Santa Barbara/Buellton/Solvang area wineries to visit

I last visited in 2006 on the ride down the PCH for our honeymoon, any can’t miss wineries worth checking out?

What about restaurants?

TIA

Peake Ranch has just opened their tasting room on Santa Rosa Road. Definitely should check them out.

Adam Lee
Clarice Wine Company

Peake Ranch has just opened their tasting room on Santa Rosa Road. Definitely should check them out.

Adam Lee
Clarice Wine Company

Sanford in Sta. Rita Hills has a very nice tasting room, and I quite enjoy their wines. Since they have been acquired by Terlato, they lost some of their “status” in the wine world, but I think they make remarkable Pinots (in particular Vista al Rio and Dominio del Falcon are my … but I think I am a minority on this board.
I once met John Terlato and Micheal Benedict at the tasting room and they really nice to spend some time with us talking about their wine!

We enjoy Herman Story and Desperada, is that too far north?

You cannot be near Buelton and not stop at Firestone Walker Brewing for some brews. As for wines, we did a Santa Maria loop and stopped at four wineries. The wines were all good to very good, but the pourer/ambassador/trained monkey tasting format did not appeal to me. (heresy?!). Call ahead, go through the gate, and up through the vineyards to Demetria for some fresh air and wine. Maybe bring a picnic.

Great place to stop in for lunch with said brews.

Dragonette winery tasting/tour is can’t miss. This is different then going to their tasting room in Los Olivos. It’s in their small winery/warehouse in a little industrial area. You can book it online and is only $25. It’s a very intimate experience with very good to great wines and excellent, passionate, knowledgable staff.

I also very highly recommend Pico in Los Alamos for dinner.

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I just happened to send a list of places in the area to a friend who will be relocating to Lompoc soon.

Among the places in Lompoc that I would recommend:
Ampelos
Arcadian
Bratcher
Fiddlehead
Longoria
Palmina
Piedrasassi
Stolpman
Transcendence
Zotovich

Taste of Sta. Rita Hills looks like it might be a good stop too.

In the Buellton / Los Olivos area and along the way there from Lompoc:
Alma Rosa
Andrew Murray
Babcock
Beckmen
Buttonwood
Coquelicot
Crawford Family
Dierberg
Dragonette
Hitching Post
Kaena
Ken Brown
Melville
Solminer
Tercero

And a bit farther north of Los Olivos, along Foxen Canyon Road, is Foxen.

Good places to eat besides Firestone Walker include Hitching Post (dinner) and Industrial Eats (lunch & dinner), both in Buellton. Full of Life Flatbread in Los Alamos is good too.

Pretty drives include Foxen Canyon Road and Santa Rosa Road.

Of course a lot depends on the varieties and styles of wine you’re looking for. Many of the places above are quite different from one another but all are good. I know I’ve missed some good ones too - the ones I listed were more or less off the top of my head. The ones I listed are places that have tasting rooms, and there are a number of others that are very good but will require appointments. Hope that helps.

Great list Ken! I’d also recommend a little gem we came across in Los Olivos on our last trip…Story of Soil.

Roark in buellton was great

We really dug the wines at Solminer and Tercero in Los Olivos. Best food we had on the trip was at ember up in arroyo grande.

Funny, I was asking friends the same question this week. Au Bon Climat/Clendenen Family is near the top of my list. Funny no one has mentioned them, as ABC and Jim Clendenen have a long, strong track record. I really like the ABC chardonnay’s and he’s doing quite impressive things with nebbiolo.

Mel Knox suggested Ojai, a bit closer to LA. Again, a long, good track record.

Of course there’s Sine Qua Non. And there’s our own Larry Schaeffer at Tercero.

Greg Tatar mentioned some others that he’s liked or that he wants to visit. Almost no overlap with the names above!

Sanguis
Jaffurs
Kunin
Margerum
Lafond
Samsara
Stolpman
Lindquist Family Wines (Bob Lindquist, ex-Qupe)
Larner

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Arcadian

Sweetzer Cellars

Industrial Eats - Buellton
The Lark - Santa Barbara

Loring Wine Company in Buellton.

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PM sent . . .

I love Urban Eats. I try to eat there once a day when I visit.

For wineries there are obviously lots of options and many have already been mentioned. My favorites are Tyler and Chanin out in the ghetto. Believe tastings are by appointment only.

Went earlier this year. H/t to Brian Loring for fantastic visits at both the production facility and tasting room. Maybe the highlight of our trip. Taste of Sta Rita Hills is a great place to taste different producers (including Paul Lato and Sea Smoke) and is right next door to Gavin Chanin’s in Lompoc, which we also really enjoyed. Also really enjoyed Melville, every wine in the flight was very enjoyable, the Syrah’s really surprised me in a good way.

Industrial Eats in Buellton is what I think you mean [snort.gif] They now have a separate ‘to go’ shop next door . . .

Cheers!

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Yes. Thanks for the correction. Not sure how I managed to screw that up.