Photo: Joseph Sochor, all rights reserved.

3255 Summit Dr, Escondido, CA 92025

Tasting Room Hours: Friday – Sunday, 12:00 - 6:00 pm

Reservations: Reservations for less than six are recommended but not required by the winery. Groups over six need a reservation.

Food: Light snacks available. Food may be brought in. No outside alcohol per state law.

Wine club membership available

Hungry Hawk Vineyards and Winery is a 10-acre family winery, built entirely from the ground up, that opened in 2014, with vineyards first planted in 2009. Located in Escondido near the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, they are in a sweet spot of the San Pasqual Valley for growing numerous varietals including Albariño, Cabernet Franc, and Viognier. Their large outdoor tasting patio overlooks the vineyards and features live music beginning around 2:00pm or 3:00pm. I visited and enjoyed the wine and property so much that I’ve now returned two more times. And, yes, there are wild Red-tailed Hawks that have taken up residence on the property.

Hungry Hawk is easily accessed from the highway and main roads. The scenery turns picturesque once one leaves these main roads. Gently rolling hills lined with Bougainvillea and Oleander lead to Summit Drive where one turns for the winery. The road bends left and right and the landscape becomes agricultural.

Two winery-marked banner flags signal the entrance. Driving in, the tasting room appears off to the right with the property’s vineyards behind it. For tasting, one enters a shop invitingly decorated with winery swag and large open windows looking into the barrel room of the winery. I am welcomed by a host and wine-pourer at the front desk who inquires if I’m here to taste. With my answer, I’m led to the wine tasting patio.

All tastings or wine glass pours are enjoyed outside on the shaded patio overlooking the vineyards. I am enjoying the view when a wine menu is brought to me. Light misters in the patio cool me off on this warm Escondido afternoon as I begin to read it.

I am excited to see, in addition to a dozen or wines offered by the glass, six different flights to choose from: Sparking, White, Mixed, Red, Reserve, and Dessert. They range about $22 to $25 dollars with four generous pours (three on the dessert). The Reserve flight featuring 2020 wines including an Estate Syrah and Estate Petite Syrah runs $29 dollars. I share a sparkling Estate Brut Rosé with my companion along with the White and Reserve flights.

The white wines have refreshing acidity and an almost startling simplicity in contrast to overdeveloped, overoaked wines. The Albariño is made from three vineyards including the estate vineyard and is classic melon, lemon, and nectarines with a crisp peck on the cheek in the finish. The reds are rich, the grapes picked at the perfect level of ripeness. Hungry Hawk grows some difficult varietals which makes that even more impressive. The reds are delightful now and can also develop for some years in the bottle. The sparkling program is special in that they are all made by traditional methods and the choices include a Piquette, Viognier, Rose of Sangiovese, and a 100% Blueberry, all made by Méthode Champenoise. Overall, the wines taste true to varietal and highlight the rich palette of what grows well in San Diego County.

My host, Beth Ann, talks at length with me about the wine at hand and the great resources of wine country in San Diego. And we have wonderful side conversations about where we each moved from and how we enjoy the area. On this Friday trip, the live music doesn’t begin for another hour, so I sit a while longer and enjoy the chill environment and dreamy views onto the vineyards. What a first-rate way to blow into the weekend!

The winery was founded in 2014 by Jeannine and Ed Embly, with their son, Mike Embly, planting the vineyards using sustainable farming practices in 2009. The ten-acre estate grows 15 varietals. If the winemaker uses non-estate grapes, he sources primarily from neighboring vineyards in San Diego County.

After an additional half hour of resisting my civilian life, I leave through the gift shop by which I entered, purchasing bottles of the Albariño and Chardonnay. The Rock Ridge Carmenere sourced from Valley Center is as beautiful as Carmenere gets and tempts me. I put it on hold for a future visit. I will continue to return to Hungry Hawk for the quick escape into the good life of drinking superbly crafted wine atop the vineyards and for the expansive selection of Italian, French, and Spanish varietals, all thriving in the Escondido sun.

MAKE SURE TO TRY: Rock Ridge Carmenere 2020

Winner of Double Gold & Best Wine of San Diego County and 2023 Toast of the Coast Commercial Wine Competition. 100% Carmenere grapes from Rock Ridge Vineyard in Valley Center. Wet granite, leather, and smoke wrapped around a dry core of damson fruits and light bell pepper pyrazines. A brilliant glass from first sip to last.

HUNGRY HAWK VINEYARDS AND WINERY

ZXQ VINEYARDS