Epic Santa Barbara Winetasting Trip
November 11 to November 15, 2019

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Hey, anyone wanna go winetasting in Santa Barbara? Yes! Let's Go!

After months (weeks? days? hours?) of careful planning, we hit the road on Monday morning, November 11th, and met our friends at Samsara Winery in Goleta, which is just past Santa Barbara if you're coming from the south.



It happened to be Veteran's Day so the traffic was light going through LA. By "light" I mean there were only a few areas of stop-and-go, which for LA is good. Once you get past LA, through The Valley, and down the hill toward the ocean, the going is good!

Click here to see a video of Lorri driving!


Samsara


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Samsara has a nice new facility, just off the 101. Lorri and I were the first to arrive so we sipped on a little Chardonnay while we waited for the others.



Our friend Matt Brady is the winemaker here.



We've known Matt for quite a while from his time working at Jaffurs as well as tastings he has conducted in San Diego, not the least of which were two "Grenache-a-Ramas" here at Chez Zarina.

Click below if you want to see what those were like:

Link to Grenache-a-Rama, 2016

Link to Grenache-a-Rama, 2017




Matt took us on a tour of the winery. Holly, Pauline and Keith are listening intently!



Here Matt is explaining his fermenting techniques while standing next to his fermenting tanks, in which grapes were still bubbling, but not much.



Then we had a nice sit-down and tasted some of the (fermented) fruits of his labor.



And here is the first group photo of the trip.




Then it was on to Solvang where we all checked in to the beautiful and luxurious Wine Valley Inn



Next group photo was at Succulent Cafe where we had dinner Monday night. I don't know why they call it "Succulent Cafe". I didn't see any cactus there




The Wine Valley Inn at night

Tuesday, November 12

Tuesday was the day we spent some time exploring Los Olivos where it is said there are now over 50 tasting rooms. I don't know about that but there certainly are enough! After Los Olivos, we cruised down the scenic Ballard Canyon Road on our way to Rusack Winery.



Saw this in a store window and thought that it's a good thing that none of us act our age. That could be disastrous because some of us are pretty old! (More on oldness later.)



This is my only photo of Los Olivos from Tuesday, and this tasting room wasn't even open!



Rusack has a great deck/patio area, very scenic and perfect for a picnic lunch.



Not a bad view, eh? Most of the vines were going dormant and changing from green to golds and reds.



Getting the food ready while Greg was inside selecting a few bottles to accompany it



Cheeses, meats, salads, nuts, crackers, bread, chips; all the major food groups!



looking good!



And here are the happy winos!



Kelly seeking the perfect photo!



New oak? I don't know but it looks like they were running out of room to store their newly barreled wines.



Lots of ancient oaks around here.




Tuesday's dinner was at Mad and Vin, the restaurant at the Landsby Hotel. Great dinner!



Wednesday, November 13

Tom is the birthday boy today!



Happy Birthday, old man! Welcome to the ranks of the aged!



On Wednesday, we had a van and driver for our adventure to Dierberg/Star Lane, Foley, and Brick House!



Our visit to Dierberg/Star Lane was definitely the highlight of the trip.



Thanks to Keith and Holly and Keith's family connections, we were treated like royalty and enjoyed a reserve wine and cheese tasting in a private room!



It was all set up when we arrived



Each person even had his or her "spit" bucket!



Amazing wines and cheeses!



Chris King was a great host - knowledgeable and easy-going. "CCL" is 250 in Roman Numerals and it's the length of the legacy that the Dierberg founders are planning to establish.



I'm trying to think of all the companies I know that have a 250-year plan... Um, other than Dierberg, I'm drawing a blank. It was a great experience and fun to be part of. I asked to be adopted into the family!



This is the view looking out the front entrance.



After the tasting we followed Chris out to the vineyard where we learned more about the process and Dierberg wine-making philosophy. Chris is third from the right.



Chris is informing us about the area behind us which is one in a series of pollenating bee habitats that farmers and growers have set aside to promote a healthy bee population.



Although the vines are going dormant, the irrigation was on to water the winter "cover crop" which is planted between the rows to help replenish nutrients in the soil, protect from erosion and reduce compaction.



All in all, a very nice visit to a great winery!



On to Foley!



We had a private tasting set up at Foley also, but after Dierberg it was a little underwhelming.



Still a lot of fun, though, and our host Jordan was knowledgeable and enthusiastic! That's her in the upper right corner.



After our tasting at Foley we had our "Industrial Eats" lunch outside on their back patio overlooking the vineyard. Sorry, no photos of our lunch.



But here's one of the vines!



Then it was back in the van for our final tasting which took place at beautiful Brick Barn Buellton, baby!



This is it



The sun was sinking low and a chill was in the air...



Luckily there was a good supply of warm blankets to keep us old folks warm.



Also, the wine helped to keep us warm!



But we still liked the blankets! What did I say earlier about acting our age?



As the sun set, we piled back in Jose's truck and headed back to our hotel.



Wednesday dinner at Cecco Ristorante.


Thursday, November 14

Everyone left except Lorri and me and Greg and Kelly



G&K went off on an adventure of their own as did Lorri and I.



The Mission is an easy walk, just east of town. It was founded in 1804, at about the same time Lewis and Clark stumbled on to the shores of the Pacific Ocean a thousand miles to the north.



Some of the structure from that time still stands



Looking east from the edge of the Mission parking lot. The land turns rural in a hurry.



A little later we drove the quaint little town of Santa Ynez for some exploring and a nice lunch at Brothers in the Red Barn.



We stopped at Lincourt for a final sip of wine before heading back to Solvang.



We had a nice visit with Greg and Kelly in their chateaux Thursday evening and on Friday morning lugged all our stuff down those steps and into the trunk of our car.



Friday, November 15, heading home

And so ends a great week of good times with great friends! We had a lot of fun eating, drinking, talking, laughing, exploring, winetasting, and generally not acting our age! Let's go back!!!!


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