Santa Barbara County – Recommendations for a Good Bottle of Wine
Finding Great Wine Tasting in Foxen Canyon, Lompoc, Solvang & Santa Barbara Downtown
We’ve written about the linked wineries. Just like our wine rankings we are ranking wineries we’ve visited with our star system. When you see ✰++ you need to visit this winery, with a -✰, not so much. Ranked from best to least in descending order.
✰+ Jaffurs Wine Cellars – Located in an industrial building off of Milpas in downtown, there is little parking but some good wines. James the wine host was gracious and led us to good Chardonnay, Viognier, Grenache and Syrah.
✰ Deep Sea Conway Family Wines – Located on the end of the Santa Barbara pier with beautiful views of the harbor. They’re creating good Chardonnay (on the light side), Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir (again, on the light side) and Malbec. They charge $24 for a taste – paid in advance. We’re never fans of this and have only seen it 5 times in 13 years. They also charge a member’s tasting fees of $15. We rarely see this, and would not join a club with such an unfriendly policy. When you’re on the end of the pier, you can charge what you want.
✰+ Lucas & Lewellen – Located in downtown they’re creating wine from grape found throughout Santa Barbara County.Tasting fees are $20 & $25 for Chardonnay, Pinoit Noir, Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and blends. Tasting is waived with purchase of three bottles of wine. This seems a little extreme.
✰+ Toccata Wines – Directly across the street from Lucas & Luwelleen (and owned by them) you’ll find Italian varietals like Dolcetto, Freisa, Sangiovese, Nebbiolo, Barbera and a Clone 6 blend of Cab, Merlot, Sangiovese, etc.
✰ Kaena Wine At The Ranch – They have a Hawaiian vibe at their estate outside town creating quite a few wines and very proud of their Grenache. They’ll pour you Chardonnays, Rhone Blends, Vioignier, Sauvignon Blanc and even a Grenache Blanc. Interestingly they poured all their wine through a Haley’s Corker, an aerator that strips out tannins, and in the process, flavor. These are great for wines in need of mellowing , but it changes the taste quite a bit. Read about the Corker here.
✰ Gainey – On San Marcos Pass road east of Santa Ynez.
Santa Rita Hills – Lompoc
Their primary tasting region is in Lompoc, in what is called the Wine Ghetto. It’s an industrial area. Be aware, they are usually closed weekdays, most are only open Friday-Sunday. Even then, don’t count on their schedules to be accurate. We had the feeling that if the surf was up at Jalama Beach they would open later than their posted hours.
✰++ Babcock Vineyards – In the canyon, tasty Pinot Noir and Syrah. You need to try Babcock’s value priced Red Table Wine. Their newest version is Western Sky Backroad: good table wine.
✰+ Melville Vineyards – Nice building with a beautiful picnic area right next to Babcock. They have a vineyard cat instead of a dog.
✰+ Stolpman Vineyards – Always good, they also have a tasting room in Los Olivos.
✰ Camins2Dreams – Softer Gruner Veltliner, Gamay, Grenache & some Syrahs all aged in neutral oak barrels. Located in the Lompoc Wine Ghetto.
✰ Transcendence Vineyards – Nice wines, focusing on Pinot Noir and the whites of this region.
✰ Moretti Wines- Located in the Wine Ghetto, enjoyed their Bonaccorsi Pinot Noir sourced from Melville Vineyard.
✰ Alma Rosa – Very good Pinot Noir.
✰ D’Alfonso-Curran
✰ Dierberg, Star Lane
✰ Foley Estates – A lot of soft stainless steel style Chardonnays and softer Pinot Noir from this large wine maker with 19 labels in Sonoma, Napa, Pacific Northwest & the Central Coast of California. They also just added properties from the bankrupt Vintage Wines portfolio.
✰ Zotovich Vineyards – Nice wine, a little pricey, and they couldn’t provide a glass to discard a palate full of wine…giving us a spitton to spit into…..not going there again until they figure this one out, give us a cup to spit into so we can enjoy the day, and more wineries.
✰++ Cambria – Good Chardonnay, hearty Pinot Noirs. Beautiful views of Foxen Canyon opening up to the sea.
✰++ Zaca Mesa – You’ll need to try their Cuvee
✰++ Foxen Vineyard – Good wine, cool people
✰++ Cottonwood Canyon– Organic Chardonnay
✰++Tercero Wines – Winemaker Larry Schaffer creates creates beautiful Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir and Mourvredre. Located in Los Olivos.
✰+ Rancho Sisquoc – We love their Cabernet, and their venue, reminds us of a Hobbit Hole abode.
✰+ Fess Parker – The wine is good, but you’re really going to purchase one of their little Racoon Skin Hats for your bottle of wine.
✰ Koehler – Interesting blends, including Sangiovese
✰ Presqu’ile– A beautiful modern wine tasting facility right up the road from Cottonwood Canyon. Pricey wine, but good. Technically located in Santa Maria.
✰ Andrew Murray – We’ve heard great things about their Syrahs. Their tasting room is located down the road from Fess Parker. We enjoyed their wine, but did not make our ‘buy’ list on this visit.
✰ Firestone– One of our first experiences in Foxen Canyon. Enjoyed the wine then but need to visit again and see how they’re doing.