Updated June 2023
Wine tasting guide to Santa Barbara City
Santa Barbara’s established “State Street” offering restaurants and shopping, spans about a mile, and connects to the “funk zone” where some of our favorite tasting rooms are located.
This guide focuses on wine tasting in downtown Santa Barbara, but the true magic in Santa Barbara lies in the greater county with the expansive six sub-region AVA’s. Many believe that the popular movie’s title “Sideways” is a play on the longest horizontal valley on the West Coast of the U.S, which houses a myriad of micro-(cool)-climates for world-class pinot noir and chardonnays, amongst many other varietals. Please see our separate post on visiting wineries in the greater Santa Barbara County.
Our favorite sub-region AVA’s are all cooler climate, which means lower alcohol and more earth toned than bright fruit–Santa Rita Hills, Santa Maria Valley, and Santa Ynez. If you enjoy vibrant and jammy red fruit notes, check out Ballard Canyon and Happy Canyon, where the fruit boasts diurnal temperatures (meaning high temps during the day, with extensive cooling in the evenings).
Where to Taste:
Did someone scream “non-intervention”? Music to our ears! This family-run operation focuses on small-batch winemaking that does not fine, filter, or futz with the natural processes of wine making. They have pinots and chardonnays from Santa Maria and Santa Rita Hills, so this is a great place to experience the true terroir of these regions as you determine your preferences within Santa Barbara wine country.
One of our new favorite SB producers. 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. We had a chance to walk along the Rancho La Viña vineyard site with the winemaker Matt Brady while drinking a bottle of that single vineyard.
You can find SAMsARA’s tasting room in Goleta as well as Los Olivos. They are currently open for tastings during the COVID lockdown as of July, 2020.
We were impressed by this winery’s age (20+ years old, meaning veteran status in SBWC) which usually warrants some clout. They are known for their Rhone varietals (in particular their “Pape Star” or Châteauneuf-du-Pape blend). Most notable for us was upon tasting the wildly waxy and oily flavors of the Stolpman Viogner – we quickly popped over to order a lobster roll from the Broad Street Oyster Co food truck (often parked next door). We loved this pairing so much that it made our list of best pairings for white wine. Makes you wonder why we only expect these great pairings at restaurants with a Michelin Star.
This spot is the sister winery to Kunin, and along with it’s great small-batch wines, has a hand sketched map of the region’s six AVAs and servers very eager to spread the knowledge of the SBC. They also have samples of California soil types on the wall, which do really impact the taste of the wines! You’ll notice “Diatomaceous Earth” in the top left hand which is prominent in the nearby Santa Rita Hills, and means that there are a lot of fossils marine skeletons and tends to leave a “minerality” taste in the wine.
Other Notables Places:
There are many other great tasting rooms in Santa Barbara proper, including Riverbench, Melville, and Deep Sea. However, we’ recommend that you save extra time for visiting wineries located along the Santa Barbara sub-region AVA’s and a quick walk along the beach.
For meals, Loquita was by far our favorite restaurant for the food and wine list — we were able to enjoy an exotic bottle from the Canary Islands. For breakfast or to-go sandwiches to nosh on between tastings, we can’t recommend Helena Avenue Bakery enough. Their artisanal bread, pastries and picnic fare is top notch, and the charming cafe is always bustling with locals.
For a great wine bar, check out Satellite — located on State street and features an extensive list of local and fun imported wines. Best of all, most of the list is available by the glass, so you can try a ton of different wines without committing to a bottle!
Where to stay
Though about a 20 minute drive from downtown, the Ritz-Carlton Bacara is one of our favorite places to stay. The property is expansive, has a stunning coastline pool / restaurant and is dog friendly for a fee. As an added perk, those with Marriot points will get some great value out of this spot.
There are also many Air BnB options to consider as well. Just make sure you look to see what’s near State Street or the Funk Zone if you want the option to walk instead of drive.
