What are the top wines near Santa Barbara?

[J3ff S@g@n]

Going for first time - would like some input.

Thx

[Bill Sweeney]

Liquid farm is near there.

[Zac M]

* Liquid Farm (Happy Canyon/Lompoc)
* Lo-Fi - natural wines in Los Alamos
* Domaine de La Cote - high level pinot
* Pedirasissi - Syrah
* Au Bon Climat
* Whitcraft

[G. Keeler]

Tyler is our favorite in the area.

[larry schaffer]

Are you going to the city of Santa Barbara or 'Santa Barbara wine country'? If you are staying in the city, check out:

Jaffurs
ABC
Margaret
Grassini
Whitewater
Samsara
Kunis

If you are heading up into the Valley, your choices are numerous and I'd be happy to suggest some but perhaps you can let us know what you're looking for rather then 'the best' which is simply too subjective and open ended.

Cheers.

[Vince T]

And Larry is too modest to mention his own wines at Tercero, which are excellent, and his roses are world class.

[brigcampbell]

Larry at Tercero and Wendy at Crawford just hooked up a friend who is making his first trip to wine country. He wanted to visit Paso. No no no... Support the family!

The restrictions will be removed in the next couple of weeks.

[M. Meer]

Are you going to the city of Santa Barbara or 'Santa Barbara wine country'? If you are staying in the city, check out:

Jaffurs
ABC
Margaret
Grassini
Whitewater
Samsara
Kunis

Cheers.

Fond earlier wine memory is having cioppino at Brophy on the pier then tasting at Jaffurs & Kunin when their daughter was still in a carrier behind the bar.

[JeremyMullman]

Liquid Farm
Crawford Family
Tercero
Harrison Clarke
Loring
Ken Brown
Brewer-Clifton
Jonata

Loved the SB Wine Collective downtown, too.

[Arnold Caplan]

You need to go up to Solvang, Lompoc, Los Olivos......MORE options......

[Bill Kiefer]

If you are going up to the Buellton area stop by Buscador and see Matt. Great guy and amazing wines.
http://buscadorwine.com

[Thomas Keim]

And Larry is too modest to mention his own wines at Tercero, which are excellent, and his roses are world class.

Yes - Larry makes the best value wines in Santa Barbara - and he's one of the more knowledgable people in the area in regards to Santa Barbara vineyards and wineries - a must visit.

[Thomas Keim]

Happy Canyon and Dierberg Winery is a great visit -

Brander for the best Sauvignon Blanc in California

[Bob C]

Crown Point - Happy Canyon.
Melville - Sta Rita Hills
Stolpman - Ballard Canyon
Foxen - Santa Maria Valley
Bien Nacido - Los Olivos

[J. Rock]

I'll add Dragonette and Story of Soil. A lot of great place over there.

[Bryan Kandel]

Co-sign so many options above - if you like cool climate Syrah check out holus Bolus too they have a tasting room a stones throw from Tercero

Enjoy

[John Glas]

Melville - Sta Rita Hills
Stolpman - Ballard Canyon
Foxen - Santa Maria Valley

Love the first 2 and need to try Foxen.

[Abbie S.]

We had a nice tasting at Margerum on our last trip.

[Michael_D]

Not exactly Santa Barbara, but Sea Smoke is about an hour's drive north and one of the better wines in the area. Unless something's changed, I don't think they offer tastings or tours to non-list members though.

[Vince L.]

Not exactly Santa Barbara, but Sea Smoke is about an hour's drive north and one of the better wines in the area. Unless something's changed, I don't think they offer tastings or tours to non-list members though.

You can taste Sea Smoke @ Taste of Sta Rita Hills. They used to be in Lompoc but moved over to Los Olivos it looks like.

https://www.tasteofstaritahills.com/taste

Chanin is one of my favorites but they're closed to tasting along with Sandhi/DDLC right now. If i was going into SBC i'd head to Tyler/Sanford/Melville/etc or spend most of the day in Los Olivos (LF, Dragonette, Bien Nacido, Story of Soil, Tensley, Tercero, Stolpman, Brewer-Clifton, etc.) and stop by Los Alamos for Bob's Well Bread/Full of Life/Bells. I'd also stop at Grace Wine Company / Casa Dumetz if you had the time. I hear those are great.

[Dave H.]

I always think the wines at Stolpman are top notch —in a relatively rich style — when we’ve visited. Have to drive a few miles north of SB proper of course.

[Anthony C]

It's been a while since I've been there but . . .

Foxen (the small tasting shack, if it's still there -- there's also a nicer tasting room at the winery)
Beckmen

Solvang and Los Olivos are great and have many tasting rooms in a small area
Hitching Post II was great for dinner. Ended up eating there twice.

[G. D y e r]

Co-sign so many options above - if you like cool climate Syrah check out holus Bolus too they have a tasting room a stones throw from Tercero

Enjoy

+1 on this. They are absolutely killing it with terroir driven Syrah from vineyards in cooler, more marginal sites.

I was in their club, dropped for a bit, tasted a Presquile Syrah we had aged for several years, then knew we had to be back in.

In fact, my last visit to Los Olivos was two stops: Tercero & Holus Bolus.

Margerum and Melville are two great options in downtown Santa Barbara.

[J3ff S@g@n]

Thank you all very much - great info here

Thx

[Max S.]

Whitcraft

[TimF]

Go see Larry. It’s worth the drive from Santa Barbara.

Peake Ranch is making some very good wine.

[Jim Salvito]

Wow. That's a loaded request. So many amazing growers and producers in the Santa Barbara region. Some I would list:

SQN
Jonata
Paul Lato
Domaine de la Cote
Sandhi
Jaffurs
Tercero
Foxen

[Paul Marshall]

Crown Point is sublime

[Brady Daniels]

A Paul Lato Pinot was the most interesting wine on my last trip. It was bigger than I prefer, but you could almost taste the chaparral.

I have enjoyed most of the others in this thread, but the Lato was truly distinctive.

[seanr]

a few I like in the area.......

Melville / Spear in SRH
Hitching Post - also grab a bite!
Lompoc wine Ghetto (Kessler-Haak, Chanin, Holus Bolus are a few I've enjoyed)

also check out this reference in town.

https://urbanwinetrailsb.com/

As others have mentioned Whitcraft, Sanguis and Jaffurs are great. Also enjoyed some wines from DV8 from last years BD but have never been by the tasting room.

[larry schaffer]

As you can tell by the responses in this thread, Santa Barbara County is much more diverse than most folks give it credit far. You could easily fill up at least a single day down in Santa Barbara proper, visiting ABC, Margerum, Whitcraft, Sanguis, Jaffurs, DV8, Kunin, Municipal Winemakers, Grassini Family and others.

You can then spend at least another day or two visiting those out in Lompoc or towards Lompoc - Dierberg, Melville, Spear (appt only), Babcock, Sanford, LaFond, and then into the ghetto itself with Tyler, Kessler-Haak, Kita, Transendence, Longoria, Pali and a bunch of others.

Head into Los Olivos and within a 10 minute WALK you can hit Brewer-Clifton, Palmina, Carucci, Samsara, Holus Bolus, Stolpman, Dragonette, Refugio Ranch, Barbieri, Tensley, Epipahany, Carhartt, Story of Soil, my own tasting room and about a dozen more.

You can then spend a day driving out Foxen Canyon and can hit Andrew Muray, Fess Parker, Foxen, Zaca Mesa, Martian (slighly off within a mile), Riverbench and others.

So many choices and such a fun place to discover! Come on down or up - the wine's fine

Cheers

[Jeff Nelson]

Liquid farm is near there.

Thanks Bill for the shout out! Liquid Farm now has a tasting room in Los Olivos :--)

In Los Olivos would recommend:

Solminer
Storm

[John Morris]

Melville - Sta Rita Hills
Stolpman - Ballard Canyon
Foxen - Santa Maria Valley

Love the first 2 and need to try Foxen.

Can't believe it took 14 posts to get Stolpman on the list.

I always think the wines at Stolpman are top notch —in a relatively rich style — when we’ve visited. Have to drive a few miles north of SB proper of course.

Very impressive stuff!

[larry schaffer]

Stolpman does make some very nice wines indeed - and have been for quite some time. They've also just opened their 'So Fresh Garage' adjacent to their current tasting room across the street from me showcasing their 'carbonic' wines like Love You Bunches and Syrah So Fresh . . .

Cheers

[JosephW]

Go to Los Olivos or don't even go.

Stolpman and Tensley (very nice Grenache) are my main two stops there. Palmina has a tasting room there and is worth visiting if you want to try interesting stuff.

The top guys that require a reservation are Jonata and Crown Point.

Beckman, Roblar, Koehler, you will need to drive to and are worth it.

Santa Barbara wine tasting is probably the most fun for wine geeks as you get to try so many different things.

[J3ff S@g@n]

thank you all - excellent info here

[larry schaffer]

Go to Los Olivos or don't even go.

Stolpman and Tensley (very nice Grenache) are my main two stops there. Palmina has a tasting room there and is worth visiting if you want to try interesting stuff.

The top guys that require a reservation are Jonata and Crown Point.

Beckman, Roblar, Koehler, you will need to drive to and are worth it.

Santa Barbara wine tasting is probably the most fun for wine geeks as you get to try so many different things.

Jonata is not open to the public, but my guess is that you could get a tasting appointment there by reaching out directly to the winery. Crown Point is the same situation - they are located in Happy Canyon where tastings are not 'supposed to happen', but many estates do host private tastings out there.

Cheers.

[JosephW]

Go to Los Olivos or don't even go.

Stolpman and Tensley (very nice Grenache) are my main two stops there. Palmina has a tasting room there and is worth visiting if you want to try interesting stuff.

The top guys that require a reservation are Jonata and Crown Point.

Beckman, Roblar, Koehler, you will need to drive to and are worth it.

Santa Barbara wine tasting is probably the most fun for wine geeks as you get to try so many different things.

Jonata is not open to the public, but my guess is that you could get a tasting appointment there by reaching out directly to the winery. Crown Point is the same situation - they are located in Happy Canyon where tastings are not 'supposed to happen', but many estates do host private tastings out there.

Cheers.

Yep, exactly. You have to contact and may need some luck as they offer 'limited' private tastings:

'Tastings
Appointment Only

A limited number of tastings are available on weekdays.'