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You are here: Home / Archives for Santa Barbara Wine Country

Lompoc Wine Ghetto

April 1, 2015 by Joe Becerra

 

 

Lompoc wine ghetto

Lompoc Wine Ghetto – 30 tasting rooms

Lompoc Wine Ghetto

It all began in 1998 when Longoria Winery moved into a 5000-square-foot warehouse in Lompoc for wine production and a wine tasting space. Today, in the Lompoc Wine Ghetto, there are 30 wineries with more to come. The Lompoc Wine Ghetto is a very large warehouse section where small wineries can set up shop without the expense of building a winery or fancy tasting room. The upside for wine country travelers and wine buffs is there is a large collection of family-run and boutique wineries all in one spot. Typically, these are all small-production wineries like Fiddlehead, Flying Goat and Samsara. Is a chance for wine lovers to taste many wines and find something that more than likely cannot be found in any fine wine shop or in the Wine Spectator. The Lompoc Wine Ghetto hours are rather limited. Most wineries are open Friday to Sunday, 11 am to 4 or 5 pm. We enjoyed a brief visit to the Wine Ghetto on Sunday. It is a little overwhelming trying to decide which tasting rooms to visit. One tasting room, “Taste of Santa Rita Hills,” is a good choice because one has a chance to taste the wines of four different winemakers in one location. Santa Rita Hills is the coolest climate of any of the wine appellations in the Santa Barbara wine region. All the other tasting rooms at the Wine Ghetto are single wineries. Most make their wines in the warehouse area behind their tasting room.

The Lompoc Wine Ghetto will add additional wineries but in our view in order to attract many more wine country visitors,  Lompoc needs some quality lodging and restaurants. We stayed in Buellton, about 20 minutes away, where there are a few good choices for lodging and restaurants. The Marriott is a good choice and for dining we recommend two spots. Industrial Eats is the hippest spot in town and offers some interesting gourmet dishes including pizzas. Local produce and meats are featured. It is family-style seating at large tables and it’s a fun, happening spot. We also like the Hitching Post restaurant. We like it more as a wine spot then a quality dining spot. The Hitching Post was featured in the movie “Sideways,” and it’s worth eating there for that reason alone. The Hitching Post makes their own wine, and they offer a great lineup of PInot Noirs on their wine list for dining or for purchase to take home.

Additional details on Lompoc and the Santa Barbara wine country

  • The Lompoc Wine Trail and Wine Ghetto
  • Santa Barbara Wine Trails 
  • Santa Barbara wine country lodging and dining

Lompoc Wine Ghetto Slide Show

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Filed Under: Santa Barbara Wine Country Tagged With: Buellton, Industrial Eats, Lompoc wine ghetto

Santa Barbara Fisherwoman Stephanie Mutz

July 22, 2014 by Janelle Becerra

At the recent Wine Bloggers Conference in the Santa Barbara Wine Country, a small group of bloggers enjoyed a wonderful visit to the Bridlewood Estate Winery in the Santa Ynez AVA.  The entrance to the winery is impressive, with its Spanish Mission style of architecture.  Our Apple Basket lunch of local sandwiches and salads was served overlooking Bridlewood Lake and was complemented by delicious Bridlewood wines.

Bridlewood winery

Bell Tower at Bridlewood Estate Winery in Santa Barbara wine country

Following the lunch, we had a very informative seminar in the Bridlewood cellar.  Rather than the usual panel of winery owners and winemakers, this panel included:

  • Richard Martin (Moderator), editorial director of Food Republic
  • Mark Williams, Winemaker for Bridlewood Estate Winery
  • Jeff Olsson, chef and proprietor of New West Catering and Industrial Eats Restaurant
  • Jake O’Francis, Pig farmer
  • Christopher and Johanna Finley, farmers for Finley Organic Farms
  • Stephanie Mutz, Santa Barbara Fisherwoman
fisher woman stpehanie

Photo of Stephanie Mutz by Fran Collin, francollin.com

Most interesting to me was the inclusion of Stephanie, a sea urchin fisherwoman. As Stephanie’s website states, she’s been fishing in the Santa Barbara area for 7 years and strives to make fresh, sustainable seafood available to the local population.

Stephanie got her undergraduate degree at UC Santa Barbara and then went on to Graduate School in Australia.  Her goal at the time was to become a Community College professor in her field of Marine Biology. While she was writing her Graduate School dissertation, she worked on urchin boats.  After a part-time teaching job ended, she decided to concentrate on fishing full time.

Being that most of the people Stephanie fishes with are male, she feels fortunate that they are accepting of her and very helpful when necessary. She usually goes out on her boat alone, unless the weather is bad or she needs extra help getting what she needs for the market.  In some cases, she joins other fishermen on their boats for fishing or diving.  Stephanie fishes for sea urchins and snails and regularly delivers her catch to local chefs when the weather and the catch are good. There seems to be a fad for sea urchin delicacies in Southern California and that demand is keeping Stephanie very busy these days. She also works closely with Jeff Olsson and his Industrial Eats Restaurant.  Stephanie does not always know what her daily catch will be and often she will bring Jeff in something different than he asked for.  She praises Jeff for being adaptable and creative in making the best of Stephanie’s haul.

After a day at sea, Stephanie unwinds by sitting in her meadow at home with a glass of wine to recap the day with her boyfriend, also a fisherman.  They discuss ways to become more efficient and productive at doing what they love to do.  She does her best to promote what the industry is all about to the entire community. She thinks its important to encourage people to have a balanced lifestyle, which includes eating local foods.

For recipes and information on how to find Stephanie’s catch, consult her website:  seastephaniefish.com

sea urchin delicacies

Appetizers prepared by Chef Jeff Olsson. On the right is sea urchin on avocado

Filed Under: Activities, Food, Santa Barbara Wine Country Tagged With: Bridlewood winery, Finley Organic Farms, Industrial Eats, Jeff Olsson, Pig farmer Jake O'Francis, Wine Bloggers Conference

The Secret of Ballard Canyon AVA

July 20, 2014 by Joe Becerra

Ballard Canyon AVA

I shot this photo Monday, July 14. It was a strange day, very humid and overcast. I used a Photoshop filter to emote the beauty of Ballard Canyon on this unusual summer day.

The secret of the Ballard Canyon AVA is the Syrah.  The grapes from this AVA produce spectacular Syrah wines,  and very few people seem to know about it. I am a big fan of Syrah. I purchase Syrah regularly from two small family-owned wineries: Montemagiorre in Dry Creek and Cedarville in Fair Play in the Sierra Foothills. Those two have become my standard for judging other California Syrah wines. At the recent Wine Bloggers Conference in Santa Barbara, I attended a seminar sponsored by members of the Ballard Canyon AVA.  This was my first opportunity to taste and compare Syrah wines from this region. I came away totally impressed.  We tasted 7 wines in a side-by-side comparison, three from the 2012 vintage, the other four all 2010’s. These wines were beautifully balanced Syrahs, with complexity and a rare elegance in the mouth. The 2010s showed that Syrah wines can age gracefully, becoming more intense and polished. These are wines to be savored and enjoyed with good food and friends. My favorite 2012 Syrah wines were the Lerner, the Rusack and the Beckman; for the 2010s, it was the Stoplman. These wines are priced in the mid-thirty-dollar range.

Ballard Canyon is a new AVA in the Santa Barbara wine country. It was approved in October 2013.  It is a sub-appellation or AVA of Santa Ynez Valley AVA.  The region is very small and the surrounding mountains form a triangle, with the open end facing the Pacific Ocean. This accounts for dramatic diurnal shifts in temperature.  Most days in the growing season begin with fog, which burns off in the late morning.  As Janelle and I were driving the Ballard Canyon Road, we were surprised that so few acres were planted with vines. I would say that 90% of the land is grassland and oak woodland. There seems to be so much room to grow. There are only nine producers making Ballard Canyon AVA wines, and only one of these wineries has an actual tasting room located in the AVA. It is Rusack Vineyards, one of the most beautiful wineries found in any wine country. Picnicking at Rusack is as about as peaceful and serene as it gets.

The growers and winemakers are very passionate about this AVA. In our seminar, they bemoaned the notion that Syrah sales are bleak and that consumers are shying away from this wonderful wine. They blame it on the fact that many wine regions produce Syrah wines that are too fruit forward, too high in alcohol, or unbalanced, all because the Syrah is not growing in the proper terroir. I also got the feeling that they might be a little envious of the “wine press” that a few winemakers and wineries in Paso Robles are receiving.  It is like, “Hey, you guys, we make great wine too. Come and taste!”  These Ballard AVA folks are so convinced that this AVA is producing a unique Syrah that they officially unveiled a specific wine bottle for Syrah wines produced solely from the Ballard Canyon AVA. They believe that there are no other Syrah wines in the world like the Ballard Canyon Syrahs. The wines of the Rhone region in France all have unique bottles that specify their appellation.

If you are in the Santa Barbara wine country, you should take the time to drive the scenic seven miles or so on Ballard Canyon Road and stop in at Rusack and taste the Syrah. The Ballard Canyon AVA Association has a complete list of growers and wineries and other places where you can taste these delicious Syrah wines.

 

Rusack Vineyards

Rusack is the only Ballard AVA winery to have a tasting room in the AVA.

 

Filed Under: Santa Barbara Wine Country, Wine Information, Wine Region Tagged With: Beckman. Syrah wine, best Syrah wine in California, Rusack, Stolpman

Santa Barbara Wine Country

April 13, 2013 by Joe Becerra

It’s been too long since our last extended visit to the wonderful Santa Barbara wine county, so we decided to spend an entire week in this beautiful region. We rented a gorgeous home in the wine town of Los Olivos with two other couples who love wine and wine country just as much as we do. The home sits up on a hill with a lovely view of vineyards surrounding the property. What a delightful place to stay!

santa barbara wine country signs

Exploring Santa Barbara wine country

There are just over 100 wineries and tasting rooms to visit in the area. The wineries are spread over five AVA or wine appellations. In addition, in the small towns of Los Olivos, Solvang, and Lompoc, there are many tasting rooms to visit. Los Olivos leads the way with at least 30 tasting rooms within a three square-block area. To my surprise the tasting rooms seem to be quite busy even during the week.

los olivos tasting rooms

One of the many tasting rooms in Los Olivos

The five AVA’s are very different in climate and soil, and as a result there many different varietals that are grown in the Santa Barbara Wine country. The Pinot Noir and Rhone style wines garner the greatest attention in this area.

Santa Barbara wine country was somewhat of a sleepy wine tourist area until 2005 when the movie “Sideways” made its debut. The movie has almost a cult following. The two hapless characters portrayed in the movie, Miles and Jack, explore the Santa Barbara wine county on a bachelor excursion. Miles is a wine geek and wants his friend Jack to learn the nuances of wine, especially Pinot Noir. The movie featured several Santa Barbara area wines and wineries. The “Sideways” movie has made a tremendous impact on wine tourism in Santa Barbara, and especially in the increased popularity of Pinot Noir.

How fitting that we watched for the third time this movie the first night in our Los Olivos House. Now it is time for a week of exploring the area and revising the three Santa Barbara wine country trails on our WineCountryGetaways.com Website.

Filed Under: Santa Barbara Wine Country, Wine Information

Winemaker Andrew Murray on the Santa Ynez Valley

July 25, 2011 by Joe Becerra

This is a guest blog post by Andrew Murray, winemaker and owner of Andrew Murray Vineyards in the Santa Ynez Valley in Santa Barbara County. I have tasted several of the Andrew Murray wines and have enjoyed them very much over the years. I recently ran into Andrew Murray at a wine tasting in San Francisco. He mentioned that he would love to be a guest blogger and post a description of the wine country where he lives and makes his wines. What a great idea I thought, because it has been a few years since we have been to the Santa Barbara wine country and I need to be reminded of the wonder of this great wine region.

From Andrew: Nestled between the San Rafael and Santa Ynez mountains, the Santa Ynez Valley is just a short 40 minutes above picturesque Santa Barbara, California. Reminiscent of the French Riviera, Santa Barbara has long been famous as a Hollywood retreat and a second home for scions of industry. John F. Kennedy honeymooned with Jackie at the San Ysidro Ranch, and the famous photos of Albert Einstein on a bicycle were taken in sunny Santa Barbara.

Though the quiet Santa Ynez Valley is a bit more modest than its flossy Santa Barbara cousin, it too has seen its share of stardom. Michael Jackson’s infamous ‘Neverland’ Ranch is located out Figueroa Mountain Road, and stars such as Bo Derek, John Corbett, David Crosby, and Cheryl Ladd are frequently seen going about their daily lives at the market or gym.

Read More »

Filed Under: Santa Barbara Wine Country, Wine Information

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