Danny,
I hope now you will spend the whole week there, if not a month.
Hey Danny! You there now? How is it going?
Just got back from Santa Barbara. Here’s a quick write up:
Friday:
Dinner at Hitching Post II—Kind of a kitschy western steakhouse complete with prepackaged Keebler crackers and a random assortment of crudité. Best dishes of the night: the bone-in rib-eye chop cooked medium rare over their oak fired grill, the rack of lamb, the roasted garlic spread on slightly too crisp baguette chips, and the grilled artichoke. The lone miss of the night was the regular rib-eye, which must have come from a bad primal cut, because both of our orders were chewy and sinewy. A key non-food miss was the bathroom situation. I guess post-Sideways the place must have blown up in popularity because they’ve tried to subdivide their single occupancy bathrooms with shower curtains. Very weird. Wine duties were handled by a bottle of 2014 Hartley Ostini Highliner Pinot Noir—which was oaky and jammy enough for our non-Pinot drinker to swallow. There are far worse Pinots out there, and there are many many better Pinots out there. Overall, a decent enough experience if you’ve never been, but there are better Central Coast steakhouses out there and for less money.
Hotel—We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Santa Ynez, which is on the western edge of Solvang. Because the town is so small, it’s a pretty convenient location and the main village is a very short walk away. Rooms are dated, but clean. The hotel has a small pool, underground parking, and a slightly better than average included breakfast. It’s a decent value for the area.
Saturday:
Breakfast at Paula’s Pancakes—Another touristy spot. My party seemed to like the Danish pancakes. There were a lot of tourists. Get there early.
Arcadian Winery—At around 10:30 a.m., my group of 8 popped into the Arcadian Winery’s tasting room in Lompoc and met with Joe Davis—despite a small Google maps mishap. Over three hours, Joe graciously poured us nearly a dozen of his wines and shared a lovely cheese plate that we devoured. Highlights included his 2014 Pinot Gris from Siera Mar Vineyard, with honeysuckle, lemon, fuji apples, and nectarines on the nose and palate, this was richer than your normal Pinot Gris. We loved the 2008 Clos Pepe Chardonnay and the 2011 Sleepy Hollow Chardonnay. The former being more rounded and balanced, and the later more fruit forward with pear and salted lemon notes. Next came a trio of Pinot Noirs: the 2009 Sierra Madre, 2011 Clos Pepe, and the 2005 Sleepy Hollow. These are some of the most “Burgundian” wines I’ve had from California. All were rich with red fruits (I got raspberry), and deep and earthy, with the Clos Pepe being the brightest of the three. However, the absolute highlight of the morning was the 2000 Pinot Noir from Pisoni Vineyard. Deep and earthy, I could sit and ponder over a glass of this wine all night. Although I’m not usually a Syrah drinker, I found them to be nicely balanced and meaty. Our group finished the morning with the 2004 Hommage a Max. We walked out with nearly two cases of wine.
Zaca Mesa—We were about forty minutes late to our appointment, but our pourer Garrett took care of us. Zaca Mesa is located on a beautiful estate on Foxen Canyon Road. This is the most “Napa” of the wineries we visited, complete with a giant chess set that we attempted to play with. Again, we sampled through a dozen or so wines, including many of the designate Syrahs. Highlights here included the 2014 Z Blanc, which is a blend of 59% Roussane, 36% Grenache Blanc, and 5% Viognier. This was juicy, fresh, inexpensive, and a couple of bottles are now slated for a fish taco dinner. In terms of the reds, I found them to be full bodied without the Mollydooker punch in the face. The top three Syrahs were the 2011 Mesa Reserve which I found to be brooding, earthy, and meaty, the 2012 Eight Barrel which was very aromatic, full of pepper, Asian spices, and cloves, and the 2013 Bear Block, from the oldest planting of Syrah in Santa Barbara County (I can’t find my notes on this, but I took a bottle home).
Dinner at the Los Olivos Wine Merchant Café—This is a standby for me. Their pizza, pasta, and salads are always a good bet. Their pork loin was less than successful. Wine duties were handled by a bottle of 2014 A Tribute to Grace Santa Barbara Highlands Grenache. This was substantially more acidic than the previous vintages I’ve had. It opened up some over the evening, but ultimately about a quarter bottle remained. A 2015 Santa Barbara County I had a week earlier drank much better.
Sunday:
Tercero—Larry Schaffer met us at 11:00 at his tasting room in Los Olivos—after we had spent a half hour chatting with Carlos at Pumacusu, an antique corkscrew store. I’ve always liked Larry’s takes on rhones, so we were pretty thrilled that he could meet us. Again, this was a marathon tasting of ten wines. All of Tercero’s wines were quite expressive on the nose. Highlights here included the 2014 Albarino which had jasmine, gardenias, green apple, and salted lime notes. The 2014 Outlier was a nice expression of Gewürztraminer with lychee, rambutan, jasmine, and a bit of residual sugar that offset the racy acidity. The 2016 Rose of Mourvedre was crazy aromatic with watermelon rind, strawberries, and what I can best describe as cool stream water. We bought a lot of this. The 2015 Cinsault drank like Beaujolais: light and fruity. The last three wines were the 2012 Mourvedre: juicy brambly fruits, herbaceous, and a little leather; 2010 The Climb: a blend of Syrah and Petit Sirah, which was spicy and lovely (those were my notes) and finally the 2011 White Hawk Syrah, which was fairly restrained for a Syrah, but still full of fruit, herbs, and a little leather on the end. Larry also shared some of his blue cheese bread and some salted bittersweet chocolate chip cookies. We also walked out with about a case and a half of wine.
Dragonette—Our last stop of the trip was Dragonette. I had scoped out the place a couple weeks prior, so I got a little lazy with my notes here. Highlights included the 2016 Rose. This is a GSM blend with racy strawberries and lemons. The 2014 John Sebastiano Pinot Noir was deliciously rich with black cherry, Asian spices, raspberry, and earthy undertones. It was however, upstaged by the 2014 Fiddlestix Pinot Noir, which was vibrant and lovely. Also of note was the 2013 MJM, their tete de cuvee rhone blend.
This took way too much time to write, but thank you to all who helped make this trip happen.
Danny,
Thanks once again for letting me know you were going to be in the area - and responding to my last minute ‘reminder’ email 
It was a pleasure and a blast hosting the group! I know we went through bunch of wines, but after you said you spent 3+ hours with Joe Davis the day before, the gauntlet was set!!! I loved the conversation and the questions - and finding out about everyone in the group as well. And the quick conversation about lychee and how everyone truly knew what it was was hilarious! Top that off with the fact that we all group up in the same area - awesome!
Hope to see you all up here again to explore even more wineries - and to run through the next set of releases I’ll have to pour next time. And with a heads up, I’ll make sure to bring some more bread
Cheers!
Amazing report, Danny (and thanks for adding that info, Larry). Some thoughts:
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Hitching Post, Ostini, Paula’s Pancakes are about what I’d have thought. Travelling in a group necessitates choosing things crowd-pleasing things instead of looking for sublime individual experiences
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Thanks for the Zaca Mesa notes! never been! Ditto for the Lompoc wine tasting experience w/ Joe.
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Your trip notes have me thinking my wife and I will go up a day early, ahead of the group, to do some of our own targeted tastings before the large group ones on the weekend.
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Three hour tastings? Man, that makes it impossible to hit three or four places in a day but what a cool DEPTH of experience that would be!
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Sounds like Larry took fantastic care of you! Agree that he is a Rhone master.
Danny, thanks for stopping by Zaca! Glad you enjoyed your weekend.
Nice Danny. Joe Davis is one of the people I always learn something from every time we’ve talked. I have to get down there and taste his and Larry’s wines. Happy to hear you had a great trip.
I find it wonderful that Arcadian would be willing to pop so many library wines for you guys! Did you make a special appointment or do you think this was because you had a large group? My wife and I are visiting in May but it will be just us two.
I contacted Joe directly on the forum and made an appointment with him. He was very accommodating.
I am mindful of not wanting to make appointments with some smaller producers unless I personally intend to buy at least a few bottles, or have a larger group which will likely purchases multiple bottles.
+1 For the Loring pinot noir! I loved the variety of pinots to taste and the prices are very reasonable ($35-60) for the quality. One of the few wineries I feel like I get MORE than what the wines are worth.
Hope Danny doesn’t mind me piggybacking on this thread (makes no sense to start another one)
Anyone have suggestions for a place in the Santa Ynez/Los Olivos/Ballard/Ste Rita corridor that would be willing and able to do a vineyard and cellar tour for a group of 12 people?
(We’d hoped to do Harrison-Clarke but it’s too large a group unfortunately, so open to other suggested places)
Criteria: very good wine, some interaction with the good people growing the grapes / making the wine, a lovely view if possible since it’s the group’s first morning visit.
I have contacted Larner and I’m hoping they can accommodate us.
(Considered Zaca Mesa, Foxen, Demetria etc but they don’t fit our itinerary bec they are a longer drive up)
Just got back from our weekend in the Santa Ynez valley. We had a wonderful 3 hour dinner at the Bear and Star and highly recommend this new restaurant for the comfortable, quiet ambiance and excellent food and service. We also had excellent pasta at SY Kitchen. Here are some brief reflections from our tastings, remember that 
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Hilliard Bruce: Beautiful new tasting room that reminds me of Williams-Selyem, but this one is built into the hillside. The property was gorgeous with exotic palms and a pretty drive to the tasting facility. The pinot noirs were all estate grown and exhibited the earthy taste you see in other Sta. Rita Hills pinots.
Loring: very quality pinot noirs at a good price point
Sandhi: tasting room in the Lompoc wine ghetto. Really quality wine coming out of the new Domaine de la Cote vineyard and recognized Rajat Parr’s picture in the tasting room from the Somm documentary on Netflix.
Paul Lato: Tasted in a facility/warehouse by the airport in Santa Maria. Assistant winemaker provided the tasting and all of the wines were outstanding, highlighted by a 2016 Rose from pinot noir grapes. Definitely worth the 30 min drive from Lompoc.
Rusack: We are members here so I am biased, but really enjoyed the wine coming out of Ballard Canyon (syrah and zinfandel).
Brander: Went here because my buddy’s wife really likes sauvignon blanc. I was just a tad disappointed as I remember the sauvignon blanc being very top notch from a previous tasting and a couple of the wines were a tad too sweet. They also poured the richest most complex wine first and the next two were not that great by comparison. Also, they should not have been pouring Cabernet from 2016 as it was not ready.
Foxen: We tasted a pinot flight and I thought some of the wines were interesting but displayed a bit too much heat and earth for my preference.
Andrew Murray: VERY crowded tasting room. Seemed like everyone that had driven up from LA was here at the same time and lots of drunk bridesmaids. The Esperance blend was interesting (grenache and mourverdre).
First of all, you have a great last name. Secondly, thanks for the update! My wife and I are heading up on Thursday!
Interesting, re: Hilliard Bruce. Their facility looked more modern in pics I saw, so I appreciate you describing the property and atmosphere.
Trying to work our sched so we can see Brian. Our larger group (joining us Friday( will visit Loring on Saturday but unfortunately Brian won’t be there, so we’re hoping to get up to Lompoc ion Thursday f we can. Glad to hear his Pinots represented well and of course his pricing is more than fair!
Sandhi – is that also where they do Piedrasassi tasting? I heard they have good bread, and that Parr has a bakery.
Lato: Would LOVE to taste Lato, but just too far out of the way for us. Amazing that the highlight was a pinot rose! Not sure if I have (knowingly) had one of those!
Rusack: We used to be Rusack members. Great value for quality! Love their syrah and the anacapa bdx blend. Awesome that you made it out to Ballard. Beautiful drive too!
Brander: I really want to find great biodynamic wines up there, and hoped you’d say Brander was awesome. Oh well, there’s a reason I don’t have them on my current itinerary. Maybe someone else has had a better experience with their wines, but I don’t currently feel compelled to visit.
Foxen: Too darned far for us to get up to. I hear it’s beautiful there though. If I were driving up that far though I’d probably pop into Zaca Mesa.
Never been to Andrew Murray. Boy, Bryan you did a LOT of driving! How did you manage all those curvy roads with all that wine tasting? Joking.
Serious question though… what was the most memorable moment of your trip?
The most memorable moment of the trip had to be a long 3 hour dinner with friends at the Bear and Star, sitting by the fireplace in comfortable chairs. We opened up a 2012 Sea Smoke Southing and my friends weren’t familiar with the wine and they were blown away by it. I do think it’s peaking at the right time as well. They promptly logged onto the website the next morning to sign up for the waitlist. We also had a 2011 Miner “The Oracle” bordeaux style blend and a 2010 Vincent Cabernet Sauvignon (outstanding year for them and they are located right by Brander). I also enjoyed sitting out on the porch at Lincourt finishing up our wine trail for the day. Lincourt was the first winery we ever joined and even though we are off the list now we continue to visit for the well priced wine and setting. That reminds me, I left out visiting Lincourt and Samsara! Another funny moment was driving back to the hotel on Foxen Canyon Road and seeing someone feeling a bit sick on the side of the road ![[rofl.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/a/a7452fcd8e675af869f8da01174474a545b03944.gif "rofl"){kind=small}
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Sandhi offers a Piedrasassi tasting and also a tasting under the Domaine De la Cote label and will probably go back to try these next time. Sandhi was right next to Arcadian which we had on our list to visit but it wasn’t open when we were there.
We’re contemplating adding Paul Lato to our regular purchases as the chardonnay and pinot noir were some of the best crafted wines I’ve had in the area outside of Sea Smoke.
We mostly drove up to Foxen for the beautiful drive, but in my opinion it’s not worth a repeat trip due to the long winding road, unless you line up other wineries close by - which is what we should have done but got tired. I originally intended to go to Rancho Sisquoc and Riverbench but we had friends and wanted to show them places we had been to before. Zaca Mesa is solid but the varietals are not in our wheelhouse. The long drive also provided us a respite from the drinking, although my wife and I split every tasting and drink a lot of water so neither of us get buzzed until dinner ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
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I can’t wait to head up to Santa Ynez again! We might try to fit in another trip before the end of the year.
First of all, you have a great last name.
Rusack: We used to be Rusack members. Great value for quality! Love their syrah and the anacapa bdx blend. Awesome that you made it out to Ballard. Beautiful drive too!
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You sir are a gentleman AND a scholar! If you head to Rusack again, ask them if they have any library Anacapa. They recently sold me a 2006, 2009 and 2011! I opened up the 2006 right away and was glad I took a chance, it was great.
lol. I’ll keep those recommendations in mind. They may only sell those to members, though.
Also, we have a reservation for SY Kitchen (same owners as Toscana here in Brentwood, which we like) on Thurs night, and at Bear and Star on Friday.
Where I REALLY want to get to for lunch is Cold Spring Tavern, but the geography is messing with my itinerary!
Great notes - Thanks for sharing.
A few points to add if you don’t mind :
Paul Lato is not open for normal tastings, and where you tasted was a place called the Central Coast Wine Services, a custom crush facility that is or has been home to lots of different labels. It’s owned by the Miller family, who also own the Bien Nacido and Solomon Hills Vineyards.
Andrew makes some great wines but his new location does attract a lot of larger crowds. Let me know next time you want to visit and I’ll hook you up!
And Brander does make some drier Sauv Blancs And a really tasty cab franc!
Bummed I missed you on this trip - hope you include me on your next one!!!
Cheers
Reach out to me and I’ll try to connect you with the tasting room manager at Rusack - she’s a friend.
And 2 other places to consider eating - Industrial Eats in Buellton (you go for the food - it isn’t fancy!) and the Gathering Table at the Ballard Inn
Cheers.