Don’t forget about southern California wine regions!

Bart here. We recently had the opportunity to visit friends in Santa Barbara. We traveled with 4 other couples on a 4-day wine tour and shopping adventure!  Just north in the heart of Santa Ynez sits an amazing French Villa – Sunstone!  As it turns out, our friends are one of the primary owners of Sunstone Villa and Winery.  They set us up in the Sunstone Villa.

It truly is a trip back into French nobility and tradition. Our visit started with a wine tasting outdoors at the winery, then a guided tour of the winery and its larger venue. She then took us to the overlooking Sunstone Villa. The chateau sat up on the hill overlooking the larger property, just where you would suspect the local feudal lord to reside. This property is straight out of Provence, France, literally. Every stone, beam, and tile were sourced from France and brought over to the US in innumerable shipping containers. It took over 10 years to reconstruct, bringing this passion and vision to fruition in southern California.  Its limestone walls were salvaged from historic chateaus in Provence, Normandy, Avignon, and the Loire Valley. Down to the smallest chateau detail (where possible), historical accuracy was preserved. You literally step back in time 100-200 years. This residence awakens the traditions of prior French nobility! It exudes authenticity and charm from the late 1800’s, bringing to life true French aristocracy and class.  We were not in Kansas anymore. We were in for a wine-laden adventure, and what an amazing way to start!

Santa Barbara has been making wine since the late 1700’s.  This most likely started with the padres of Mission Santa Barbara and Fr. Junipera Serra, one of its leaders. He was a Catholic priest in need of sacramental wine for the celebrating the Catholic mass. Wine-making quickly expanded up the coast with the missionary advance. Just behind this was the growing recreational use of wine throughout the region.

By 1843, 45 different vineyards were in operation in Santa Barbara County alone.  At the time, these wines were felt to be the very best in California.  As with most other wine regions, Phylloxera and Prohibition almost wiped local wine making off the map. Things remained fairly quiet until 1962, when the first commercial winery since Prohibition reopened in Santa Barbara, and the rest is history. By 1990, 100,000 acres were under vine. Wine colleges were popping up, offering degrees in all aspects of enology, and focused geologic studies offered targeted variety growing recommendations. Santa Barbara had become a major player in US wine production and a wine lover’s Mecca!

There are over 150 wineries in the surrounding region, and we had so little time. We started at Brave and Maiden, who used to supply some of its grapes to Sunstone. More recently, however, they came under new management and started producing their own wine under the same name. We sampled their current releases and a selection of their library wines and found them all beautiful expressions of their respective grapes and varied terroir.

We started a membership and arranged to have several cases shipped home. We were off and running! Vineyards and wineries filled the valleys and hillsides.

For lunch we stopped into Roblar Winery and Vineyards. They have an executive chef who creates a menu from their own farm produce. It is harvested daily, driving a fresh and ever-changing menu. This delightful farm-to-fork menu was paired with their selection of wines, only highlighting the experience.

After lunch, we moved further north to visit Fess Parker Winery. It sits on a beautiful estate complete with a large venue.

Yes, it was started by the same actor making Daniel Boone and Davy Crocket a household name. You may have even tasted some of his wines in their Napa tasting room or some of their wines available locally. Fess Parker has a fairly extensive family of wines, but the day we were visiting their Sanford and Benedict, where Pinot Noir ruled the day.

We completed our tour with wine tasting at the Barn at the renown estates of The Hilt and JONATA. Their new tasting facility was breathtaking.

We knew we were in for a special treat when our tasing experience came complete with hand blown Sophienwald tasing glasses. The Hilt may specialize in Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, but JONATA is known for Bordeaux varietals like Cabernet Savignon, Cab Franc and Rhône varietals such as Syrah. We were kids in a candy store. Turns out, if you order enough, shipping is free!

Again we padded our cellars with some wonderful wines we cannot easily access in Kansas, perfect to share with guests this Fall and through the upcoming holiday season.  

We were definitely in Chardonnay and Pinot Noir country, but our eyes were opened to a much wider array of varietals available in the region. Next time someone mentions a Napa wine trip, you should consider Santa Barbara County! You will not be disappointed.