My daughter is home for the month before launching her nursing career, and one of her requests was entirely reasonable given her upbringing in this household: a wine tasting trip. I was more than happy to oblige for some quality father-daughter time.
Santa Barbara remains my preferred region for wine tasting. It hasn’t devolved into the spectacle that Napa has become, it’s less sprawling than Sonoma, and the vibe is just different—more old school, the way things used to be. The easy, scenic drive doesn’t hurt either.
I wanted to share a few standout wineries from our trip, several completely new to me but recommended by @Phil_Carpenter and other Berserkers. With endorsements like those, I went in with high confidence.
Highlights (in chronological order):
Since we arrived early (typical for each of us, guaranteed with both of us) we had time to kill in Los Alamos before our first scheduled visit, so I looked around to see if any of the tasting rooms on the road might be Berserker-worthy. To my delight I discovered Clementine Carter was just a few hundred feet away, so I gleefully told Ella what a tiny powerhouse Sonja is, and how I have great respect for her. She asked if Sonja would be there, and I said ‘likely not’, as I had heard from other producers in the area, through the trip planning process, that harvest was at hand for many winemakers, certain varietals in certain vineyards. Well, she was there, and Ella fell in love, sold on her messaging, her beautiful prose in tasting notes, and enjoyed most of the wines. A solid start to the trip, to be sure, potentially setting her up for disappointment later 
I told Ella she I would purchase a case of wine for her from this trip, which she would take home (to Fort Worth) for later enjoyment, hopefully sharing stories of each of the wines. At Clementine Carter, she selected 2 bottles of the 2023 Grenache Rosé, as that was her favorite of the flights, though The Feminist Party GSM blend was a close second. Since Ella often gets headaches from red wine, and while we were well-situated on this trip as she took an antihistimine (and it worked perfectly) she felt it was safer to select a wine that doesn’t activate a headache, in rosé.
Serendipity that we stumbled upon Sonja’s place, (and it’s a fantastic facility, highly recommended) a perfect start to the trip, and, as has been requested in the past by Berserkers, the plan is to include her in the next BerserkerDay.
Our first actual appointment is one I had long been hoping to visit - Dovecote - and it certainly did not disappoint. Those who have tasted there may recall the shack by the pond - a pastoral location for wine tasting, to be sure. We were both quite impressed with all the wines, literally across the board, enjoying varietals I’ve not previously had a good record of truly ‘enjoying’, such as their Petit Sirah. My highlight was the 2021 Noumenon - gorgeous Northern-Rhone-esque Syrah but still with ample fruit. I also quite enjoyed their Grenache. Ella’s highlight was their Grenache Blanc which had a wonderful complexity, a nice acidic backbone but good concentration of fruit, thus she chose two bottles for her case
I’m hoping y’all see them on BerserkerDay 17, as well! I’m pushing for it. Another more ‘premium’ range Santa Barbara County producer that would add further quality to our event from the region, and I’m a fan.
Our next visit was with Lumen winemaker Will Henry, who is delightfully passionate about Pinot Noir, to be certain. What surprised me most about the Lumen wines is the ‘Hey Ginger Pet Nat 2023’ which I actually enjoyed, quite a bit…and I don’t like Pet Nat, typically ever. He had this interesting story about ginger as a preserving agent, limiting/eliminating oxidation on wine, even in an open container. We had a variety of Pinot Noir from varying vineyards and vintages, which was a fantastic exploration for Ella, in particular. She was impressed with her first ‘older’ Pinot, a 2017 Sanford & Benedict, and chose that plus his new experiement, a white Pinot Noir. We ate at Pico, where Will’s wife Kali is chef (and where they do most of their tastings), and enjoyed our meal very much. It’s a beautiful facility.
Saturday we started with a repeat visit for me, as I wanted Ella to experience it, Tyler/Mae Estate. @Gabe_Fabela is still among my favorite hosts of any wine tasting ever - he always delivers, and I know for those who purchase on BerserkerDay there are options for tasting with him when in the area, and I cannot recommend that highly enough. This trip focused more on Pinot Noir, since my wife wasn’t with me (she thinks of Pinot Noir as ‘watery red wine’, so we typically have to focus on Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon when tasting there…plus their beautiful sparkling), and I thoroughly enjoyed myself watching Ella take it all in, seeing her reactions with different vineyards/same vintage, and particularly a special treat with same vineyard, 3 vintages, with some wines leftover from a prior night’s barbeque. I could see she was starting to fine tune her palate a bit, and she and I were on very similar pages throughout the tastings, both yesterday and today. Her visceral reaction when smelling the 2021 (?) Fiddlestix Pinot Noir was delightful - as many of us know, Fiddlestix fruit is singular, regardless of clone - the terroir takes over and delivers a punch. I preferred the incredible elegance of 2021 Mae Estate Pinot Noir - gorgeous mouthfeel, complex and rewarding, long, floral finish. Ella directed me to purchase one bottle of Tyler Chardonnay (her bf’s name is Tyler) and the Fiddlestix Pinot Noir, which I pushed her to select, as the reaction was one to preserve and enjoy again another time.
Our penultimate tasting of the day was another new-to-me producer, but one respected on Wine Berserkers - Storm. Nestled in the far corner of the tastingroom-a-palooza area, sort of the last option on the road, we settled in after a couple disappointing tastings earlier, only to be delighted beyond expectation. The florals of these wines are out of this world, truly, regardless of varietal/blend. Roses, white citrus flowers, simply throughout the lineup of what we sampled, and Ella visibly reacted to the rosé, which had a finish that lasted longer than I’ve ever experienced on a rosé - the sweet roses just lingered and lingered. Gorgeous (and she bought FOUR of those, that’s a statement…a full third of her case). While I enjoyed the wines across the board (and was rather thrilled at the pricepoints, as the quality delivers far in excess of that) another standout for me was the 2022 Pinot Noir, Donnachadh Vineyard - loved the brooding finish, earthy, balanced wine. I will be working my tail off to be sure they are part of BerserkerDay 17, as well.
We finished our day at our friends at Liquid Farm, as it’s always great to see the crew there. While Jeff was off on a sales trip, Brian (who really runs the show there, let’s be honest) is always a perfect host, fun, knowledgable, and easy to work with. Highlights for us both was the Bien Bien Chardonnay, which we are told will no longer be made, as the super old vines on this plot of Bien Nacido weren’t producing much (half a ton an acre!) so they have been pulled/replanted.
We ate at SY Kitchen that evening and it was the best I’ve had there - they seem to have improved an already good product, as both our dishes (and Ella’s cocktail) were truly delicious.
On the way home, on Sunday, we had a BRIEF stop to visit BerserkerDay seller @DustyNabor , who was gracious enough to host us though he doesn’t really take tastings in his Camarillo winery. We truly just blew through the facility and had a trio of his 2023 Dusty Nabor Chardonnays - Bentrock, Radian, and DNW. His winemaking style was quite obvious - lean and mean, earthy/mineral over fruit - a style that would really please @Frank_Murray_III if he drank still wines. Because of his careful application of oak on DNW that was Ella’s favorite, which is telling since she’s much more of the school of Chablis when it comes to Chardonnay. I most enjoyed the Radian Chardonnay, as felt it was best balanced of the three for my preferences. I wish we had time to try his Pinot Noir, particularly the Fiddlestix (Ella’s new favorite vineyard?) but we were pressed for time.
On a sobering note: I’ve visited this area many times over the years, and I’ve never seen it this quiet. Finding ourselves in Liquid Farm’s tasting room at 4:30pm on a Saturday in mid-September—and it wasn’t packed, loud, and raucous—was genuinely jarring. The main drag in Los Olivos had maybe 35% of the foot traffic I’d expect, and seeing Nella’s (our lunch spot) barely quarter-full was downright shocking.
The wine tourism slowdown is real, and now I’ve witnessed it firsthand. We wine lovers can only hope this proves cyclical and that the energy comes roaring back—hopefully sooner rather than later. Until then, I plan to recruit a couple of the above wineries so we have more Santa Barbara influence on BerserkerDay, as this trip once again proved to me that it would be beneficial to our buyers.
