My husband and I have been in California for 2 years. One thing I love about California is access to great wine! It is not just the wine I love but, the total experience and culture of the wine industry. Honestly, I feel more at home in the small wine towns than I do in the big city of San Diego. The atmosphere is more rustic and FRIENDLY like Texas. The temperatures are more like Texas temp,and tons of sunshine. Awe, did I mention the trees. San Diego doesn’t have many oaks just palms. Oaks add to the country feeling.

Recently my hubby and I made 2 trips up to Santa Barbara County. These two trips were back to back weekends. These trips were our first trips up to Santa Barbara Wine area because we were not looking forward to the drive. I am not sure where I stand now as I am not a fan of a long drive, but I do have to say- Santa Barbara County is exactly what I expected. I would simply describe it as something between Temecula and Sonoma. As a final clarification, it was closer to Sonoma, but uniquely.

Below is a short run down of our stops. I hope to expand each stop at a later date, but I thought I would give you a quick taste of our fun time.

Trip 1: Day 1

Koehler

I loved the pretty grounds and the drive up. Our tasting room host was personable and made our visit fun.  All around for me the wines were okay.  I did find a favorite.

Purchased: 2007 Santa Ynez Valley Grenache

Fess Parker

I loved the great big yard for my dog to run around and a huge tasting room. I found this stop to be very touristy and the tour was not up to my expectations.

Purchased: nothing- so unlike me!

Cambria

This winery was out  on the Foxen Canyon wine trail. It is one of the Jackson Family Wines labels. Ahem! Kendall Jackson. The wine tasting was wonderful as were the wines.

Purchased: 13 bottles! (1 2009 Viogner, 2 2007 Pinot Noir Clone 23, 2 2007 Pinot Noir Clone 667, 2 2006 Santa Maria Valley Syrah, 1 2009 Late Harvest Viogner, 4 2006 Rae’s Chardonnay)

Rideau

This was our last stop.My in-laws are members so we enjoyed a free tasting with a discounted purchases. I thought the syrah and petit syrah were great. We plan to come back and make this winery one of our first stops.

Purchased: 3 Petite Sirah, 3 Iris Syrah

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So this day didn’t start off as planned. We flew into Oakland which always has worked out for us, but not this time. We landed at 9:30 and by 12:30 we had gone less than 20 miles. I’ll skip past the rest of our frustrating morning but know that is why we only ended up going to 2 wineries. We were meeting my parents in Napa and they had to carry one while we sat in traffic. They visited Robert Keenan on Spring Mountain. They really enjoyed the wine and tasting experience. They felt comfortable and liked the small snacks that went along with the wine. They ended up purchasing the 2007 Cab Franc. For lunch I sent them to Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen. This is my favorite spot for lunch in St. Helena. Here are some pics from my last visit there in January.  The last one I believe they call Campfire Pie and it is the most delicious homemade dessert for miles I am sure.

Spring Mountain is a special place in Napa.  Most of the wineries there are by appointment not because they are snooty but because they want to maintain the small intimate atmosphere.  My favorite that I have visited so far on Spring Mountain is Pride.  They do a great tour of their property and caves with your tasting.  We bought a couple of bottles afterwards, one which we still are saving for a special occasion.  Here are some pictures of our tour.

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