The 2004 movie Sideways made the greater Santa Barbara wine region well known. Funny. The wines we tasted and the vineyards we visited were not well know to me. My reasoning? Small batch wineries, almost all of them, these wonderful wines do not make it very far east of the Rockies. If you want to gain access to these splendid Chards, Pinots and Syrahs you have to do it online, or visit. We opted for the latter.
A logistical note. If you land @ SBW expect no amenities at one of the world’s smallest airports. If you are starving, Los Arroyos about 1.5 miles up the road has some of the best Mexican fare I have ever had – no small praise coming from someone who has lived in the Southwest part of the U.S.
We stayed at the The Hadsten Solvang, in the middle of Mission Drive in Solvang, some 20 miles north of the Santa Barbara Airport. Lots of restaurants, art galleries, tasting rooms and all matter of tourist stuff on this stretch of the street.
Did someone say tourist?
I cringed when I saw our hotel. It was a motel straight out of the 1960’s and I had not stayed in one of those in 40 years. Boy was I wrong. Hilton has invested in this property and turned it into a great spot for a short stay. Rooms were well done, fresh, uncrowded, and quite nice. Once we divested ourselves of luggage, we went immediately to the Almos Rosa tasting room two blocks up the street for some of the region’s famous Pinots. There I learned my first new bit of wine wisdom. There are Old World Pinots and New World Pinots. The Old World wines resemble their descendants from Burgundy, more nuanced. Complex. New World pinots have come to pay homage to the Napa Cabernets that brought California wine to the forefront. More lush. Some a bit fruit forward. Richer. We sampled lots of both.
But first. Dinner. The hotel restaurant serves dinner but with all the possibilities nearby we did not indulge there. We could not resist going to The Hitching Post II restaurant made famous by the movie. It is an unwalkable two miles from the hotel (the sidewalks disappear in spots) so a short drive. A great nostalgic restaurant. Not fine dining, but if you want meat and are not concerned with cholesterol or atmosphere…. The streaks were exceptional. The lamb succulent. And the french fries, cooked in beef fat, were nearly as good.
We did not sample any of The Hitching Post’s wines because Bob brought this (one reason we really like Bob)
Oh my
The next day we started tasting. Brewer Clifton was located on a quaint short street in nearby Los Olivos (we spent the day on that street) where I purchased some of Greg Brewers Syrahs. (Editors note: my reluctance to load up on Pinots has everything to do with my wife’s wine preferences and nothing to do with the quality of the wines). Here I learned my second bit of new wine knowledge. Really good wines benefit from being opened in advance – as much as an entire day in advance. When we tasted we made a point to compare freshly opened bottles to ones opened the prior day. Often the day-old wines were fuller. Our second stop was Dragonette Cellars a few spots down the street. Following that we stopped in Holus Bolus, and finally SAMaSARA. Tasting rooms all within two blocks of each other. I am not going to expound on their wines – wine preferences are a very individual/personal thing. But suffice to say there were lots of purchases at each. I was surprised and excited at some of the Syrahs.
Four tastings are more than we had planned but when Blake at Brewer Clifton says you just must go to Holus Bolus – you go. By end of day, we were predictably tired and that may have had something to do with a mediocre dinner at The Tavern at Zaca Creek. But no. Highly recommended in publications such as Travel & Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler, this spot was flat out disappointing. Maybe our expectations were too high. Maybe hit them on a bad night – it was Monday after all.
We started out Tuesday at Melville Winery, a beautiful property with great wines and then went next door to Babcock Winery (they share a driveway). There we met Bryan Babcock and developed an enormous respect for his skills and his approach to wine making (he calls himself a farmer). It is not a surprise that Bryan is watched by many in this valley and some take their cue from him on things like when to pick and when to wait. The man is impressive. Named one of the top ten small producers in the world by the Janes Beard Foundation.
If you plan to go wine tasting in Los Olivos, here is what you should know. Weekends will bring crowds, and most tasting rooms open at 10 AM and close at 3 pm or 4 pm. Short days make reservations highly recommended. We tasted on a Monday and Tuesday and had the street to ourselves.
I had not been to this region in 25 years. This trip made me wonder what took so long. It’s not all about Napa – Central California boasts some exceptional wineries – even if you have not heard of them (yet)