING IN TEMECULA? LEAVE THE DRIVING TO ANOTHER.

Byline: Eric Noland Travel Editor

Mount Palomar Winery is experimenting with European vines and is bottling excellent yields - a crisp white from the cortese varietal, a smooth red blend of mourvedre and grenache.

A short distance away, Cilurzo is pouring a superb 1997 Merlot Reserve, made from the precious free-run juice that trickles out of the wine press before the mechanism is activated.

Callaway boasts of its '97 Pinot Gris, which received a rating of 85 on Wine Spectator magazine's 100-point scale.

A visit to the Temecula Valley wine country remains as delightful as ever, even in winter, when the skies are often gray and the vines bare and skeletonlike.

A sip here. A taste there. Compare. Contrast.

But all of that sampling can add up, and a day of tasting - even an ounce or two per glass - is a threat to knock the unsuspecting wine enthusiast for a loop.

``You're usually sampling a good 12 ounces at each place,'' said Kurt Lundell, general manager of MVP Temecula Shuttle. ``They (visitors) will go to at least four (wineries) in a day. It creeps up on you real quick, that's for sure. We see that all the time. By the time the third (tasting) tour is done, people are giddy, tripping all over themselves.

``We live here locally, and we prefer not to have people on our streets who have been drinking wine. It's good for them not to worry about who's driving, who's drinking, who's going to get in an accident and kill themselves.''

Or someone else.

As a direct result, Temecula - which lies in southwestern Riverside County, about 25 miles directly inland from San Clemente - is experiencing steady growth in a specialized industry: designated drivers.

Lundell's shuttle service is listed in AAA's California tour book. Dave Wilson, with Destination Temecula, launched a van tour four months ago.

The region's yellow pages list no fewer than nine limousine companies - quite a fleet for a community with a population of 47,000. There's even a horseback outfit, JT's, that will get you to the wineries along an interconnected series of trails.

Local law enforcement welcomes these developments. In fact, the Temecula police seem to have played a major role in fostering them.

Temecula's 12 wineries are sprinkled along or near Rancho California Road, just east of the 15 Freeway. Temecula's eastern city limit lies at the very edge of the wine country - and visitors must pass through town on their way back to the freeway. According to several limo and shuttle companies, Temecula police have been known to set up sobriety checkpoints on Rancho California Road ... on weekends ... at about 2 p.m. ... right at the eastern border of the city.

``It's obvious what they're there for,'' said Louis De Rosa, owner of Esquire Limousine Service. ``They'll usually announce it the day before, in the newspaper, but it's kind of a surprise for the tourists coming in. They (the police) will do it about every three months.''

Two spokesmen for the Temecula police, Officer Lynn Fanene and Sgt. Rod Crisp, insisted that the department's drunk-driver vigilance is not specifically targeted to the wine-country visitors, and Fanene said ``we don't have any stats'' on the breakdown of who has been caught in the checkpoint web. Crisp added that the wine-country visitors ``are not a major problem; we seem to have more problems in town, with the bars.''

But Fanene was emphatic in declaring the department's ``zero tolerance for DUI,'' while also voicing an endorsement for shuttle services that pick up tourists at their hotels.

For visitors from the Los Angeles area, designated drivers can be hired relatively easily in Temecula. All will pick you up at your lodgings - whether you've opted for the quiet seclusion of the Temecula Creek Inn, the utilitarianism of the motels that cling to I-15, or a bed and breakfast lTike the Loma Vista, in the heart of the wine country.

In the small parking lot of the Mount Palomar Winery recently, Matt Petrie of Chicago climbed out of a van and said he'd ridden up from a hotel in San Diego. ``It's something you don't want to take a risk with,'' he said. ``It allows us to just sit back and relax and enjoy it.''

Most shuttle services charge by the hour. Lundell's company offers Lincoln Town Cars for small parties ($35 per hour for one to four people, plus 15 percent gratuity) and minivans for larger groups ($50 per hour).

De Rosa's limo service, which is recommended to guests of the Temecula Creek Inn, accommodates up to eight passengers and can be hired for $50 an hour (three-hour minimum). He also offers a four-hour wine tour for $180 (plus 20 percent gratuity). Wilson is attempting a different tack, charging by the person - $51 - for a four-hour tour.

At present, the fledgling service appears to be geared primarily to the San Diego tourist, and, as such, travelers from Los Angeles might encounter some snags in it.

A person staying at a hotel in San Diego, for example, will get door-to-door van service from his hotel. But the van will not stop at Temecula hotels before it begins its tour of the wine country. Instead, Wilson has contracted with the driver of an antique Ford Model-T to ferry Temecula guests to and from their hotels. The open-air jalopy might be fun for a quick spin around Temecula's Old Town, but it could present a potentially harrowing ride from lodgings several miles away - especially if the weather is cold and/or wet.

And Los Angeles customers pay the same $51 rate as the tourist who was collected at his hotel door in San Diego.

The tour itself, however, was enjoyable on a recent Sunday afternoon.

After gathering his passengers in Old Temecula, the frontier-themed, curio-laden stretch of old Highway 395 just west of I-15, Wilson eschewed busy Rancho California Road and instead took a circle route to the wine country. He rattledT off facts about the naming of the valley by Pechanga Indians, the area's rich history as a stop for the Butterfield Overland Stage in the mid-1800s, and the presence of a deep notch in the coastal mountains, which creates dramatic climate swings in Temecula - cool, damp mornings, sizzling afternoons - and a great life for grapes.

The tour encompassed three wineries, featured a tour of Cilurzo's winemaking operation and included a picnic lunch on the grounds of Temecula Crest Winery, the second-best picnic spot in Temecula (Mount Palomar, with its secluded hilltop picnic area and sweeping view to the east, reigns supreme).

At Temecula Crest, host Gus Vizgirda lined up the glasses and said, ``Are you tasting, Dave?''

``Nope,'' came the reply, ``I'm driving.''

It was a comforting response.

Destination Temecula van tour: [phone].

Esquire Limousine Service: [phone].

JT's Winery Trail Rides: [phone].

MVP Temecula Shuttle car or van tour: [phone].

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color) A limousine makes its way up the drive to stately Thornton Winery in Temecula, freeing its wine-tasting passengers of the responsibility of driving.

(2--Color) Visitors sample wines in the tasting room of Temecula Crest Winery, one of 12 wineries in the region.

(3) Dave Wilson of Destination Temecula heads up the drive toward Temecula Crest Winery. Wilson operates a guided shuttle tour of the wine country.

Gus Ruelas