Peltzer Winery: Where Agriculture and Entertainment Collide
“[The Peltzer’s] hearts are poured out into every square inch of the property”
“We believe that any person that steps foot in wine country is a benefit to everyone, not just Peltzer”
The Grapevine had the pleasure of sitting down with Moriah Wilson, Operations and Marketing Manager at Peltzer Winery. The story of Peltzer is one of exponential growth and passionate community support.
A rich history
Wheat, citrus, pines, pumpkins, and now wine – it seems there is nothing the Peltzers can’t farm.
The Peltzers are a fifth generation farming family with a rich history dating back to the early 1900s.
“It all started in 1913, when Charlie’s great, great grandfather, Charles Peltzer, left Pretty Prairie, Kansas for Southern California to pursue the American Dream. The family put down their roots on a 20 acre citrus grove in Anaheim, where they cultivated their family business for the next 41 years. In 1954, the farm became a part of history, selling to the one and only, Walt Disney; and just like that, the family farm became the Happiest Place on Earth – Disneyland.”
After selling their land, the family relocated the citrus farm to Orange where it continued to flourish. About 10 years later, in 1963, Peltzer Pines was born. The pick-your-own Christmas tree farm provided Californians with the new-to-them traditional experience of choosing their own tree to be chopped down and brought home.
In 1996, Charlie and Carrie Peltzer started a pumpkin farm on one of their tree lots, which marked the start of their farming journey together. With pumpkins came attractions. Train rides, pony rides, and carnival games alongside photo opportunities and pumpkin picking and painting.
Thus began the seasonal activity cycle. Pumpkins brought visitors from September through Halloween, and Pine trees claimed the winter up until Christmas.
In 2002, the Peltzers moved themselves and the pumpkin farm to Temecula and purchased a property in wine country that turned out to be an abandoned Christmas tree farm – a serendipitous moment that tied them back to their roots.
“It was written in the stars.”
After years of growing and selling their grapes to other wineries, Peltzer Winery finally opened in 2016. The following year, they opened an ice rink, rounding out their seasonal activity calendar. They are now on their 27th year of the pumpkin farm, 7th year of the winery, and approaching their 6th year of the ice rink.
The Peltzers’ goal has always been to create opportunities for families and friends to establish traditions together that they can come back to and enjoy year after year.
“They’ve had families going to the pumpkin farm since it opened. People who first came to the farm as toddlers are now in their mid-to-late twenties and visiting with their own kids. [The Peltzers] have invited thousands and thousands of families to experience their story alongside them. Events are catching on, the property as a whole works together to market and support each facet. We have weddings, we have private events, we have concert series, and at the heart of it all is obviously wine and pumpkins.”
Peltzer Winery tells a story of growth and the creation of a vibrant community centered around agriculture and entertainment. Or as they like to call it: Agritainment.
Click HERE to learn more about Peltzer Pumpkin Farm.
Click HERE to learn more about Peltzer Winery.
Why wine?
When Charlie and Carrie moved to the property in Temecula, one of the first things they did was buy a big pine tree and put it right in the middle of the driveway. It’s impossible to miss as you drive up to the winery. They hoped to have a yearly tree lighting ceremony where they could invite neighbors, friends, and strangers alike to gather around the tree, count down, light candles, and sing Christmas carols.
While pumpkins are a seasonal crop, wine can be enjoyed year-round. Opening the winery allowed the Peltzers to realize their tree ceremony dreams and provided more opportunities for year-round events as the property was able to remain open on months they would usually be closed.
Carrie Peltzer on entering the wine business:
“When we originally moved here, we had no intentions of growing grapes or building a winery. Our hearts were set on a pumpkin farm and Christmas Trees! After meeting many winery owners and winemakers, we became interested in the idea of wine. We started out by growing grapes on the property and selling to local wineries. My design business led me to the opportunity of creating unique spaces for a few local wineries, which sparked our interest even more. I was passionate about design and really wanted to design and build a barn. But I wasn’t going to do it for anyone else – so we decided to go for it. We had zero background in wine, but had a grip on the farming practices. We hired professionals in the areas that we were lacking to insure we could hit the ground running. I am still learning new things each day. There are many moving parts but the wine makes it all worth it for sure!”
A growing presence
Peltzer draws people to the winery through their well-organized seasonal events, but what is it that keeps them coming back? Since the beginning, Peltzer has believed wine is for everyone – not just those that “know about wine”, which has long been a stigma surrounding the wine industry.
Moriah Wilson has worked at Peltzer for the past 6 years and has witnessed the growth firsthand.
“When you open your doors, it’s the neighborhood that’s supporting you, right? The neighborhood still supports us and we have deep appreciation and love for our neighbors. But the events have turned from a neighborhood gathering to people from all over coming, thousands of people on property enjoying these festival events or concerts.”
Wilson credits Peltzer’s goal of approachability as the driving factor in making Peltzer an attractive environment for “all sorts of folks from different backgrounds and different places.”
While the community has been growing, the team at Peltzer has been busy building bar after bar, expanding their physical space to match the overflowing support. What began as two tasting bars has expanded to include an express bar, a silo bar, a wine club bar, a bar on the other end of the property, a bar in the pumpkin farm, a bar at the ice rink, another express bar, and a trailer (that can also be made into a bar).
And this is only the beginning.
Wine clubs for all
Peltzer proudly offers three different types of “Crush Club”: The traditional Quarterly Bottle and their two newer subscription club offerings, Sip it Your Way and Thirsty Dogs Club.
“As a member of our Crush Club family, you are privy to our farm favorites and special releases of select wines with quarterly shipments, all at a 20% discount! Along with this, you can look forward to receiving invites to exclusive Crush Club appreciation events, enjoy our Member Patio, one complimentary Behind the Vines Tour for two, and y’all can join us in the Crush House for complimentary tastings and glasses.”
From wine enthusiasts to beer lovers, to those who can’t get enough of the Peltzer sangria or Frozeezies, there are exclusive offerings for any palate. You also may notice a familiar face as the head of the Thirsty Dogs Club – resident farm dog, Duke, wearing his signature “doggles.”
Click HERE to learn more about Peltzer Crush Clubs.
Family owned, operated, and included
When asked about what it’s like working at a family-owned company, Moriah Wilson smiled, “I live and breathe Peltzer.”
While some companies may cheesily refer to their employees as their “family” – when you work at Peltzer, you truly feel like family. No one is put into a box and everyone has direct access to the creators and owners of the business, Charlie and Carrie.
Their eldest son, Charlie Jr., works as the logistics manager, and the youngest son helps around the farm while still in high school. Duke the farm dog runs around and brightens everyone’s day. The owners of Peltzer are friends with their staff, and team building is an essential aspect of their leadership meetings and quarterly meetings. Even after a busy season, the owners take the initiative to organize an end-of-season barbecue, where they are the ones flipping burgers.
Rusty gold
During your visit at Peltzer, you will find that everything is intentional – from a plank of wood to an old caboose, it’s not just the wine that tells a story.
Charlie Peltzer likes to refer to the historical artifacts that decorate the Peltzer property as “Rusty Gold” – a living surface in an already vibrant farm. Its gold – valuable and beautiful, but its rusty – tells a story of a life well lived.
To honor the Peltzer farming heritage, there is a restored vintage tractor which belonged to Charlie’s great grandfather in the middle of the tasting room. The crush house was built using reclaimed materials from a local old dairy in town. Planks that cover the drain come from a church in Ohio. “Nothing is as it seems.”
When the Peltzer boys were young, the family used to drive by this old caboose in the desert, often stopping to take pictures on it. Carrie Peltzer, designer of the property, knew she had to have the caboose. One day, the opportunity arose to purchase the caboose and now it sits on the property, painted with a mural. Everything on the property is well-lived and well-loved.
The future!
Over everything, The Peltzers and their team are looking forward to the future.
Carrie Peltzer on upcoming plans:
“We still have so many things on the horizon! We look forward to building a new tasting room and wine club building in the near future to create more relaxing and interesting spaces for our guests to experience Peltzer. We are also building a wine production building so we can produce all of our wines onsite! I am working on creating unique spaces, both indoors and out. This is the best part of the process for me for sure! I can’t wait to see my vision come to life! It is a long and grueling process to get to the finish line but we are driven and passionate about our property and what we offer our guests.”
If you find yourself in Temecula Valley at any time of the year, Peltzer Winery most likely is throwing a celebration – stop by and we guarantee it will feel as if it was put on with you in mind.
Click HERE to learn about the upcoming events at Peltzer.
Editor
Natalie is co-founder and editor of The Grapevine Magazine where she helps winemakers big and small tell their stories. She lives in Manhattan, New York City.
