If you like richly flavored wine with an exuberant lift, then Dragonette is the tasting room to check out. All the wines are excellent and tell the characteristics of the various sources. The highlight for us is the rosé made from Grenache, Mourvèdre, and Syrah.

For some of the best examples of Pinot Noir, head to Samsara. The Samara Cargasacchi Vineyard Pinot Noir is one of our favorite Pinot Noirs of Santa Barbara Wine Country. We love how it is not overtly fruity yet still captures the Californian sun with an underlying elegance.

If you’re a big wine geek who wants to understand the appellations, geographical characteristics, soil types, and climatic features in Santa Barbara County, then J.Wilkes is a place you shouldn’t miss. Wes Hagen has been a winemaker in Santa Barbara since 1994 and is now at the helm of J.Wilkes. Wes also did the research and wrote the petitions for Sta Rita Hills, Ballard Canyon and Happy Canyon AVAs. When we visited the J.Wilkes tasting room, he was there to walk us through the maps of Sta. Rita Hills and Santa Maria Valley in greater detail than anything we could find anywhere else.

Charine Tan, Matthew Horkey, and Wes Hagen.

One thing to note is that while the operating hours are relatively uniform and that’s 11AM to 5PM, the days that each tasting room is open vary. It is also common for the rooms to be opened or closed at a different time from their official hours.

There is a notable store in town called The Los Olivos Tasting Room and Wine Shop, which features wines from producers that do not have tasting rooms or do not take visitors. We stopped in to taste some Sea Smoke wines.

Vinous diversity is the overarching theme in Los Olivos. As the town is close to the warmer areas of the Ballard Canyon and Happy Canyon AVAs, it is common to find wines made from Rhône grapes such as Syrah, Grenache, Marsanne, Roussanne, and Viognier. Happy Canyon is the source of Santa Barbara’s best Bordeaux grapes; so lovers of Sauvignon Blanc or Bordeaux-style red blends will have no problem hunting down a good tipple here. If you crave a Pinot Noir or Chardonnay, there are plenty of wineries that source grapes from the nearby Sta. Rita Hills and Santa Maria Valley AVAs.

There are a number of cafes, sandwich shops, and restaurants in town but none stands out to us like Sides Hardware and Shoes – A Brothers Restaurant. The space was converted from an old hardware and shoe store; the owners decided to keep the name and turned it into a trendy-looking, unpretentious eatery with outstanding food. We love the tacos and sandwiches there, especially the tri-tip sandwich with sweet potato fries (photo above). A new restaurant called The Bear and Star has popped up recently. Owned by the Fess Parker Family, it touts an interesting concept called “refined ranch cuisine”.