South Coast Winery in Temecula, California, recently pulled off a feat no other California winery can claim: winning its fourth Golden Bear Trophy at the California State Fair earlier this month.

The trophy is awarded to one California winery each year, chosen from the hundreds that enter the state fair's annual wine competition. Considering that more than half the wine consumed in the United States is produced in California, this trophy is a significant accomplishment.

The fact that this one small winery — situated in the unheralded Temecula Valley 60 miles north of San Diego — has captured the title four times against stiff competition speaks volumes about the winemakers, Jon McPherson and Javier Flores.

The two are longtime colleagues who joined forces a quarter-century ago at another Temecula winery, Culbertson, which is now known as Thornton. They are the unlikely heroes of the South Coast Winery saga. McPherson was born in Texas, and Flores was born in Mexico. Neither place is more than a blip on the world's wine radar, but both arrived to Southern California with solid roots in the wine business.

As the son of the most respected winemaker in Texas, Doc McPherson of Llano Estacado Winery, Jon McPherson learned at his father's feet. Flores began working as a teen at L.A. Cetto Winery in Baja California, Mexico, thought by many to be Mexico's finest winery.

Their success at Culbertson, and later at Thornton, made them logical candidates for the winemaking job when Jim Carter, who made his fortune in the nursery business, decided to launch a state-of-the-art winery in Temecula and call it South Coast Winery. McPherson was appointed master winemaker, Flores joined him as winemaker, and the rest is history.

Despite its four Golden Bear trophies, South Coast is one of the best kept wine secrets in California, largely because the Temecula Valley is off the beaten path and tiny compared to more renowned and larger regions, such as Napa Valley, Sonoma County, Paso Robles and Santa Barbara, among others.

That said, the wines of Temecula can be quite good, especially those made by McPherson and Flores at South Coast. Carter, whose previous farming experience centered on ornamental trees, sees to it that the vineyards do their part in the winemaking equation.

"It's my job," said Carter, "to make sure Jon and Javier have the best possible grapes to work with. That's my passion."

To say that the wines of South Coast are as eclectic as they are delicious states the obvious. One of the best South Coast wines I tasted recently was a blend of touriga nacional and tempranillo, which the winery calls "TNT."

Neither grape is commonly grown in California, but both McPherson and Flores returned from trips to Portugal, where the grapes are indigenous, firmly convinced the Mediterranean climate and rolling hills of Temecula were ideal for Portuguese grape varieties.

Temecula is unique among California's inland wine valleys because of a narrow opening in the Santa Margarita Mountain Range some 20 miles from the Pacific Ocean. The Rainbow Gap creates a cooling affect in the evenings that lowers temperatures and retains freshness in the grapes.

"We thought the climate was so similar to what we saw in Portugal that Touriga and Tempranillo (called Tinto Roriz in Portugal) would do well here," said McPherson. "And they have."

Touriga and tinto roriz red grapes are the backbone of Portugal's sweet port wines, but both are witnessing growing acclaim for dry table wines. McPherson and Flores also took a shot with a white grape from Portugal, verdehlo, which is found mostly on the Madeira Islands.

This crisp, dry white is one of the finest wines produced at South Coast. France's Rhone Valley is also well-represented in the South Coast lineup through a beautiful white wine, Viognier, made from grapes grown at the Carter Estate, and a red blend that includes syrah, grenache and mourvedre.

South Coast also makes a line of sparkling wines, including a sparkling touriga, and is about to launch an upscale "Carter Estate" brut that McPherson and Flores hope will compete with the likes of Gloria Ferrer, Domaine Carneros and Schramsberg.

South Coast may well be the best winery you've never heard of, so its wines aren't likely to be readily available at your favorite wine merchant. But you can purchase these wines, including many of its 21 medal-winners from the California State Fair, online at www.SouthCoastWinery.com.

Follow Robert on Twitter at @wineguru. To find out more about Robert Whitley and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.