While Napa, Sonoma, and Paso Robles have long been considered premier California wine destinations, lesser-known regions also offer world-class wines, along with picturesque landscapes and unpretentious charm. These hidden gems of the wine world stand tall on their own, with exceptional varietals that delight locals and visitors alike.
California’s winemaking culture is diverse. Some producers are experimenting with bold flavors and innovative techniques, while others focus on sustainable practices and improving upon classic styles. The tapestry of wineries is just as broad. From sprawling vineyards to historic venues to intimate tasting rooms, wine lovers are sure to find a tasting experience to suit their palate.
Wine is everywhere in California—on its coast, in its valleys, and beyond. There are even pockets of expert wine production right in our own backyard. San Diego and Temecula Valley offer approachable atmospheres oenophiles are sure to enjoy, while Carmel-by-the-Sea rewards wine lovers willing to travel further afield. These underrated wine destinations invite guests to sip, savor, and indulge in unforgettable experiences.
Temecula Valley
Just over an hour outside San Diego lies Southern California’s very own wine country: Temecula Valley. A climate similar to that of the Mediterranean makes the Temecula Valley an ideal location for growing high-quality wine grapes. The region’s 40-plus wineries produce a wide array of critically acclaimed and award-winning wines. More than 30 varieties are grown in the Temecula Valley, including cabernet sauvignon, syrah, sangiovese, and albariño.
With so many fantastic wineries to choose from, plus an ample assortment of hotels, restaurants, and spas, it’s no surprise that multi-winery tasting tours are popular. Take advantage of this—and get a sweet discount—with a SIP Passport, visit temeculawines.org/sip-passport.
Carmel-by-the-Sea
Take a trip up north to Carmel-by-the-Sea, a charming village on the scenic central coast. Carmel-by-the-Sea is also a top-rated wine destination, with 18 friendly tasting rooms all within the idyllic town’s one square mile. Many of the varietals are local to Monterey County, one of the state’s largest premium wine regions known for its chardonnay and pinot noir.
In addition to the bevy of tasting rooms, Carmel-by-the-Sea has more restaurants per capita than any other city in the US. Two of its dining establishments, Chez Noir and Aubergine, have received Michelin stars, and a third, Yafa, is recognized as a Michelin Bib Gourmand.
Bernardo Winery
San Diego is home to one of the oldest continually operating wineries in California: Bernardo Winery. This family-owned business’s history dates back to 1889 and includes a stint producing sacramental wine during Prohibition. Though communion vino is no longer among its offerings, Bernardo Winery crafts several reds, whites, and rosés using locally grown grapes, plus dessert wine and sangria.
Guests can enjoy a stroll through Bernardo Winery’s lush gardens or Friday morning farmers’ market, peruse the works of local artisans in its Village Shops, and dine on Sicilian and Old Californian dishes at its walk-up-style restaurant.
California Wine By the Numbers
4,700 wineries in the state
85% of wine produced in the US comes from California
422,000 California jobs are related to the wine industry
635,000 acres of vineyards in the state
$57.6 billion in state economic impact
95% of American wine exports come from California
*Sources: California Wine Institute, winecountry.com, Wine Institute, the National Association of American Wineries.
The Best Gym in San Diego Isn’t Really a Gym Anymore
Earlier this year, Fit quietly dropped "athletic" from its brand, from Fit Athletic Clubs to simply Fit, and started calling itself something new: a social wellness club.
There’s a version of San Diego that lives in two extremes. On one side, the 5 a.m. crowd: biohackers, marathoners, people who’ve already logged a cold plunge before your alarm goes off. On the other, the after-dark crowd, the ones chasing sunset happy hours and late dinners with friends. Everyone seems to be either optimizing or unwinding, and most of us feel like we’re failing at both.
Fit, San Diego’s reigning Best Gym for the third year running, has built its entire identity around erasing that divide.
Walk into one of Fit’s three San Diego locations on a Tuesday afternoon and the lines blur fast. Someone’s mid-set on the squat rack. Someone else has a laptop open at a café table a few feet away, half-working, half-people-watching. A group is trading plans for the weekend’s event by the recovery lounge. Nobody’s in a rush to leave.
“We’re not competing for the same people,” says Emily Waybright, Public Relations Manager at Fit, addressing the arrival of a national luxury gym chain in San Diego this year. “We don’t really feel like we’re in the gym category. It’s this unique thing.”
That unique thing has a name now. Earlier this year, Fit quietly dropped “athletic” from its brand, from Fit Athletic Clubs to simply Fit, and started calling itself something new: a social wellness club.
It’s a small wording change with a bigger idea behind it. Fit was never built around escaping the workday. It was built around the people who genuinely like what they do, and who want workouts, work, and friendships to happen in the same place instead of three separate ones. Because sometimes red light therapy with a stranger turns into weekend plans.
Fit’s philosophy traces back to its founder, who started the brand nearly two decades ago after failing to find a gym he actually wanted to belong to. He looked instead to the old-school country club, where people came for a shared interest and stayed for the community. His version was made for a younger generation, minus the golf, plus the loud music.
Which makes it a little ironic that the very award putting Fit back in the spotlight this year is Best Gym.
What does the best traditional gym look like when the definition of a gym is becoming less traditional? It’s a fair question, and Fit’s answer is that the fitness industry itself is shifting. The 45-minutes-in, 45-minutes-out model is giving way to something closer to a genuine third space, the kind of role the office and the bar used to play before remote work and changing nightlife habits rearranged how people spend their time
For Fit, community isn’t a marketing add-on to fitness. It’s the through-line. Members aren’t just paying for a treadmill; they’re paying for an entire day of social wellness that’s built on performance, recovery, connection, and a plan for the next event on the calendar. That’s a much harder membership to walk away from.
Ambition and ease aren’t opposites here, they exist side by side, where passion and play share the same morning. On September 12, Fit is hosting Sol, a full day wellness festival at Fit Social. The morning focuses on wellness classes and vendors and then the evening is a full party with multiple DJ sets and an open bar. Think of it as a kick-off to locals’ summer in San Diego.
Ready to see what a social wellness club actually looks like? Visit fitclubs.com, or follow along at @thefitclubs on Instagram.
Growing up, Laika Nur, MD, Scripps Clinic sports medicine specialist, loved watching beach volleyball when the Association of Volleyball Professionals tour came to her hometown of Chicago. A talented volleyball player herself, she remembers sitting in the stands all day, and once, even got a couple autographs. Years later, Dr. Nur was attending a professional event focused on women’s sports, and the discussion turned to a new professional women’s volleyball league. The general manager and coaching staff for San Diego’s team, the Mojo, happened to be in attendance, and Dr. Nur took the opportunity to ask them if they needed a team doctor. Flash forward to the Mojo’s inaugural 2024 season, when Dr. Nur officially became the team physician. Click here to read more about Dr. Nur and how she incorporates lessons she learned on the court into her practice.
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Your feet and ankles probably aren’t something you give much thought to—until something goes wrong. Orthopedic surgeons at Scripps Clinic are on the leading edge of foot and ankle reconstruction, treating patients with sports injuries, deformities, traumatic injuries and other conditions. That includes repairing torn Achilles tendons with a minimally invasive procedure that shrinks the incision site to less than a centimeter, and performing advanced ankle replacement on some patients with ankle arthritis. Read more about Scripps’ innovations in foot and ankle care here.
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Mai Vue was just 34 weeks pregnant when she delivered her baby. Her pregnancy had been complicated, and she’d had a recent second trimester pregnancy loss, which led to her receiving specialized care from Sean Daneshmand, MD, a Scripps Clinic perinatologist who oversees high-risk pregnancies. Dr. Daneshmand and his team took care of Mai during her pregnancy, through the birth of her healthy baby girl and beyond. Mai was part of a program Scripps launched to provide support to new moms in the weeks and months after delivery. The postpartum program, known as Scripps Health’s Fourth Trimester Continuum of Care, provides care for women with high-risk pregnancies to optimize their health after childbirth and reduce the risk of complications in future pregnancies. Click here to learn more.
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It’s estimated that one in five people in the U.S. will develop skin cancer at some point in their lives. When you factor in living in a sun-soaked city like San Diego and the outdoorsy lifestyle that comes with it, that figure can jump to as high as one in three, which makes early detection and intervention all the more important. Dermatologists at Bighorn Mohs and Dermatology Center are using innovative imaging methods and advanced surgical techniques to diagnose and treat skin cancer. For certain cancers in sensitive spots, like the face, dermatologists perform Mohs surgery, removing skin tissue layer by layer until reaching healthy, cancer-free tissue. They also use a process called immunohistochemistry to view tissue samples taken during Mohs surgery in far greater detail than previous methods. Read more about how Scripps is advancing skin cancer care here.
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When endurance athlete Isaac Sanchez learned he had cancer, he felt blindsided. He was healthy, surfed often and was training for an Ironman triathlon. But he had to put that on hold to undergo treatment. His physicians at Scripps Cancer Center developed a plan to treat the cancer in his tonsil and lymph nodes that included six-and-a-half weeks of near-daily radiation and weekly chemotherapy. He also worked with a Scripps Cancer Center dietitian to enhance his nutrition to promote strength and healing. Today, Isaac’s back to doing what he loves. Read more of his story here.
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