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Posted August 2006
Luxury Experiences in Santa Barbara:
Wine Tasting
Santa Barbara’s wine making history, like that of many areas in
California, extends back to the days of the Spanish missions –
200 years ago. Today, the region is home to more than 100 wineries
and some 24,000 acres of planted vineyards.
Wine enthusiasts will find that most Santa Barbara wine tasting
rooms are open daily (excluding some major holidays) from 10
a.m. until 4 or 5 p.m. There are some wineries that do not have
tasting rooms onsite, but you can usually find their wines are
available locally for tasting at retail stores. Many wineries
have picnic areas open to the public and some are available for
corporate meetings, weddings, and other special events.
Santa Barbara County has three recognized viticultural areas
(AVAs): Santa Maria Valley, Santa Ynez Valley, and Sta. Rita
Hills. Santa Barbara County is an appellation of origin, but
is not a specific AVA. Many of the area’s wines carry the Santa
Barbara appellation of origin. These wines could be made from
grapes in the specific AVAs, or outside those, but the majority
of the grapes were farmed in Santa Barbara County and the winemaker
chose this title for his/her label.
From the most northern Santa Barbara tasting room to the most
southern is more than 50 miles, so you should develop your wine
tasting itinerary before you go. The Santa Barbara Vintners has
a nice map page for each of their regions (http://www.sbcountywines.com/visit/map.html).
(Tip: Scroll to the bottom of the page.) For great tasting and
touring ideas, here are a couple of past WineCountry.com stories
to help you make your plans:
Shake off the sand, just minutes from the beach you will find
great places to wine
taste in the heart of the City of Santa Barbara.
Pinots from Heaven: Tasting
in the Santa Rita Hills.
If you don’t have time to stop at several of the area’s wineries
in one day, you can find the largest collection of Santa Barbara
County wines in the world and one of the only places you can
find multiple vintages of the same local wines on Anacapa
Street in downtown Santa Barbara.
For additional information on Santa
Barbara wineries, check
out these listings. |
