Winery suggestions for upcoming Santa Barbara & Paso trip

My wife and I are headed to the Santa Barbara / Paso region Oct 17th-22nd. We are completely unfamiliar with the area and would greatly appreciate any winery or other must see recommendations. We are fans of big bold reds and are learning to appreciate Pinot Noirs that are on the bolder side of the style. We are also always looking for dry whites that aren’t too citrusy. I am also an amateur landscape photographer and while not required, appreciate visiting vineyards rather than tasting rooms since it allows me some photo ops.

The current plan is to depart Los Angeles early morning on Wednesday, stopping to check out Santa Barbara for lunch before arriving in the Sta Rita hills area mid afternoon. We have a hotel booked in Solvang for Wed/Thurs night and will use that as a home base to check out the surrounding areas. On Friday, we’ll be heading towards Paso Robles and will be basing our operations there for the weekend.

There are a so many wineries with stellar reviews we are having a little trouble deciding exactly where to focus and what to do, particularly with coordinating the days the tasting rooms are open. Some musts on our list include Roblar, Zaca Mesa, Halter Ranch, beyond that we are looking to fill in the time.
We are aware this also the Harvest Festival weekend in Paso, so we are looking for recommendations for which events we shouldn’t miss.

Any input is appreciated.

First thing that comes to mind is Foxen. Same day that you do Zaca Mesa. Do both Foxen tasting rooms. The shack is a photo op by itself. Good scenery on the way to Foxen and by the new tasting room. Wines on the bigger side but I still find them balanced. I am a sucker for the Julia’s Pinot which shouldn’t be in my wheelhouse these days but still is.

Given that your dates fall pretty squarely in the “Crazy Season”, my guess is that you’ll likely have much better luck with the big outfits which have permanent tasting rooms, rather than with the boutique artisan operations, where the guys won’t have slept more than 15 or 20 minutes in the last month.

On your way up to Paso Robles, the Foley family [not to be confused with Robert Foley] has a permanent tasting room, just off the 101, and their “Two Sisters” label would be right up your alley [we’ve got some older vintages of Two Sisters which are aging quite gracefully]:

Visit Us - Foley Estates

Then further north, as you drive through Arroyo Grande, Laetitia has possibly the best lineup of sparkling wines in the entire USA [plus plenty of still wines made from Chardonnay & Pinot Noir]:

Laetitia Vineyard & Winery | Award-winning wines.

And once you get to Paso Robles, if there’s anyone in your party who likes big Cabernet Sauvignon, then you have to visit L’Aventure and Austin Hope:

http://www.aventurewine.com/TastingExperience
http://www.aventurewine.com/PrivateTourAndTasting

It looks like Austin Hope has some sort of a “Bacon Festival” on the 20th:

Visit Our Tasting Cellar | Hope Family Wines
Events Archive - Hope Family Wines

That could be lot of fun, although you might want to get a designated driver if you’re gonna spend the afternoon sipping on Austin Hope’s Cabernets.

Super Rica in Santa Barbara for Mexican lunch!

I like Tablas Creek, Herman Story and Desparada, especially the Desparada Sackcloth and Ashes.

As far as the SB County area, please note that things tend to be ‘slow’ on Wednesdays and you should definitely reach out to specific wineries you may want to visit that day, especially if they are smaller ones.

Wineries that I know will be open that day out there would be Sanford, Lafond, Melville, Babcock and Foley. Others may be open but not sure.

As far as other areas, you may want to consider hitting Foxen on your drive up on Friday since it is a bit ‘out there’ compared to other wineries in the area. Start that day by going to perhaps Fess Parker, then hit Zaca Mesa, then on to Foxen, and carry that road all the way around into Santa Maria, where you can jump on the 101 and head north.

On Thursday, I would suggest spending it in the Los Olivos area. Many tasting rooms within walking distance, including many that would ‘fit’ what you are looking for. Hit up Tensley, Barbieri, Zinke, Stolpman - and perhaps stop by and say hi to me as well.

Plenty of other suggestions if you do searches - and feel free to PM me for more info in my area, including a cool beer ‘speak-easy’ . . .

Cheers!

Tercero
Law Estate
Tablas Creek

BOOM, BOOM, AND BOOM!

A solid +3 on those !

Awesome call.

Excellent information and exactly the type of details that we need. Thank you!

Larry - we will definitely try to get by to see you!

Jon, PM me some details about when you’re thinking of visiting Zaca Mesa, and I’ll make sure you’re well taken care of. Thanks for thinking of us.

In Paso I’d recommend Denner, McPrice Meyers, Alta Colina, and Turley. Tin City has a bunch of tasting rooms, too, and is a fun spot to hit many in one location. There are many more to explore in Paso depending on your preferences.

In Paso…Booker, Denner, Linne Calado, L’Aventure, and Tablas Creek…found Turley a complete waste of time

If you have a chance to stop in Edna Valley on the way up, I recommend Talley. They just released their PN’s. In Paso, Torrin has a new tasting room. I would second Booker, Linne Calodo(appt only), L Aventure and Tablas Creek. Also I would hit Turtle Rock in Tin City(south end of Paso). And Epoch.

You might want to reach out to Stanley at Top Winery if you are going to be in the Tin City area. About us — TOP

Given the OP’s preferences, I’m really surprised that several recommendations for Tablas Creek came up. I found the wines to be more acid driven, but that’s just me. We just did our first trip to Santa Barbara County last month. We really liked Foxen and Dragonette, but we barely scratched the surface - so many choices and areas to visit there. I would echo Booker, Denner, Linne Colado and L’Aventure for big reds in Paso. Cheers!

Sanguis in Santa Barbara would be a worthy stop for sure.

Excellent recommendations all around and very much appreciated. We will finalize our itinerary this week. @Matt, I will PM you as soon as we have our schedule firmed up. I look forward to visiting.

Thanks all!

In Los Olivos two good choices for Pinot are Bien Nacido Estate and Story of Soil.

O your way from Solvang to Los Olivos you might want to make a quick stop at Brander for terrific and refreshing Sauvignon Blanc.

This

+1. Highly recommended

JF