Which community should I go to in Santa Barabara County for wine tasting?

[smile]

There are several areas with vinyards and wineries in SB....a couple i can think of are solvang, and los olivos..and there are several more areas/communities. I know that there are several wineries/vinyards in each community.

From all of the communities that you know of..which do you recommend?

Please Don't just list websites, I want your opinion based on experience.

[cabindweller]

Solvang and Los Olivos are both quite different. Los Olivos is more posh and boutique-y, with a kind of haute country flair. Solvang is touristy/cheesy but fun, with windmills, fudge shops, teddy bear shops, etc.. Both of them have plenty of wine shops for tastings, and you can get a map of the nearby vineyards. The towns are about 6 miles away from each other. The vineyards are spread out all over the place between and around the two towns.

Our favorite weekend itinerary is to stay in Solvang, spend the first day walking around to the wine tasting rooms in town, have abelskivers (a local snack specialty), and have dinner at The Hitching Post (as seen in Sideways - very yummy food - try the grilled artichokes). A no driving day.

Then on the second day, go over to Los Olivos for lunch at the Los Olivos Cafe and more wine tasting, and visit a couple of the vineyards while we're out and about.

[db14]

I had a great winetasting experience in Solvang. There were a couple of vineyards on the drive there that we stopped at too. We took the road by Lake Cachuma from Santa Barbera. In Solvang there was a cool shop that let us taste pickles and olives..yum!

[Not so looney afterall]

Two of my favorites: Firestone and Cambria on the Foxen Canyon Trail, SB

Yummy! Have fun!

[raquel122203]

los olivos is my favorite

[SoCal40]

Los Olivios is a town as well as Solvang and they both have several tasting rooms with various wineries represented which you can go to. I find it more enjoyable to go directly to the wineries as I believe you wish to do. In either city you can pick up a map of the area wineries. My suggestion if you are staying in Santa Barbara is to drive the 154 to the wineries and stop at Cold Springs Tavern for breakfast. It is an old log cabin from about 1865 ??? something. An old stage coach stop actually on Stagecoach Rd. off the 154. then head north and stop at Gainey Wineries then onto Sunstone which is all organic. They both open at 10:00am on weekends then into Solvang stop and enjoy the town. Must get Danish at Olsen's Danish Bakery while your there. Rideau is another favorite winery for that region. Depending on how many days you have you can go further north to the Paso Robles/San Luis Obispo area which is even better.