Plans for SB/SY/SRA Trip - Looking for Feedback

I will be in Long Beach for business for a couple days starting on July 20th. Decided to head down there a couple days before, so I could do my first “wine scouting” trip around Santa Barbara/Santa Ynez/Sta Rita Hills areas. I’ve read through the various WB threads related to visting these areas, and put together a draft agenda for the visit. Would appreciate any feedback on the feasibility of my plan, as well as any related recommendations on wineries to visit.

Here are the basics for my plan:

Day 1 (Sat) – My flight arrives in Long Beach in late morning. Plan to head right out and pound pavement directly to Los Olivos (appears to be about 2 1/2 to 3 hour drive). Assuming I arrive in Los Olivos early/mid afternoon, that would still give me enough time for at least a few tasting room visits that day (as it looks like they are all clustered together fairly close by). Would like to get to taste at Tercero (hope to meet Larry…), Dragonette, Qupe, Stolpman (and I’m open to other suggestions).

I originally was planning to just stay the evening/night in Los Olivos, but hotel availability close by for that date appears to be almost non-existent. Instead, I’ll just make the 45 minute or so drive to Lompoc and have dinner/stay the night there (any restaurant recommendations appreciated).

Day 2 (Sun) – Plan to start the day as early as possible in the Wine Ghetto. Definitely want to taste at Arcadian, but I don’t know a whole lot about most of the other wineries there. Figured I’d play that by ear and make some game-time decisions. Once I leave there, I’d be starting my way back to Santa Barbara. That would leave me an option for stop or two along the way, potentially around Buellton, Solvang or some other place in route. If not, I could then make last stop for a tasting or two back in Santa Barbara (Au Bon Climat, Jaffurs, etc.). Evening drive then back to Long Beach.

I suspect the above is probably a bit of an over-ambitious agenda (for what is basically just a day and a half), and that I might have to trim to fewer tasting stops at some locations. However, my ultimate goal is to get a general feel for the area and sample some of the better producers (which would help me decide if I wanted to return later for a longer visit).

Given the above, does this plan seem reasonable/feasible?

As far as my winery interests, my general wine preferences are somewhat “AFWE-ish”. Tend to lean more toward elegance/balance than raw power (but not a fanatic about it). Favorites from other recent visits to CA wine regions include Rhys, Ridge, and Quinta Cruz (form Santa Cruz Mountains trip), Navarro and Peay (from Anderson Valley/Sonoma Coast trip), and Joe Swan and Holdridge (from Russian River trip). Also, I have a special fondness for white Rhone varieties, especially the Northern Rhone “holy trinity” of Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier.

Given that info, any other wineries you’d recommend I include this trip?

Thanks in advance for your feedback,
Michael

Way too ambitious. Keep in mind that even with spitting, you do ingest some alcohol. I would be very careful about doing too much tasting in such short periods of time. On Saturday afternoon/evening, the road from Los Olivos to Lompoc will be crawling with CHP.

From Long Beach to Los Olivos on a Saturday morning will take about 3 hours. Driving back on Sunday late afternoon/evening could take as many as 5 hours. From Santa Barbara to Long Beach, the freeways will be a complete traffic jam with people coming back from Santa Barbara and the beaches.

Poppy,

Thanks for your feedback on my plan.

I do have a strict “spit everything!” rule for myself when I’m the driver on a tasting trip (but am also aware, as you noted, that some alcohol gets ingested anyways). I have friends up here that are ITB (retail) and let me tag along on their wine region trips (in return for being the driver), so I do have a lot of experience managing that aspect to keep myself out of trouble. That being said, my plan for tasting through Los Olivos on Sat might be pushing it, so it would be best not to add a long drive right after that. Instead, since I’m staying Sat night in Lompoc, I think I’ll just head straight out there on Sat and taste around the Ghetto on Sat afternoon (Google maps says it’s about the same time to drive to Lompoc as it would be to Los Olivos). That way, I can just take taxi at the end of the day, if necessary.

Then, on Sunday, I can head to Los Olivos in the morning, which would give me a slower pace for tasting at a couple places there, followed by lunch. Then, I’d head back toward Santa Barbara. I realize this sets me up for a long, slow slog in traffic all the way back to Long Beach on Sunday evening, but I’m OK with that tradeoff.

Michael