Top 5 best reasons to go to Santa Barbara Wine Country (city version)
Beaches and wine! Oh my!
Let’s talk about this.
These are reasons and not a must do, must see list. That’s too much pressure.
I try not to do specific Top 5 or Top 10 must do or must see lists. Everyone’s list is different. I should know since I used way too many of them when planning my most recent trip. If you haven’t read that post about planning to go to Paso Robles, check it out. I also mention it on my post about the actual trip to Paso. I clearly want people to learn from my mistakes.
Oh, and this post is only about the City Of Santa Barbara. When most people talk about Santa Barbara Wine Country, they don’t mean here. They mean about 40 miles north. There’s an earlier post about that too. That will tell you that you want to go to Los Olivos or Buellton for the vineyards.
With the assumption that you want to have good times and wine fun in a beautiful place, let’s see some of the reasons why you should go to the city of Santa Barbara:
Reason # 1
There are beaches! I’m a sucker for water. Santa Barbara is called America’s Riviera. The beauty of the city will totally make up for the lack of vineyards. You can even find places to taste wine while overlooking the water.
Right on Stearns Wharf there is just such a place. Paradise Springs Winery is right there.
Of course you can always buy a bottle of wine
and drink it on your terrace.
That is actually a wine we bought in Paso Robles. A delicious wine made better overlooking the water. Paso doesn’t have views like this.
Or buy a glass of rosé overlooking the marina.
Reason #2
You can walk to drink wine! Do not underestimate how great that is! No need for a designated driver or paying for transportation.
This is what is known as the Urban Wine Trail of Santa Barbara. But wait, there’s more.
The more is that only those who pay to be on the map are shown. There are many more places to taste that are not on the map. You can just happen upon them.
While there we visited these places:
Riverbench Winery They have a tasting room in the Funk Zone as well as one at the vineyard in Santa Maria. Riverbench is known for their sparkling wines which we did not know at the time. If you go, try those. The Pinot Noirs we tasted there were not our favorites, but they could be someone’s.
Fess Parker Fess Parker has a hotel, winery and tasting room in Los Olivos, in addition to the new tasting room in the Funk Zone. We loved all of the wines we tasted. Next trip we will definitely try to go to the winery in Los Olivos.
Frequency Wine Co. A very comfortable tasting room with very knowledgeable pourers.
Melville Winery We sat at the bar and enjoyed the tasting alongside very knowledgeable wine lovers, some of whom were in the wine business.
Santa Barbara Winery What fun! You can choose 5 tastes from a list of about a dozen. Sitting around a large bar is always a great way to meet and talk with fellow wine enthusiasts.
Potek It is a division of Municipal Winemakers. A fun experience.
Au Bon Climat Their Chardonnays are always favorites of mine.
J. Wilkes Beautiful tasting room pretty close to the beach. We bought a bottle here to bring to dinner later.
The experience at all of these tasting rooms goes far beyond just the wines. As with every other place we have had a wine tasting, we are always asked which wines we want to revisit, as in what would we like to try more of.
There are so many different experiences to be had. A visitor could try different wines than we had. Also, there were dozens more tasting rooms that we did not get to. Clearly, #2 is a very good reason go to Santa Barbara for wine. Fun and good times!
Reason #3
We went to two places that are actual wineries within the city!
Just in case you are missing the whole wine making experience, there may be an opportunity to find it here. Of course, that will depend on when you visit. If this is important to you, call and find out.
First one was Jaffors Wine Cellars. It is quite off the beaten path, at least the the way we got there. It is small and you could easily miss it, but it is a working winery. You stand up in a corner of the winery and if you are fortunate you get a total wine making show. If there isn’t anything going on that day, you at least get to talk to a winemaker and taste some wine.
Pushing the grapes down.
Unfortunately I didn’t get the picture of when they are dropping the grapes in.
This is what comes out.
Not wine yet by a long shot.
This is the next batch that will be put into the crusher and presser.
They uncovered it for me so that I could see.
This is where the wine will end up eventually.
This was a very compact space but it gave a great overview of the wine making process.
We also went to Carr Winery.
This was the area outside for tasting.
Totally empty on the day we were there.
Inside , however, is where the action is.
We did not see any wine being made that day as we did at Jaffors. It is still a working winery and they have wines on tap. Monthly art shows and live music. We will be back for that.
Reason #4
Good food! Need I say more?
There are an overwhelming number of choices for great food here. This is where you need to research and possibly make reservations. Rumor has it that famous people live here and they like to eat good food too.
Toma is extremely popular and right by the marina.
It deserves to be this popular! Food was delicious.
They let you bring the delicious wine you purchased.
For a corkage fee of course. But still a good idea if you want.
There are a fantastic number of choices for wonderful meals in Santa Barbara! This is where you want suggestions from like minded eaters. You know what I mean: the people who agree on price and degree of adventure. If they are in your life, savor them and keep them close.
Which leads me to:
Reason #5
The wine enthusiasts who go to Santa Barbara seem to be great people who appreciate wine in a relaxed atmosphere. As I’ve mentioned, wine is never just the wine. Restaurants are never just the food.
To quote myself from a previous post:
The experience of tasting wine in a vineyard or tasting room or winery should add to the joy and fun of tasting wine. It does not need to be by the water, or in a vineyard, but where you are tasting, the personality of where you are tasting, is totally part of the experience.
There are more wines than one can possibly drink. There are more wineries than you can possibly visit. There are probably more award-winning restaurants than you could ever eat at. What you should want, if you are spending good money and time to do so, is a place that makes you feel welcome, that you belong there.
Santa Barbara fits the bill here.
Everywhere we went, we felt welcome.
You will too.
