It was only a few weeks earlier that the wineries were filled wall-to-wall with fermentation bins and the aroma of fermenting grapes. Now, the bins are gone, the barrels are full, and fermentation is well underway. Within 5 hours, I hit 5 tasting rooms and 6 wineries searching for undiscovered Central Coast wines. Aside from Jaffurs and Kunin, I've never visited the other tasting rooms and tasted but a few of Carr's previous vintages, so this was a great opportunity to expose my palate to new wineries. Overall, I was pleased with the selection of wines on the tasting lists, but only a few wineries and wines stood out for me. Everyone should jump on the Santa Barbara Urban Wine Trail and taste these wines for yourself to find your favorites. Cheers!
Jaffurs Wine Cellars has produced highly acclaimed Rhône varietal wines from Santa Barbara County for over a decade. Jaffurs is one of my top 3 favorite Rhône producers in the Central Coast and each vintage gets better. Jaffurs sources its fruit from the best vineyards in Santa Barbara County, including Bien Nacido, Thompson, Stolpman, Larner, Ampelos and Verna's. Selections include award-winning Viognier, Roussanne, Grenache Blanc, Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre and Petite Sirah. 819 E. Montecito St., Santa Barbara. Open Fri-Sun 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. $10 Tasting Fee (glass included). (805) 962-7003
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| Jaffurs Wine Cellars |
Carr Vineyards and Winery specializes in limited production wines from Santa Barbara County. Selections includes their wide-ranging collection of Pinot Noir from vineyards throughout the Sta. Rita Hills, Pinot Gris, Grenache, Syrah and Cabernet Franc. It's always a party in the tasting room and during harvest, you can sip on Pinot Noir and watch the crew crush the next vintage. 414 N. Salispuedes St., Santa Barbara. Open daily 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (till 8:00 pm, Thurs-Sat). $10 Tasting Fee (805) 965-7985
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| Carr Winery and Tasting Room |
Kunin Wines/Westerly Vineyards share a tasting room a block from East Beach and Stearns Wharf. Kunin Wines has produced hand-crafted wines from California's Central Coast for eleven years. Westerly Vineyards focuses on Rhône and Bordeaux varietals from the Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara AVA. Kunin's selections include a spectacular, award-winning Viognier, Châteauneuf-du-Pape ("Pape Star"), Syrah and Zinfandel. Westerly's selections include Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Syrah and Merlot. 28 Anacapa St., Santa Barbara. Open daily 11:00 a.m to 6:00 p.m. $10 Tasting Fee (Kunin), $8 Tasting Fee (Westerly) (805) 963-9633
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| Kunin/Westerly Tasting Room |
Whitcraft Winery is a family-owned limited production winery specializing in Central Coast Pinot Noir. The wines are never fined, filtered or pumped. Whitcraft's wine selections include Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah. 36 A S. Calle Cesar Chavez, Santa Barbara. Open Fri-Sun 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. $8 Tasting Fee (805) 730-1680
Oreana Winery produces small lots of Pinot Noir, Syrah and blends from Santa Barbara County. The winery once housed a tire shop in this industrial section of Santa Barbara, that has become home to many other wineries. Oreana's wine selections include Chardonnay, Verdelho, Pinot Noir, Tempranillo and blends. 205 Anacapa St., Santa Barbara. Open daily 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. $10 Tasting Fee (805) 962-5857
5 comments:
As always, descriptive, concise and informative with a nice bit of humour. (Wish you wrote tasting notes!)
I visited the UWT yesterday on a mission for some viognier rec's for our buyer at my wine store. Jaffurs was by far the best, I'd already been to Kunin/Westerly but enjoyed it again, and unfortunately didn't make it to Whitcraft (but had been twice before.) However, I just have to share that Oreana is one of the worst wineries I've ever visited (and there are many) with a horrible tasting room staff and insultingly bad wine.
I'm surprised you included them - I had read this summary before our trip and thought it might be worth the stop, but I fully regret it (so does my stomach.)
Seems to me to be a "buy the run off and ferment it" winery...even my less experienced friends were appalled by the wine we were poured. I do know that the "?" and the "Happy Face" wines they produce are sold to Trader Joe's. Thoughts? Again, I don't mean to write anything but honest commentary - I'd rather have drank a spit bucket full of Two Buck Chuck over the selections at Oreana. Any day.
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You missed Summerland, Municipal and Kalyra ... Why?
BTW-- Erin-- You are right on with your review of Oreana. Also skip Giessinger. It is easily twice as bad as Oreana.
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