Located in northern Santa Barbara County on the Sisquoc River 14 miles east of Santa Maria, Rancho Sisquoc is part of an 1852 Spanish land grant. The Chumash Indians called this area "Sisquoc", which meant "gathering place". Today Rancho Sisquoc is again a gathering place, this time for wine lovers.
Handley Cellars is a small, 14,000 cases per year, family-owned winery in California's Mendocino County, bonded in 1982. Handley Cellars is located at the northwest end of the Anderson Valley on 59 acres of the original Holmes Ranch. Still standing on the property are the now-refurbished ranch house, barn, and the original water tower. Handley Cellars offers a wide variety of wines that complement today's diverse cuisine with its worldwide influences. Winemaker Milla Handley seeks to make balanced wines that possess distinctive varietal characteristics, wines that reflect the soil and climate in which they were grown.
This is a cute little tasting room in downtown Santa Barbara if you don't want to make the trek up to Los Olivos, or just want to stop by for another tasting. Tastings are $10. Friendly, attentive staff. Great wines and a shop filled with olive oils, they had olive oil tasting there, cheese boards, wine-infused chocolates and tons of things that would be great to accompany a wine party.
In 1962, at the age of thirty-two, Pierre Lafond founded the first post-prohibition commercial winery in Santa Barbara County. Two years later, he located a winery facility on Anacapa Street, just two blocks from the Pacific Ocean. Santa Barbara Winery has become an extremely visible and successful wine concern, winning many medals for an array of wines. Lafond is now in the midst of a significant expansion in order to meet the desires of the consuming public.
Lafond was originally a retailer, and his wine and cheese shop was a meeting place for many of Santa Barbara's wine aficionados. He decided to go into wine production for two reasons: he enjoyed fine wines, primarily French, and it would be a good business venture.
This place doesn't have boutique winery hipster appeal so if you're looking for that, go elsewhere. The pourer we talked to works in the field with the winemaker; she said that they all wear many hats. The people behind the tasting counter are just wonderful. Last time it was the wine maker himself! Though he said it's rare to find him doing the tasting.
A winery in Los Angeles? Yes! Whether you arrive for a tour, meal, or celebration at San Antonio Winery you will discover the variety and quality of their collection of fine wines in the only producing winery in Los Angeles. The San Antonio Winery in LA offers 4 wine flight tastings and winery tours. *
Hours:
Mon 12:00pm to 4:00pm
Tues 12:00pm to 4:00pm
Wed 12:00pm to 4:00pm
Thur 12:00pm to 4:00pm
Fri 12:00pm to 4:00pm
Sat 11:00am to 5:00pm
Sun 11:00am to 5:00pm
people enjoying wine - Wine Artist Agata Zamborowski
Palmaz is one winery that you absolutely MUST visit! This family owned and operated winery will blow you away. The high tech gravity flow processes, extreme commitment to quality, and overall tasting experience are all top notch. My experience with Florencia was amazing, compared to other tours and tastings at the same price point, $60/person with small bite pairings, I would recommend Palmaz over many others. The wines were delicious and the perfect pick for a special occasion. This tour is perfect for wine enthusiasts at all levels, the family is approachable and open to discussing any questions you have about the winery and wine making processes.
When Kory Koehler acquired the property in 1997, all of the estate grapes were being sold to local wineries. Koehler soon recognized that some of the best wines in the valley were being produced with grapes harvested from her own vineyard so she made the resolved to launch her own winery and tasting room. From the start, Kory Koehler's vision was to create a world-class winery committed to making premium wines at affordable prices.
Image: Saman Teher - Pixabay
The views from this winery are beautiful, so we got some great pictures. No wonder people have weddings here!Busy on a Sunday afternoon but Super friendly. Shelly waved us on over and introduced us to the Falkner wines. Enjoyed the reds...especially the Cabernet and the two Meritage blends. Chose the 7 wine tasting for $15. Never had to pay up front like this up in the Central Coast wineries where we frequent. Your tastings are also usually free up there if you buy a few bottles. Falkner does give a $5 coupon toward your purchase of a bottle and you do get to keep the glasses.
Painting by Agata Zaborowski Family enjoying wine
MacFadden Vineyards sells and ship out of their tasting room affordable, delicious, easy to drink wines from grapes organically grown on their own nearby vineyard in Potter Valley. McFadden Vineyard Tasting Room also sells organic dried herbs and herb blends, and organic beef, from the Potter Valley farm. MaFadden's has a nice tasting room on Main Street in Hopland. Friendly server. We had a good time talking with him.
We popped into this beautiful tasting room. The lady behind the counter was very informative and sweet, and understood that we were in a bit of a time crunch so she poured our wines quickly while still giving us explanations of the grapes that were used to produce each wine. I thought the wines here were very different because they were blends of grapes grown in different regions. We had the general tasting ($15/person) and particularly enjoyed the pinot noir and the syrah. Art work from wine artist Agata Zaborowski - Agata Art Gallery
