Carter Estate Winery and Resort

By the 1969 Caddy team · Updated November 7, 2026

Carter Estate is Temecula’s quietly luxurious hideaway: a winery and resort where you can taste estate sparkling wine, linger by a poolside cabana and then walk to a private bungalow set among the vines. For couples and celebrations, it is one of the most romantic addresses on Rancho California Road.

The story of Carter Estate

Carter Estate Winery and Resort was established in 2015 and is owned by Jim Carter, who also owns South Coast Winery Resort & Spa nearby. Its wines are made under Master Winemaker Jon McPherson, and production is intimate — around 2,500 cases a year — which allows the estate to focus on small batches and estate-grown fruit.

The vision was to create a more private, boutique counterpart to a large resort: a place where wine, accommodation and dining all happen within the vineyard itself, at a calmer pace.

What to taste at Carter Estate

Sparkling wine is Carter Estate’s signature. The winery describes its sparkling wines as the only estate-grown wines produced in Temecula using the Méthode Champenoise — the traditional technique used for Champagne, in which the wine’s second fermentation happens in the bottle. Start your tasting with bubbles; it is the most distinctive thing the estate makes.

The still wines are produced in small batches from hand-harvested grapes and fermented and aged in French oak. The Temecula Valley Winegrowers Association lists Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot, Sangiovese, Syrah and red blends, plus Chardonnay, Viognier and white blends. Staff will guide you through the menu and help match wines to your palate, and the estate also offers seasonal food-and-wine pairings.

The Carter Estate experience

Stay overnight in a private bungalow among the estate vineyards, relax in a poolside cabana and order from the Vineyard Grill, with in-room dining and catering also available. Carter Estate offers picnic areas, live music, wedding and event spaces and a gift shop, and it is both dog friendly and family friendly.

Parties of six or more need reservations, which we arrange as part of a chauffeured visit. For weddings, anniversaries and proposals, Carter Estate pairs naturally with our wedding and celebration service: a '69 Cadillac arrival, sparkling wine in the tasting room and a bungalow for the night.

Who will love Carter Estate

Couples, honeymooners, anniversary celebrants and sparkling-wine lovers will find Carter Estate hard to beat. It is also an ideal base for a wine-country weekend: check in, take a chauffeured afternoon on the trails, and come back to the vines for a quiet evening. Few arrivals are more cinematic than a red convertible rolling up a vineyard drive to a private bungalow.

Planning tip: because Carter Estate is a resort as well as a winery, it is worth booking the tasting and any pairing experience in advance on busy weekends, and timing your arrival for late afternoon, when the light over the vineyard is at its most flattering for photographs.

The grapes behind Carter Estate Winery and Resort’s wines

A quick guide to the varieties on Carter Estate Winery and Resort’s list, and how they tend to show in Temecula:

• Cabernet Sauvignon — the king of Bordeaux grapes; in Temecula’s warm days and cool nights it ripens to dark cherry and cassis with firm, age-worthy tannins.
• Chardonnay — the world’s most popular white grape, made in Temecula in styles from crisp and unoaked to round and creamy.
• Malbec — best known from Argentina; in Temecula it gives inky color, ripe plum and a velvety texture.
• Merlot — a softer, rounder Bordeaux variety with plum and chocolate notes — an easy, food-friendly red and a key blending partner.
• Red blend — proprietary blends that let winemakers combine varieties into a house style; ask which grapes are in the current release.
• Sangiovese — the grape of Chianti — bright cherry, high acidity and an earthy edge that makes it one of the most food-friendly reds in the valley.

Carter Estate Winery and Resort fact sheet

Details from the Temecula Valley Winegrowers Association directory. Hours, menus and policies change, so confirm on the winery’s website before visiting.

Arriving at Carter Estate Winery and Resort in a 1969 Cadillac

Rancho California Road is where most chauffeured days begin, and it is the easiest stretch of Temecula wine country to string together in a classic car: the big estates sit close to one another, the road is wide and gently rolling, and the vineyards open up on both sides once you pass the first hill east of the freeway. With the top down on the '69 DeVille, it is a short, unhurried glide between tasting rooms, and your chauffeur handles the turns into busy weekend parking lots so you can step out right at the door.

Carter Estate Winery and Resort is at 34450 Rancho California Road. We plan the route, confirm any reservation or group policy with the winery, and time the drive so you arrive relaxed — and leave without anyone in your party needing to drive after tasting. Chauffeured hire is $325 per hour with a three-hour minimum; most guests pair Carter Estate Winery and Resort with two or three nearby wineries in a four- to five-hour booking.

Book the '69 Cadillac on DriveShare

Wineries near Carter Estate Winery and Resort

Pair your visit with these neighbors on the Rancho California Road:

• Callaway Vineyard & Winery — 32720 Rancho California Road
• Chapin Family Vineyards — 36084 Summitville Street
• Churon Inn Winery — 33233 Rancho California Road
• Bottaia Winery — 35601 Rancho California Road

See all 45 Temecula wineries →

Frequently asked questions