Wine tasting guide to Los Olivos in Santa Barbara county
If you’ve never heard of the Los Olivos wine tasting square, you’re not alone; but the reputation is growing for this collection of tasting rooms in close proximity featuring top notch Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
Located 40 minutes from downtown Santa Barbara, Los Olivos makes for a fine day trip, a weekend destination or a stop along a drive up the California coast.
There are over 30 tasting rooms in a small radius, so make sure not to miss our favorites below!
Where to taste wine in Los Olivos
As you can see from the map above, the tasting rooms in Los Olivos are huddled together tighter than a cluster of pre-harvest grapes. Reservations are recommended, especially if you’re going over a weekend. All of our favorite producers are open for tasting during COVID as of July 2020.
SAMsARA Wine Co
This label was started as a side project from Chad Melville (from Melville wines) and has grown to ~3,000 case production, featuring some of the best Pinot Noirs in the area. The tasting includes some well made whites and rose’s, but the stars are the single vineyard Pinot Noirs; our favorite is Rancho La Viña. The current winemaker, Matt Brady, is very low intervention in the winery to allow for the fullest expression of terroir in the glass.
Bien Nacido & Solomon Hills Estate
Both Bien Nacido and Solomon Hills are actually local vineyards planted in the early 1970’s and 1990’s respectively. Most of the premium grapes are sold to local producers, but the Estate saves a small amount for their own production. The bottles are not cheap, fetching upwards of $100+ for their finest, but they are very high quality.
Liquid Farm
Aside from having one of the most stylish tasting rooms, Liquid Farm is home to our favorite Chardonnay in Santa Barbara County. The combination of Santa Rita Hill’s cool climate, well drained soil (making the vines struggle for water) and the white porous rock from the Diatomaceous Earth allows for the creation of a beautiful, Burgundian expression of the varietal–expertly ushered through by their hands-off winemaking approach.
Storm Wines
We first came across the Storm label when touring around Hemel-en-Aarde in South Africa. While his brother holds down the fort in the similar cool-climate Walker Bay, Ernst Storm recently opened up a tasting room off the strip in Los Olivos. Like SAMsARA, the highlights here are the single vineyard Pinot Noirs. Ernst doesn’t overdo things with oak or steam inclusion, which allows you to taste the terroir of each site.
Carhartt
Too much PInot and Chardonnay? Carhartt is a nice change of pace. While most tasting rooms in the area bring in grapes from the cool-climate Santa Rita Hills, Carhartt grows locally in much warmer weather. Thus, you’ll find some tasty Rhone varietals along with some Bordeaux blends. They also had a Sauvignon Blanc that spent time in oak, giving it a more full-bodied, rounded feel than what one typically expects from the varietal.
A Tribute to Grace
We are so impressed with these wines that even though the location is technically outside of Los Olivos (short drive to Los Alamos), it is worth mentioning here. New Zealand Winemaker Angela Osborne is very consistent: every wine is single-vineyard and every wine is 100% Grenache. Even if Grenache is not your jam, we still recommend checking out Grace: The Grenache Blanc uses neutral oak and sits on the lees, giving this wine a great mouth feel and the Grenache rose is very crisp and acid-driven. Our favorite is the Shake Ridge Ranch single varietal from the Sierra Foothills (near the Madera AVA), made in a similar style to the Grenache greats of Chateauneuf-du-Pape.
Lodging & Dining
While growing in popularity, the Los Olivos wine village is still relatively under the radar. Thus, there is a serious lack of hotel accommodations and restaurants. If you’re adamant about staying within walking distance, stay at the Fess Parker Wine Country Inn. This option is a bit pricey and requires advanced reservations, but you won’t need to worry about who’s driving.
A better option in our opinion is to find a designated driver and stay in neighboring towns like Santa Barbara, Buellton or Solvang. Check out our comprehensive wine guide to Santa Barbara with lodging and restaurant recommendations.
If you stay in Buelton, we recommend the Sideways Inn; formerly known as the Windmill Inn, but changed due to the success of the wine-themed movie from 2004. If you’ve never seen this movie, we highly recommend stopping everything you’re doing and rent it on Amazon Prime Video now.
After watching, treat yourself to a meal at the Hitching Post II and order a bottle of their own Bien Nacido Pinot — really special stuff. COVID Update – As of September 2020, Hitching Post II is open for dining via an outdoor tent area. Their main kitchen is now in an airstream! We enjoyed the new setting and hope it stays open as an option post COVID.
Where to stay in Los Olivos
That really depends on the nature of your trip. If your priority is tasting rooms and the Los Olivos village vibe, then check out Airbnb listings right downtown. If you want a quaint village with a little more buzz than just tasting rooms, but still charming/quiet, check out listings in Solvang. You can also base yourself in Santa Barbara, which is drivable to Los Olivos.
If you end up staying in Santa Barbara, you. may consider this tour option which includes transportation.
FAQ
Yes, reservations are highly recommended, especially on weekends. While it’s easier to pop in during sleepier weekdays during off-season, you may run into an availability situation where many tasting rooms are closed. A nice compromise is to plan a few “key” visits and if time allows, pop in for some spontaneous fun.
Since the tasting rooms are all located in a multi-block radius, you can spend one day in town and see it all. If you want to taste at the actual wineries surrounding the small village, then more days are recommended.
Tough question — totally depends on your tastes! Staying downtown Los Olivos is fun and we’d recommend looking at Airbnb options for a house downtown. However, we’ve also enjoyed staying a little further out in Solvang, Buellton or Santa Barbara–it depends on what kind of trip you want.
Yes absolutely. it takes about 45 minutes to drive to Los Olivos from Santa Barbara, so that still leaves plenty of time to hit the tasting rooms before heading back. Just make sure to have a sober driver or hire one!
