“May Gray” leaves our own climate wanting help this time of year. If the beach is clouded over, take the Carlsbad wine tour. Whether you are an oenophile or you just like the stuff, Carlsbad has some remarkable places to relax with friends, learn more about grapes than you ever thought possible, taste and buy wine.

Carlsbad Wine Merchants
Traverse the rolling hills east to the Carlsbad Wine Merchants at the Islands @ Carlsbad (5814 Van Allen Way) home of Carlsbad Red. Owner Kathy Bankerd calibrates her palate to what her customers enjoy. She surveys locals at her tasting bar (they also have beer) and comes up with that year’s blend of Napa and Sonoma varietals for Carlsbad’s namesake wine.

Carlsbad Wine Merchants is also where you can pick up a bottle of Jarhead Red or Jarhead Red Reserve. These are blends “made by Marines for Marines” and the vineyard’s profits go to the Marine Corps Scholarship fund for the children of fallen Marines and Navy corpsmen.

Bankerd said, “We’re passionate about giving back to the community.” They have wines that support breast cancer. And Bankerd listed just some of the charities they have supported: the Boys and Girls Clubs, Rotary, St. Patrick’s and other schools, the Hemophiliac Society and the Sons of Italy.

Where did Bankerd get her expertise? “I’m Italian. My grandfather is from Calabria.” If that is not enough said, her family has been 30 years in the wine industry so she’s had “a lifetime of experience.” Their motto is, “Il migliore vino e’quello che sib eve con gli amici!” That is, “The best wine is the one you share with friends.” Bankerd said of the shop, “We’ve become the little Cheers of Carlsbad.”

It was with neighbors, around a bottle of wine, that the concept for Wine Merchants was born. Bankerd retired from the technology sector, but was “not ready to retire.” One evening’s discussion turned to the need for a “wine hang-out,” a place for a shared experience and Merchants was born. For their music nights, info on their wine clubs, advice on wines for your upcoming wedding or party or latest finds, check out www.carlsbadwinemerchants.com.

The Wine Spot
In the Village, Carlsbad’s newest wine spot is The Wine Spot (2801 Roosevelt). Come for the wine, stay for the art. Just as wine complements music, it is also an accessory to art. Owner Andy Wilson hopes to display more works by local artists, but in the meantime—in an act of shameless nepotism—he displays his father’s artwork. Fortunately for Wilson, his father’s work is superb.

Any time you drop in you can taste wines, but there are thematic tasting events that feature varietals, specific vineyards or regions. Their house flights change weekly and you can enjoy your selection on warm evenings on the patio. If you are one of those couples where he’s wine, she’s beer, Wilson also features microbrews on the tasting menu. “I’m getting more passionate about beer,” he said. The Wine Spot also hosts private wine tasting parties on the premises.

“Wine consumption is on the rise,” Wilson said. He has observed that aficionados are becoming younger. There are a lot more twenty-somethings with a sophisticated taste.

Wilson said, “I’ve always been a wine drinker and my wife and I have always done wine travel. Our focus is to try to do low production wines that are hard to get.” Wilson’s wife is from Oregon so she favors wines from the Pacific Northwest. Wilson himself is the shop sage on California wines and imports. Overall, their emphasis is reasonably priced domestics.

The Wine Spot has an affinity for Sonoma and especially Paso Robles wines. Some of their Paso wines are very difficult to get anywhere else. Wilson also carries an amiable selection of Ports, dessert and ice wines, perfect for dinner parties. For information on their events and wine clubs, stopping by is most excellent, but you can also visit them at www.the-wine-spot.com.

Texas Wine and Spirits
This is not your grandmother’s Texas Liquor. Owner Ryan Salem said, “You gotta come see the place; it is a whole new store with a whole new image.” Longtime residents will remember that Texas Liquor (945 Carlsbad Village Dr.) has been around since the old Big Bear Market days, but since Salem and his father went into partnership together the whole place has been redefined. It is now Texas Wine and Spirits.

And you can still find Jack Daniels and Captain Morgan there, but as Salem said, “Tequila is Patron.” And Patron is Patron from bottle to bottle. “2007 was the first year in American history that wine outsold spirits.” Every bottle of wine is a new sensory experience. Pinot Noirs change from vineyard to vintner to vintage. “You can live five lifetimes and not know everything there is to know about wine,” he said. And there are trends in wine. “Merlots are slowing down because of that movie (Sideways). Pinots, Syrahs and Zins are the three fastest growing wines.”

“I’ve been to every wine shop in Carlsbad,” Salem said, “And the best part about wine is that in every store there are a handful to a dozen wines in the store that you can’t get in any other store.” Different buyers’ tastes bring in different wines. Salem admits he has a Cab bias so his selection is huge. Texas also has “the number one beer selection in San Diego County.” Salem said he is going to add tasting events soon, “But you have to be professional about it.” Wine should be a personal event, an artistic encounter, not a drunken experience.

The Wine Loft
In our southern hills, The Wine Loft in The Forum is a welcome break from fitting rooms and trying on shoes. The wine bar is open every day and the list of offerings changes every week. Sometimes they have live music in the evenings or vintners talking about their wines. They also have a walk-in humidor if you’d like a cigar with that glass.

Wine runs through Owner Bill Boyer’s bloodline. His folks owned a restaurant, his aunt and uncle owned one of the best-known wine stores in Orange County, Hi-Time Cellars in Costa Mesa, and his cousin is a winemaker. Boyer has been in the business for 11 years—he has a shop in Del Mar—and three years in Carlsbad.

The Wine Loft focuses on smaller producers. There is quite a selection of Pacific coastal wines as well as imports. Boyer travels so you don’t have to. He hits big tasting events up north to bring quality and value to his store. Boyer said, “Some of our wines are limited to three or six bottles.”

One event Boyer attends is the Family Winemakers of California tasting. Held in Pasadena and San Francisco, it is open only to those in the trade and showcases California’s small, family-owned wineries.

Boyer said his customers come in and ask for certain wines, whatever is getting great press, but he also likes to have surprises. Orin Swift’s, The Prisoner is a blend of six grapes “mostly zin” that is “just unbelievable” especially at $32 a bottle. For information on special tastings, visit their Web site, www.thewineloft-carlsbad.com.

Witch Creek Winery
Witch Creek makes its wine on the premises. Driving down Carlsbad Boulevard, (located at 2906 or on the Web at www.witchcreekwinery.com) you may have noticed crates of grapes piled around the building or oak barrels stacked to the sky. Rich Koziell, co-owner with his brother Dave, said, “Once the grapes come in you can’t wait until tomorrow.” And it is pretty much a team effort, even volunteers.

Dave Koziell has been making wine since 1978 and everyone told him he should go into business. Witch Creek’s first vintage was in 1993. They started in Santa Isabel (moved to Julian’s Main Street) and have been in Carlsbad for 13 years. Rich said, “We worked other jobs and were cutting pennies” to make a go of it. It took two years to make money, but they are established now.

Witch Creek uses all California grapes “From Baja to Tahoe.” Witch Creek does not wholesale their wines; it is all retail. They rarely make more than 200 cases of any one wine (which are stored in the old wine cellar at Ocean House). “So we sell out pretty quickly,” Koziell said. Witch Creek’s wine club has about 900 members who get first shot.

Ryan Baker is the resident winemaker at Witch Creek currently. He was a chemistry major, but learned from some of the best in Napa-Sonoma. Baker said, “I’m real happy with where our wines are headed. We are always looking for better fruit and to improve our wines. When we bring our own wines home and enjoy, you know you’re doing well.” Witch Creek’s Nebbiolo is quite popular and a taste before it went into the bottle proved why.

And if making the wine wasn’t creative enough, the Witch crew has fun with names and labels. A black cat is their signature and their blends carry that theme in their names, Cool Cat Red, Screaming Kitty and they are working on Catatonic. Still, it is what is inside that will bring you back for a second bottle.

Wine Street
Head down to 6986 El Camino Real, Suite C2. Wine Street has been in Carlsbad for 13 years, owned by the Kinberg family for eight years. Dr. Tanya Kinberg was about to take her new Ph.D. out for a test-drive when her dad asked her if she wanted to run the store. Kinberg’s father, Art, owns Vintage Storage, also in Carlsbad (2225 Camino Vida Robles, Suite 100). So once you’ve visited Tanya’s special reserve room and need a climate controlled space for your exceptional buys, visit Art.

When she started, Kinberg admits she had very little knowledge of the wine industry, but this time her education came out of a bottle not a book. “I have learned everything I have learned through living, breathing and running the business,” she said. Now she’s been in the biz long enough to have a doctorate in Oenology. When you visit, check out “Tanya’s A List.” Napa is her specialty and she has become so adept at extraordinary finds that Napa wine stores check her Web site, www.winestreet.com.

Wine Street’s current manager, Julian Contreras, has worked in the industry for 22 years. Kinberg said, “Contreras is San Diego’s only certified wine educator; he does a lot of classes here.” She also said of Contreras, “Julian lived in Europe for three years and is passionate about wines from Italy and Spain.”

Wine Street has special tastings on Friday with flights changing every week. Wine Street offers three different wine clubs, a California Chardonnay club, Julian’s Treasure Hunter club and the Big Gun Red club, featuring Napa cabs and other reds.

Country Wine and Liquor
One more good find to stock up on some vino is Country Wine and Liquor located on the north end of “the barn” in the historic Marja Acres (4901 El Camino Real, Ste. A). Country Wine And Liquor has no tasting room, but they focus on fine wines. They offer a discount if you buy three or more bottles and if you can’t find a wine in a local shop, they will try to hunt and gather it for you. If your wine mood is yearning for that secondary fermentation or an upcoming event calls for a little carbonation, Country carries Dom Perignon, Cristal and other exceptional champagnes.

Whether tasting or buying, wine is a social affair. In every shop we found friendly people, knowledgeable, but without the slightest hint of snobbery. Of course, wine sampling is in their job description so being amiable comes in abundance. In every shop there is something new to learn; each shop has its own texture and leaves its own aftertaste. Take the tour and see if it doesn’t lift you out of June’s gloom. If “wine is bottled poetry” as Robert Louis Stevenson suggests, then Carlsbad sings with it. •