Visit Santa Ynez Wineries

Some Santa Ynez wineries offer more than just wine tasting, Tour a vineyard, take a cooking class or attend a winemaking demonstration. Visiting a few Santa Ynez Valley wineries is lots of fun and highly recommended.

My mission to find the best wine tasting rooms in Santa Barbara County began with the coastal Santa Barbara wineries. After two days of wine tasting along the coast, it’s time to head over the pass and visit the Santa Ynez Valley.

The Santa Ynez Valley is a beautiful sight to see as you drive down the San Marcos Pass! The valley runs east/west along the Santa Ynez River. It is surrounded by the Santa Ynez Mountains to the south and the Purisima Hills and San Rafael Mountains to the north. Communities in the Santa Ynez Valley include Los Olivos, Ballard, Buellton, Solvang, and Santa Ynez.

Most of the wineries in Santa Barbara County are in the Santa Ynez Valley. The climate and soil composition there are perfect for growing a wide variety of wine grapes. The warmer east end is better for Cabernet and Merlot grapes. Pinot Noir, Syrah, Chardonnay and Rhône varietals prefer the cooler, western end of the valley.

One of the advantages of visiting the Santa Ynez wineries is that their tasting rooms are often in a vineyard setting. Somehow, It seems a more complete wine tasting experience when you’re able to see the grapes hanging on the vine.

There are more than 70 Santa Ynez wineries, enough for at least 20 days of wine tasting! Follow along with me as I evaluate the wine tasting rooms of the Santa Ynez Valley.

Day 3 – My First Day In The Santa Ynez Valley

My friend Bobbie & I went wine tasting in the Santa Ynez Valley one beautiful Sunday afternoon. Our first stop was Roblar Winery And Cooking School at the corner of Highway 154 and Roblar Avenue, between Santa Ynez and Los Olivos.

I intended to be more systematic about our itinerary, visiting neighboring wineries, one by one. But Bobbie had a couple of wine club shipments to pick up. So we skipped around as she introduced me to some of her favorite wineries instead. Plus wine club members and their guests always taste for free!

Our second stop was Beckmen Vineyards, a little further down Roblar Avenue and off to the left. Another beautiful vineyard, though not as grand as Roblar. After leaving Beckmen Vineyards, we got back on Highway 154 and drove into Los Olivos for our last stop, Longoria Wines. We had a great afternoon. Los Olivos is such a cute little town, I can hardly wait to go back.

As I continue exploring Santa Ynez wineries, I look forward to finding all the best Santa Barbara wine tasting rooms for you.

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