My wife and I are visiting Santa Barbara County at the end of May. We have our usual destinations, which include a few producers of which we are members. But we are always on the lookout for up-and-coming and/or under the radar producers to try. In particular, I am interested in Pinot Noir, Grenache and GSM blends, as my wife’s tastes have evolved away from the bigger wines such as Syrah. (It’s been a moving target for her since the year we met! I now find myself with an oversupply of Syrah in our little cellar.)
Note that we are not super interested in the fancy tasting experience offered by some ultra-elite wineries (i.e., including the charcuterie plate, cheese and crackers). We just want to broaden our horizons a bit.
I highly recommend A Tribute to Grace, in Los Alamos. That was my wife and my favorite tasting during our trip there last Thanksgiving, and we promptly joined the club. The owner/winemaker, Angela, only works with Grenache as far as I can tell, and she makes her reds in a very light, elegant style. Her grenache blanc and grenache rose are excellent too.
North of SB county so ignore if the road trip doesn’t excite, but SLO County is making some really interesting wines with a very approachable tasting experience. Phelan Farm is a great opportunity to try not often seen Jura varietals and to get a grassroots experience. Ton of outdoor space to sit. Scar of the Sea is a bit closer with a similar ethos.
In SB County I’d recommend Whitcraft. Very relaxed and awesome wines
To the OP: I am a big fan of the area and there are a lot of great choices. I would suggest starting at a higher altitude with the sort of experience you are looking for and go from there. For example:
for a more scenic experience with tasting room / views / good wines (and probably a bit more driving), you could do Santa Rita Hills / 246 hwy (for example Melville, Tyler) or the Santa Ynez wine trail
the (small) town of Los Olivos has a high density of wineries and also some good restaurants. Dragonette, Holus Bolus, Stolpman and Tercero (and many others) are all within a short walk of each other. But it’s not the “winery on a hillside” experience
similarly Funk Zone in the city of Santa Barbara has tasting rooms within a short distance and then you can enjoy the other SB attractions/restaurants
the town of Lompoc has the “wine ghetto” including Sandhi/DdlC as mentioned above → IMO more for the tasting experience itself as the town is pretty industrial
Los Alamos is a tiny town (not even a stoplight or stop sign!) which for me makes it fun and somewhat unique → and agreed Tribute to Grace is a good one there
Of course you could also make an itinerary that mixes-and-matches these → for example do something in Santa Rita Hills off 246 or Santa Rosa rd that gives scenery / winery destination vibe, and then head up to Los Olivos to hit one or two wineries in the town.
Go to Liquid Farm and Tercero, which are almost right next to each other in the charming tiny downtown of Los Olivos. Great wines, reasonable prices, friendly no-frills walk in tasting.
Hi Larry! I think I have more than enough recommendations for our rather short visit this time, but we will definitely swing by your place as we make our way through Los Olivos. It has been a while!
In addition to those mentioned above, Au Bon Climat in the town of Santa Barbara pours some very good wines for their tasting flights but it is more of a tasting room experience and not a vineyard.
