Stehleon & Vesper Vineyards Tasting Room

Love love this place. Super nice owners and wines. Casual and comfortable urban tasting room. Owners willing to give a tour of production while not in use. Go local with this one! Love that this family has been in the local farming business for generations ! #sduw

What a great place! Awesome wines, fun environment, and a friendly faces! Do not hesitate to go here. We loved it! Try the Grenache Blanc!
Such a fun place, hidden right in Escondido! Take a trip out there, you won’t be disappointed.

The tasting room looked like a regular ol’ office. A few people were sitting around and drinking wine quietly with no background music playing or whatsoever so the atmosphere was a bit uncomfortable.
The server introduced herself as one of the owners of Vesper and the daughter of the owners of Stehleon. It was nice that I was being served directly by the person who made the wines. The not so pleasant part was that when I encountered wines that I didn’t care for. It was pretty awkward hiding my distaste for the certain ones. And the fact that her/husband’s wines were better than Stehleon’s… There was one wine that was pretty good, but the rest were pretty weak. The server seemed nice and seemed proud of her products though.

We visited this winery in late February 2015, liked a few of the wines, and bought two bottles, a Stehleon sauvignon blanc and a Vesper sangiovese. We came straight home to Mission Viejo and promptly put both bottles in our wine cooler. Imagine our surprise when we opened the sauvignon blanc four months later, and it was amber in color and undrinkable. We were very disappointed, but as this happens to everyone occasionally, we did not contact the winery with a complaint. Then a week ago we opened the sangiovese for guests at dinner, and it tasted like vinegar. Now one bad bottle is a coincidence, but two bad bottles? So I emailed the winery and told them what happened. So far it has been a week, and I have not heard a peep from them. Apparently all they care about is selling the wine and do not stand behind the quality of the wine. I would never go here again and would recommend that you stay as far away from this winery as possible. There are many other good wineries in the area, e.g. Orfiila and Hungry Hawk.

I may not always like all the wines this place serves, but they rarely serve me anything that is undrinkable. They are friendly, and do serve some wines from grape varietals that are different then most wineries.
Skip the wine from Orfila grapes unless you like anise.

What a delightful wine-​tasting. We loved everything we tried. A special treat was talking with the very learned and entertaining winemaker, Alysha Stehly. She is descended from a 100+ year San Diego County farming family and is well versed in farming, food to table cuisine, and the local scene.
We will stip there again when in the area.

It’s a winery, in an office park in Escondido… from the outside, it does not look like anything noteworthy, but looks are truly deceiving…
The wine is exceptional, and the hands on love shown by Al and Lisa Stehly for the Stehleon label and husband and wife team Chris Broomell and Alysha Stehly for Vesper is apparent.
Went to fill my growler today with the superb 2011 Highland Hills Alcala (67% Marsanne/​33% Rousanne) of which the last keg of 15 was tapped and almost out. A dry white with exceptional bouquet, mineral foundation with citrus notes and tremendous mouth feel, was truly surprised and delighted that there was any left at all.
This is a group of new (er) vintners and I do predict within a few years, it will be difficult to easily secure their wines… because demand will far outstrip supply. This is GREAT wine, not just for San Diego, not just for California… but compared to anything that is currently produced… my opinion is that Stehleon and Vesper can hold up to and compete on the world stage.

Came here yesterday and the wine was great. It made it more enjoyable hearing about the how the wine was made. I love supporting local business and their family owned wine is great. I came here for an event though so I don’t think they have any food available for you to eat. And unfortunately, like many other local vineyards, their prices are a lot more than the wine you’d buy at stores. Overall, a great place to try some wine. They’re open Friday to Sunday but will open during the week if you schedule ahead of time. They’re surprisingly very accommodating.

I’m a regular customer of the Vesper Vineyards and Stehleon tasting room, and a Bodega club member. The tasting room is simple and relaxed — a nice place to spend an afternoon, or just pop over for a quick sip while I fill a growler. I’ve brought my own picnic lunch to enjoy a few hours with friends (we filled a couple of growlers to enjoy with our sandwiches!). I’ve met friends to catch up. I’ve tasted with my baby daughter, and with my parents. The atmosphere is intimate and chances are your wine will be poured by the people who make the wine, grow the grapes, and know every intimate detail of how your wine was made. Everyone is always friendly and open to chat. From the tasting room you have a window into the barrel room, where you can see the whole small production operation.
Chris and Alysha make great wine. Not «good for San Diego», but good in it’s own right. Their philosophy is to let the wine be what it wants to be. That means you don’t get the same cookie cutter wine every year. It’s fascinating to taste the same Carignan from different years and differentiate the subtle nuances of each. It’s fun to taste rose grown in two different ranches and taste how different the grapes can be. The grapes really shine. It’s spoiled me!
And the wines are unique! I hadn’t even heard of Carignan before trying Vesper’s wines, and now it is a favorite. The leathery tobacco flavors are interesting like a heavier wine, and yet it’s so drinkable and light. It’s my go-​to wine at home. The rose is always what I open when I’m grilling in the summer, and the Alcala delicious and versatile.
I know it’s surprising to hear «some of the best wines you can buy in San Diego are in Escondido», but it’s true! I bring every wine lover I know to their tasting room and they’re never disappointed.

Good wine, but the owner failed to engage with us (only people there), main reason I won’t be going back. She was on her laptop most the time. Friendly, just lacked the customer service that I expected or I myself would provide.

Lovely location, great wines, family business! Looking forward to going back and having more of their Rosé

Great wine. Chris and Alysha are lovely. Nice local products for sale. Wine growler fills! The rose and carignan are delicious!