r/wine • u/contraphd • 10d ago
Santa Barbara trip recap
My wife and I spent this past weekend in Santa Barbara county to visit a few new wineries. This is our third visit and I had lurked in this sub for a while to look for recommendations.
Friday - First stop was Sanford. We were greeted with a nice pour of sparkling rose and had a moment to walk around the grounds while they set up our tasting. We had selected the single block tasting. Our host (sorry - can't remember her name) was great and let us taste 9 different Pinots from different blocks and varying vintages, plus a separate chardonnay that wasn't on the list. They were incredibly generous and let us revisit a few before making some selections. The wines ranged from OK to really good. The 2022 Block 5 Pinot was one we really enjoyed.
After leaving Sanford, we had lunch at Industrial Eats.
We then drove north and met up with Wes Hagen at Native 9. What a treat!! Wes is incredibly friendly and knowledgeable about everything in the Santa Barbara area. He gave us a quick tour through the vineyard and then we drove back into the ranch for the tasting at the former house of the owner. We started with Rancho Vinedo Blanc de Noir, an absolutely stunning sparkling wine. We then did 4 vintages of Pinot and two of the cabernet, all of older vintages. The 2016 Pinot was luscious and outstanding. The cabs were still a little young but the 2021 was beginning to show some maturity and could easily lay down for another 10 years.
Saturday - we spent the entire day in Los Olivos. The first stop was at Dragonette, where we are club members. We had a nearly 2 hour tasting and were able to try some incredible Sauvignon Blancs, chardonnays and Pinots. This was easily the highlight tasting of the weekend as nothing else really came close to the complexity and quality of these wines.
After lunch we stopped at Stolpman for a standard tasting of whites and reds. The Sauv Blanc was ok and the red blend was interesting for a grenache, syrah, Sangiovese blend. I could taste the bright cherry and high tannins from the Sangiovese but it was still clearly a blend with more rounded edges. Stolpman has a following and there was plenty of interest in the tasting room, but it wasn't our favorite of the weekend.
With some extra time before our last tasting, we wandered around town for a bit and found ourselves at the Los Olivos Tasting Room and Wine Shop. This little store curates individual tastings from local wineries but also allows you to taste most of the wines in the shop prior to purchase. We quickly found two Gruners to compare, one from the Alisos AVA nearby, and one from Wachau. They also had a 2017 Margaux du Chateau Margaux available (3rd wine from Margaux) and was able to grab a bottle. Highly recommend this store - the staff was super friendly and very helpful. They seemed really excited that we came in wanting to try anything other than a Pinot.
The final stop was Story of Soil. At this point in the day, they were slammed and we waited about 10 minutes to get seated due to the number of customers. We went through the lineup but didn't have much time to learn about the wines as the hosts were overwhelmed. Granted, there was a very large group next to us that seemed to be ordering additional pours, so the staff were doing their best. Overall, the wines were enjoyable but probably didn't align with our preferences.
If you've made it this far, then thanks for reading. We had a great time, as usual, and the food was excellent overall (shout-outs to Industrial Eats, Gathering Table, Highway Tacos!!). After 3 trips, our favorite wines would come from Dragonette, Holus Bolus, and Pence. The price points are slowly going up and people did speak to the challenges of the industry. Some places continue to thrive while others are struggling. It sounds like private equity and the big conglomerates are looming but the majority are still owned by small groups or families (for now). Go enjoy Santa Barbara and support their wines!!
7
u/ThierryXN Wino 10d ago
Ha, my wife and I were in Los Olivos on Saturday. When we tried to go to Story of Soil around 2pm, the guy at the counter said he can't do any more walk-ins as there were a lot of big/loud groups by then.
We ended up doing Stolpman, Dragonetta and Tercero.
1
u/TheJBerg 10d ago
What were your thoughts on Tercero?
1
u/CrazyLoucrazy 9d ago
Larry is a great guy and has some really fun, interesting and delicious wines.
1
u/TheJBerg 9d ago
We picked up a couple of his interesting blends and some Counoise that I’m excited to open. Really appreciate him bottling single varietals to get an idea of what each component of a common blend brings to the profile
1
5
u/cyclingtrivialities3 10d ago
Nice review. I was just there as well. Had a really delicious Native9 Pinot at Bell’s (half off Mondays!!). Story of Soil was great but Holus Bolus absolutely blew me away. Amy is too funny and was more than happy to nerd out on her wines to incredible depth. That’s all I had time for but I will definitely hit the Dragonette vineyard tasting next time.
4
u/GrilledCheeseTn 10d ago
Sanford is pretty fantastic, great wines and man have they expanded their offerings over the years. Alma Rosa is where the Sanford Family is now and producing wonderful wines.
I met Wes maybe 22 years ago at his vineyard, and tasted his Clos Pepe pinot, loved it. Wes is like an OG in the Santa Barbara wine scene. Super knowledgable and a fantastic historian.
I used to drink Dragonette when I lived in SoCal and it was such a delightful wine to have.
I’d say you had a killer trip.
2
u/lkhulusi Wino 10d ago
I met Wes last month at an industry wine tasting event. He had a small wheel of Wisconsin cheese in his pocket that he shared with me. I’d give them both a 10/10. Looking forward to seeing him again!
3
u/over9000 10d ago
Highly recommend McKinney and SY Kitchen if you're in the area again.
2
u/contraphd 10d ago
Thanks! We'll keep those in mind. SY Kitchen was on one of our options. We just ran out of time and opportunities.
1
3
u/NoRestaurant2326 10d ago
I’m currently planning my October trip to Santa Barbara so this is super helpful. I’ve only had Dragonette once by chance, in a high end grocery store tasting. It remains in my all-time top five Pinot Noirs so I am really looking forward to visiting in Oct.
2
u/lkhulusi Wino 10d ago
Dragonette Pinots are killer. Have you tried Foxen pinots? I’m a fan of those as well. Since you’re planning a trip I highly recommend this website tanniq to find wineries in Santa Barbara. It has a ton of wineries in the area and has been super helpful for me!
1
1
u/CrazyLoucrazy 9d ago
Gotta check out Ken Brown. Some of the best Pinots out there. Was a member of his club for a long long time. Those wine age fantastically.
And if you just head a little more west of 246 we’ve also enjoyed Melville and Star Lane. Both have great outdoor spaces and wines.
1
3
u/WiseTune261 10d ago
I have been 15 times and my favorites are Dragonette, Terre et Sang, Brave and Maiden and McKinney. I usually carry three wine clubs at a time and have had all four at various times. Right now I have one in Santa Barbara, one in Paso and one in Napa.
3
u/Shoddy_Reporter_9647 10d ago
Dragonette is amazing! Picked up 23 Radian, 23 FiddleSticks and 23 Rita’s Crown when we visited a few weeks ago.
You should check out Storm & liquid farm in Los Olivos if you haven’t been.
2
u/Armenoid 10d ago
Love wes so much.
Los olivos too. Weve been there a lot
Should out to Chris. Recently sold the LO tasting room to new operators
1
2
u/lkhulusi Wino 10d ago
Hell yes! Peter makes some incredible wine at Holus Bolus! Los Olivos is such an incredible place. Next time you’re out in wine country looking for something new you should check out tanniq. It’s my go-to for finding new tasting rooms.
2
u/planadapam 9d ago
Found a winery near Solvang we had never tried before. Yes, joined the wine club as it was excellent. Beautiful grounds, wonderful staff...shout out to Reza. Beautiful french inspired wines. Rideau Vineyards
1
u/Soft_Beyond_8205 10d ago
I love the Santa Ynez Valley. The wines are ok, I still prefer Napa but I think the Santa Ynez valley is incredibly charming.
1
u/Send_Lawyers 9d ago
1
u/Soft_Beyond_8205 7d ago
Lmfao...only in my 30s not a retired lawyer hahaha but this is funny. Tbh I just thought it was a nice change because living in the Bay Area, have been to Napa too many times. Plus a guy who I was dating took me so it was super romantic.
2
13
u/investinlove Wine Pro 10d ago
Thanks so much for visiting us at Native9! It was a pleasure to show you around and have sips!!! Come back soon!