Optimize my Santa Barbara County itinerary?

I’ll be in the Solvang/Los Olivos area for two day in mid November 11-12. The threads on here regarding the area have been enormously useful, as I have never been to this area.
I was hoping I could crowdsource some feedback as whether my rough outline seems smart/feasible. We are staying in Solvang.
On Wednesday, coming up from LAX, I’d like to stop in at Jaffurs and then head to Los Olivos. Looks like many places are closed midweek, but was thinking on a Wednesday we could hit Stolpman, Andrew Murray, Beckmen and Foxen. Other contenders for this day would include Babcock and Dierberg.
On Thursday, I’m thinking start in Lompoc so as to go to Arcadian, then Loring, then back to Los Olivos for Tercero and Tensley.
Reasonable? Anything critical that I’m missing?
My wife and I like–or are happy to taste–just about everything. Excited to try the rhone stuff and pinot down here, but really up for everything.
Dinners are Industrial Eats and SY Kitchen.
Thanks in advance!

I highly recommend visiting Dragonette!

That sounds like a lot to pack in on weds if you’ll be driving from LA (which will take you at least 2 hrs maybe more). As far as I know, foxen and beckmen don’t have tasting rooms on the main drag in Los olivos, so that’s more driving to take into acct. Others on that tasting room stretch, however, include qupe I think (at least back in the day).

If you’ll be at the lompoc wind ghetto, you should def check out tyler. I’m sure there are others (don’t know who’s currently there - maybe sandhi/piedrassasi?). You could probably spend hrs there, though it won’t be the beautiful estate vineyard type experience from the movies.

Keep in mind Foxen is a good 20 minutes from downtown Los Olivos. Dierberg is 35, as is Babcock. Much better to do that on Thrusday when coming back from Lompoc, Pence Ranch is another great stop, need reservations though. Andrew Murray’s winery tasting room at the Curtis Vineyard is a great experience, much better then the tasting room in downtown. Dinner choices are solid!

You do have a full schedule and may want to spread out some of the choices. I`d also suggest stopping at the Au Bon Climat tasting room in SB as they are pouring some library wines as well as current releases, all very good and more than just Chards and Pinots.

Does Stolpman still produce in the Wine Ghetto? Might be able to kill 2 birds with one stone there.

They have a tasting room there.

Foxen is in Sta Maria and very far away. Beckmen is on the way to Los Olivos and not very far.

Tercero, Stopman, Tensley and a host of others are in Los Olivos and all within walking distance. Park and walk.

I would encourage you to include Foxen during your visit. There wines merit it and Foxen Canyon Rd is a beautiful country drive embracing the true nature of wine country. Its 20-25 minutes from Los Olives tops. If youre looking to do a lot of tastings in a small window of time, then pass. For me, the quality of the wine dictates the experience and going to 12-15 or more tastings in lieu of 6 or 8 quality wineries is worth it. Your choice obviously.

Guys, thanks so much for the feedback. Very helpful.
I don’t mind going out of my way for quality, but will be mindful about lining things up as efficiently as possible.

Dave,

First off, thanks for visiting the most exciting County in CA for wines right now

Your itinerary certainly sounds doable and I like a lot of the comments others have made. Your Wednesday really depends upon what time you land in LAX - and how much ‘energy’ you want to exert that afternoon. Jaffurs is a great choice - truly love what Craig, Matt and Dave are doing. You might want to reach out and make sure they are open that day. From there, the suggestion of hitting ABC/Margerum/Happy Canyon Vineyards/Grassini is a good one. These are all in a cluster right new to the Wine Cask and its sister restaurant Intermezzo. You might consider hitting those rooms and then stepping into the latter to catch a quick bite before driving up to the Valley. Everything from here is truly dependent upon what time you land in LA and what traffic is like from there . . .

If you can hit Los Olivos no later than, say, 3pm, you do have choices on Wednesday. Andrew Murray and Stolpman both have tasting rooms that are open 7 days a week in the tiny city itself, as does Qupe and a few others. If you are staying here in Los Olivos, that’s what I’d suggest. Beckmen is doable - it’s only a 5 min drive from downtown Los Olivos. The others mentioned will take at least 15 and up to 45 minutes to hit - and most tasting rooms start closing up by 430 or 5 on Wednesdays . . .

There are a few tasting rooms in Solvang itself, but instead of hitting those, if time permits, I’d hit the Wandering Dog Wine Bar and/or The Good Life. Both have good wine selections as well as beers

On Thursday, if you want to hit Lompoc, just plan it out and see who opens first. From Solvang, you could probably hit either Babcock or Melville first on your drive out, then hit Arcadian/Samsara/Palmina/and others, get lunch, then take the trek back to Los Olivos. Again, note that most tasting rooms close by 5, so timing will be of the essence.

If it makes things easier, I could probably open for you on Wednesday - would just need to nail down a more specific time . . .

Reach out if I can help in any way - and both dinner choices are spot on!

Cheers!

Thanks so much, Larry. That was really nice of you to write all of that. Very helpful.
I’ll continue to target you for Thursday during regularly scheduled hours, because as you and others note, who knows what will transpire between touch down in LAX and actually getting up to SB.
I can’t wait. It’s our 10th anniversary and there’s nothing more fun than poking around the tasting rooms of a new (to me) wine region.

Brian Loring shares a tasting room with Peter Cargasacchi near the Hitching Post restaurant just East of 101. Both wineries are well worth the visit.

Last time we visited with Brian his Chardonnays were really outstanding and the Pinots were much more elegant and complex compared to what I remember from 10 years ago. Plus he’s one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet!!

Unfortunately, my wife and I had only from 10-2 in Los Olivos today and the tasting rooms don’t open until 11. This was my second visit, the third for my wife. Considering this was a trip planned to spend time with our infant grandchildren in SB before business up the coast, we were pleased to have had the time to make the scenic drive.
One could easily spend 2 full days in the area and we hopefully will have more time in the years to come.
Ordinarily, we schedule 2 tastings in the morning and 2 after lunch. Today our plan was a total of 3. We had a list of 5 possible producers to visit, the 3 we end up visiting depending on the circumstances. Monday is a good day traffic wise, allowing better discussion with the pourers. We don’t make our decisions based on who produces the highest rated or most popular wines but considering what we have tasted before and where our taste buds are at the present time. We will also stop at wineries that we have purchased before. Arriving one hour before tasting started gave us time to walk the town and look at the new rooms and enjoy a snack.
We visited a total of four tasting rooms because of their proximity and some focus on our part, two newbies and two return visits: Dragonette and Larner plus Tercero and Refugio. I hope to return here to provide more detail but for now can recommend all four.

Dave, Larry Shaffer`s comments are so right on and I join in supporting his version for you itinerary. Having been a "local’ since 1971 and growing up with the wine industry in my own experience, I can truly say this area offers some remarkable divergence in high quality wines from many producers. There are so many gems to behold and repeated visits are suggested to discover a lot of those.
Enjoy your trip.

If you’re stopping at Jaffur’s, another tasting room very close by is Kunin. They used to share the space with Westerly, not sure if they do that anymore, but the wines are interesting and worth a stop. If Westerly is still there as well, consider it a bonus.

Just back from our trip to SB County, which was really enjoyable.
We ended up going to Au Bon Climat and Jaffurs in Santa Barbara; Andrew Murray’s E11 project, Tercero, Stolpman and Dragonette in Los Olivos; Foxen and their related 7200 shack, Arcadian and Bratcher in the Lompoc Wine Ghetto and Loring in Buellton.
Every tasting was enjoyable, but Jaffurs, Stolpman, Tercero and the Bratcher wines were really memorable. We ended up shipping home a mixed case that we’ll enjoy drinking. In general, much more taken with the rhones than the pinots, all of which were cool to taste but just not my favorite style.
Really impressed with the Stolpman wines top to bottom, and one of the most enjoyable wines we had all trip, a Stolpman syrah done partially carbonic called Para Maria, was also the cheapest at $22 or so. Super delicious wine.
We stayed at the Wine Country Inn in Solvang for something like $110 a night, and I’d highly recommend it for better than adequate lodging at a good price. Dinners at Industrial Eats and SY Kitchen were both very good, but if done again, I’d eat at Industrial Eats twice.
Thanks for all the recommendations. Really helpful.

Great trip and I totally agree with the Industrial Eats choice. It`s a clear winner.