Santa Barbara Urban Wine Trail Update

I wanted to give an update on my Santa Barbara Urban Wine Trail project since my original post.

Short Story

I am a self proclaimed wine lover who has tasted at wineries in Southern Oregon, Northern California (Napa, Sonoma, Livermore and Monterey), as well as abroad (Argentina, France, Italy and Portugal).

When I moved back to Santa Barbara in 2018, I set out to visit all of the Wine Trail wineries, I did not quite make it to all in the first year. So I am still “working” away at the SB wine trail list.

What I have learned so far:

1. It is the still absolutely the best deal in Santa Barbara. $3 tastings at NOW 35 local wineries! Up from the original 28. Go buy a card NOW!!!!
2. Santa Barbara has a lot of super high quality wine makers. I have also found a fair share of mediocre wineries that are riding the wave of Santa Barbara’s reputation and charging crazy amounts for meh wine. 
3. There is something here for everyone. While I love the traditional styles of Santa Barbara (Syrah, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir), I have visited many producers making really unique and unexpected wines here.

Santa Barbara is truly a wine lover’s dream with so many different wineries and styles all here in one spot!

Long Story

I was through 18 of the 28 official urban wine trail tasting rooms when I finally made my way to Summerland Winery, sadly not yet to taste, but to buy a bottle of wine for a work event.

I was chatting with the wine-tender, trying a couple of their white wines to decide which to buy, when he asked if I had been to any of the other wineries in SB. I told him about this project and how Summerland Winery was one of the last few on my list. That is when he dropped the knowledge that the Santa Barbara Urban Wine Trail had expanded.

There are now 35 wineries that are part of “Santa Barbara’s” wine trail. Including new additions in Goleta and Montecito.

Here is the list as of August 2019 of all the tasting rooms that are part of the wine trail:

1. Santa Barbara Winery – Visited on March 2, 2018
2. Jaffurs Wine Cellars – Visited on September 7, 2019
3. Whitcraft Winery- Visited on October 5, 2018
4. Oreana Winery
5. Carr Winery – Visited on October 5, 2018
6. Kunin Wines
7. Margerum Wine Company – Visited on October 28, 2018
8. Silver – Visited on October 14, 2018
9. Summerland Winery
10. Municipal Winemakers – Visited on August 20th, 2019
11. Au Bon Climat – Visited on October 4, 2018
12. Deep Sea – Visited on October 6, 2018
13. Grassini Family Vineyards – Visited on October 14, 2018
14. Pali Wine Company – Visited on February 10, 2019
15. Sanguis
16. Area 5.1 Winery – Visited on October 5, 2018
17. The Valley Project
18. Fox Wine Co. -Visited on February 13, 2018
19. Riverbench Vineyard
20. Sanford Winery – Visited on October 13, 2018
21. Happy Canyon Vineyard – Visited on December 15, 2018
22. Lafond Winery
23. Jamie Slone Wines – Visited on November 17, 2018
24. Cebada Vineyard – Visited on February 24, 2019
25. DV8 Cellars – Visited on November 2, 2018
26. Babcock
27. CA’ Del Grevino – Visited on January 5, 2019
28. Paradise Springs Winery
29. Melville Winery
30. Frequency Wine Co.
31. Samsara Wine Co.
32. Barden
33. Potek Winery – 1st visit on August 10, 2019; 2nd visit Sept 1, 2019 
34. J. Wilkes
35. Folded Hills

The card is still only $162 total ($150 plus tax) (as of 2/26/21). Making it an absolute steal as you get 1 free tasting at each winery and 10% off your purchase if you so choose. This comes out to a measly $3 per tasting! Most of the tastings in Santa Barbara are $15-$20. You can get your own card HERE. I will be getting it again once Covid is under control!

Since I learned about the new additions I have visited a few more tasting rooms, both new and old to the list. I have a bit of a backlog of blog posts to finish up, but I will continue to post my tasting notes of each winery!

Cheers!

– Alan Evans