wineline: Santa Barbara Wine Country

Ninety Miles and a Million Years From LA

Nestled along the Pacific Ocean, just ninety miles from Los Angeles, the vineyards and wineries of Santa Barbara County unfurl amid rolling valleys, wild flowers, majestic oaks and picturesque towns. The cool coastal region produces some of America’s best Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays. The wineries also make Sauvignon Blanc, Rhone-style reds and just about every varietal in between. (Yes, this is Sideways country. No you don’t have to crash your car into a tree or rail against Merlot.)

Foxen Canyon Wine Trail

Ocean-kissed mountains, cool sea breezes, multiple microclimates and multifarious soils (limestone, serpentine rock and chirt to name a few) make for a rich, diverse viticultural region—and give the wines their special character. “Cooling fog and wind from the Pacific offers a long, even growing season that allows the grapes to fully develop mature flavors,” explains Richard Sanford, co-founder of Sanford Winery. The result: deep yet floral Pinots and bright, acidic Chardonnays.

Vines Waiting for Your Picnic

Downtown SB

Start in the city of Santa Barbara, the Cali-chic capital of the region, where surfers mingle with tourists, tech geeks and baristas, and everyone wears fleece and flip-flops. Downtown Santa Barbara offers shopping, gallery-hopping and good dining options, from tiny taquerias to white tablecloths, while the outskirts of town boast breathtaking vistas, luxury hotels and long stretches of Pacific beach. Walk or take a short drive to Carr Vineyards with its soaring warehouse tasting room, or the nearby Jaffurs or Santa Barbara Winery. For a sip of history with your wine, drive to the nearby Mission Santa Barbara, founded by the Spanish Franciscans in 1786.

Byron Tasting Room

The Rest is the Best

From Santa Barbara it’s a quick drive into the heart of Santa Barbara County’s wine region. The petite town of Los Olivos is home to twenty tasting rooms, including Byron, Andrew Murray and Epiphany Cellars. The Danish-accented town of Solvang offers more curiosity if fewer tasting rooms and less authenticity. The town of Buellton is a gateway to Santa Rosa’s wineries. The scenic, sleepy town of Santa Ynez offers a taste of the Old West, minus cowboys, plus luxury inn and authentic Mexican grill.

Further into the wine country, the vineyards stretch out between rolling valleys and swaths of yellow rye, hemmed by the Pacific to the west and the San Rafael Mountains to the east. The terroir is at its richest and the wineries most plentiful along the famous Santa Maria Bench, known for its rich soil, limited root growth and good drainage—viticultural heaven. Foxen Canyon Wine Trail, a scenic twenty-mile rugged road, sits atop the bench and connects the Santa Ynez and the Santa Maria Valleys (think unpretentious little brother of Napa’s Silverado Trail).

Pinot Noir Grapes

On and near Foxen Canyon Road, you’ll find an embarrassment of winery riches. Byron produces seductively silky Pinots. “The closer you are to the Santa Maria Bench the better the quality—smaller berries and more intense flavors,” says Jonathan Nagy, winemaker at Byron.“ Neighbor Cambria, winner of Wine Spectator’s 2009 wine of the year, is known for its eight clone-specific bottlings. “Having different clones planted gives us flexibility in blending and also gives us the opportunity to show how different each clone is,” explains Denise Shurtleff, Cambria’s winemaker. Nearby Foxen produces a broad range of wines, from Sauvignon Blanc to Port-style semi-sweet, served in adjacent tasting rooms—one an old shack and the other a state-of-the-art solar-powered facility. “We source from all the microclimates of Santa Barbara Country" Foxen’s Riley Wathen says. “So the winemaker has a relationship with specific vineyards and varietals from Happy Canyon to Santa Rita Hills.”

Expect to pay a small fee at most tasting rooms, which range from extravagant architectural feasts to galleys perched in warehouses or atop barrel rooms. The locals are friendly, the wineries range from big and famous to small and intimate, and a many of them make very good wine. The sea is a bit cold for an anytime dip, but this is a great place to hike, bike, drive or simply taste wine and, like the grapes, sit in the warm embrace of California sunshine.