Area 5.1 Winery – Unique Wines in the Funk Zone – Santa Barbara Urban Wine Tour #16

This is a post in my Santa Barbara Urban Wine Trail Series. See the summary article here for general Wine Trail info or to read about the 27 other wineries!

I visited Area 5.1 in Santa Barbara's Funk Zone (an area full of restaurants, bars, breweries and wine tasting rooms just blocks from State Street and the beach) on a Friday afternoon. I didn't know quite what to expect from this out there themed winery, and I was very delightfully surprised in the fun and easily approachable wines I found there.

The tasting room is Area 51 / alien themed and very modern looking. It reminded me more of beer bar than a wine tasting room, but not in a bad way. It is a big space, and yet I had the tasting room to myself for my afternoon tasting with Eric, the Area 5.1 manager.

They have a varied tasting flight. A mix of single varietal wines and complex blends, with 2 whites, a rose and 2 reds.

Eric started me off with the 2017 White Light, a fresh and fairly sweet Chardonnay. It is aged in stainless steel barrels so there is no oak flavors and they did not put it through a malolactic fermentation, so you just get the delicious tropical and melon fruit flavors.

Eric then poured me the super interesting 2015 Close Encounter white blend. It smelled super floral and of fresh fruit, but the taste was of kettle corn. It was a sweet, buttery and highly acidic wine, very fun to drink.

I finished off the lighter wine portion of the tasting with the 2016 Rosewell Sangiovese Rose. it is the only wine on the tasting menu that comes from grapes outside of Santa Barbara County. The winemaker procured the grapes from a friend's vineyard in Sierra Foothills. It was a dry and robust rose, with a subtle cherry finish. It was tasty and would be perfect for a cool weather picnic one of Santa Barbara's beaches.

As I was tasting Area 5.1's fun wines, I asked Eric where the idea for the alien theme came from. He explained that the founders were from Australia and when they moved to Santa Barbara they received Green Cards that categorized them as Alien Residents. They found this concept funny and decided they would run with the "Alien Winemaker" theme for their winery. I had a good time chatting with Eric, talking about the winery as well as my travels to Europe to taste wines there as well.

After this fun story, Eric poured me my first red wine of the tasting. It was an earthy GSM blend called Collusion. It was light on the fruit with a balance of high acidity and tannins. It didn't have quite smooth flavors I was hoping for from this blend, but it would be a good appetizer wine to go with some stinkier cheeses.

Last up was the 2015 Conspiracy Red blend. This was a sweet and spicy wine with hints of vanilla. For those who shy away from high tannin, or puckery wines, this is for you. It had delicate flavors of sweet berries and was my favorite wine of the tasting. This was a wine that would satisfy a diverse group of drinkers.

Overall I really enjoyed my tasting at Area 5.1 and I plan to be back with friends. It is a fun little bar with great music and fun wines. I felt that the wines were well priced while having unique and tasty flavors. These are wines to bring to a party and enjoy with friends.  If you like sweeter wines with unique blends of grapes, you should check out Area 5.1 in Santa Barbara's Funk Zone!

- Visited on October 5th, 2018.