Temecula's New Barrel Art Trail Gives October Saturdays a Route

On September 1, Visit Temecula Valley and the Temecula Valley Winegrowers Association opened the Temecula Valley Barrel Art Trail. It is a permanent exhibit of retired wine barrels that 42 artists turned into public art for nearly two dozen wineries and local businesses. It costs nothing to walk, and it is never taken down. The launch materials talk about guests, getaways and hotel stays. Look at the map against the October calendar, though, and the trail does something different for people who already live here. Its stops in Old Town and around town fall right where the month's free daytime events are. The ticketed nights belong to the wineries.

Where the barrels actually are

Most of the barrels sit in wine country, with 21 stops from Akash Winery & Vineyard to Wilson Creek Winery. Another 13 are listed under "Around Town," and 9 of those are hotels or an inn, from Embassy Suites to SpringHill Suites. That mix shows who the trail was planned for.

The seven Old Town stops and the few around-town stops that aren't hotels make the list useful for a local. These are the ones within reach on an ordinary Saturday, with the artist behind each barrel:

At each stop you scan a QR code to check in, and your phone shows any discount that location is offering. The free digital pass that will gather the locations and offers in one place is still listed as "coming soon," and the offers themselves rotate by season. For now, the printed map and the barrels are what you can count on.

Chaela Ciongoli, director of marketing and public relations for the Temecula Valley Winegrowers Association, described the idea behind the project this way:

"Winemaking has always been both a craft and an art. The Barrel Art Trail celebrates our agricultural heritage while supporting local artists and launching the trail during California Wine Month makes this project even more meaningful."

The barrels are permanent, so the timing comes from somewhere else. October gives those Old Town and around-town stops a reason to visit on three consecutive Saturdays.

October 3 puts quilts on the same storefronts

The first Saturday of the month is the trail's best match. The Valley of the Mist Quilters Guild presents its free 27th annual Outdoor Quilt Show from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Front and Main streets. According to the Press-Enterprise, hundreds of quilts will hang from Old Town storefronts. The show is held in partnership with the city of Temecula and includes a boutique and a live auction. The auction starts at 1 p.m. in the courtyard between the Old Town Community Theater and The Merc.

The show also closes out a monthlong celebration of fiber arts in the region. Before it, an exhibition of art quilts hangs at the Grace Mellman Library, 41000 County Center Drive, through October 2.

The rest of that Saturday fits around the quilts:

• 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The Old Town Temecula Farmers' Market runs at Sixth and Front streets, as it does every Saturday.
• 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Quilts hang along Front and Main. Barrels at Temecula Olive Oil Company, Old Town Spice & Tea Merchants, Temecula Lavender Co and Old Town Mining Co. & Mercantile are on the same Old Town walk.
• 1 p.m. The quilt auction takes the theater courtyard.
• 8 p.m. Bonfire plays the Old Town Community Theater at 42051 Main Street.

If the auction gets you hooked, the guild meets at 6:45 p.m. on the second Wednesday of each month in the Temecula Civic Center Conference Room, 41000 Main Street.

October 10 shifts the focus to local history

A week later, the city hosts the fourth annual Temecula History Day at Sam Hicks Monument Park. It is free and runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., with games, demonstrations, tractor racing for kids, live music and shaved ice. Patch reports that the city built the day around Temecula's story from its beginnings and the people who built the town. The Temecula Valley Museum's barrel, painted by Margaret Gruse, is one of the Old Town stops, which makes it a natural next stop on a local-history morning.

The afternoon has its own anchor. The Old Town Community Theater opened Dirty Rotten Scoundrels on October 9, and the run continues through October 25. The October 10 matinee starts at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $38 in the Orchestra, $35 in the Parterre and $33 in the Balcony, with discounts for seniors 65 and older, students, and military with ID.

October 16 to 18 bring the anniversary to a barrel stop

Rose Haven Heritage Garden is the only stop on the trail hosting a major event this month. The garden at 30592 Jedediah Smith Road celebrates its 35th anniversary over three days, and the city's calendar gives each day a different focus:

• Friday, October 16, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Rededication and ribbon-cutting
• Saturday, October 17, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Families in the Garden
• Sunday, October 18, 1 to 4 p.m. Art, Music, Poetry & Storytelling

Neither the city nor the Temecula Valley Rose Society lists an admission price. The Saturday program fills the third weekend of the month. When you go, the garden's barrel by Rich & Michele Ladig is part of the visit.

The month wraps up at the Civic Center, where the city's Halloween Carnival runs Friday, October 30, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at 41000 Main Street. It includes games, costume contests and trunk-or-treating with first responders. City Hall's barrel, painted by Nam Vet Art, is on the trail list too.

The evenings are ticketed and mostly in wine country

Once the sun goes down, the calendar moves east along Rancho California Road and starts charging admission. Several of the wine country barrel stops are also hosting October's ticketed events:

The Will Downing show on October 10 closes Thornton's Champagne Jazz season. South Coast's Rhythm on the Vine schedule continues into November with Leonid & Friends on November 13. Maurice Car'rie's barrel by Zoey Stevens and South Coast's by Nicholas McPherson are both on the trail map. Thornton is not one of the listed stops.

Peltzer Farm sits in between, with pumpkins in the daytime and wine on the menu. Its 30th pumpkin season runs through Halloween, with pumpkin picking, pig races, mini-train and pony rides, gem panning, and wine, beer or sangria from Peltzer Winery. Its barrel, painted by Breanna Perales, is stop number 16.

One barrel stop is about to change

The barrel by Ekaterina Mocalis stands at Temecula Creek Inn. According to a September Press-Enterprise report, the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians acquired the 300-acre, 130-room resort and brought it into their trust. A resort-wide renovation is set to begin soon, covering the pool area and room blocks and adding an outdoor open-fire cooking space at the inn's restaurant, Corkfire. No start date has been announced.

Corkfire Kitchen also has a new head chef, Jonathan Alcala. He trained at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley and plans a modern California menu built around live-fire cooking and a seasonal garden-to-table approach. The on-property garden supplies the kitchen every day. In September, the Press-Enterprise reviewer called dinner there the highlight of her trip and said it was worth a visit whether or not you stay at the hotel. For a local, that turns barrel stop 34 into a dinner reservation, and it may look different before the trail's first anniversary.

Whether your October means quilt auctions in Old Town or anniversary Saturdays at Rose Haven, Jeff Underdahl is glad to talk about the Temecula streets, gardens and gathering places that make this valley home. Let's Connect.