With Santa Barbara so close, it’s no wonder people don’t head up there more often. Only a two hour drive up the 101, Santa Barbara county wine country is a world away. Fresh, cool air, rolling landscapes, and beautiful drives with grapevines that follow the road for miles and miles.
Some of my favorite California wines come from this area of Santa Barbara. Syrah, Pinot Noir, and the occasional Cabernet or Grenache. Whites aren’t usually my style, but I even occasionally run across a decent Chardonnay on the way.
When staying overnight in the Santa Barbara area, you can either stay in Santa Barbara or neighboring Solvang, Buellton, Santa Maria, Los Olivos or Lompoc. They are slightly cheaper, and closer to the wineries than the city of Santa Barbara.
A picnic at Melville winery is the perfect start to the weekend.
Our tour started at Melville winery, located along highway 246. Nestled among rows of vines, lavender, oak, and sycamore trees. The beautiful tasting room and picnic tables have unparalleled views of wonderful sloping landscapes covered with grape vines.
We talk to the gracious and friendly staff member pouring the wine and decide to share a tasting as it’s still early in the day and we have several wineries to hit up. Not to mention the highway was crawling with CHP over this Memorial Day weekend. Tasting rooms fees vary from winery to winery, but range from $5 to $10, and it’s perfectly acceptable to share tastings amongst your party.
After making our way through their wine list we, pick up a wax sealed bottle of pinot and syrah, and head outside to enjoy some wine with a picnic we packed with Italian meats and cheeses from Whole Foods. It was the perfect afternoon to lounge around drink wine and eat, but we had lots to taste and moved through the other wineries along that road. Foley, Babcock, (the fairly new) Star Lane, and Bedford Thompson, plucking a few bottles from each winery along the way. Melville was definitely the favorite of the bunch.
At the end of the day we head back to the hotel in Lompoc, a mostly military town, low key and unassuming. Lucky for us it’s also home of Jalama Beach Café. Location of one of Sunset Magazines best of the West for it’s burger. It’s quite surprising to see such a delicious burger find a home in Lompoc. But the Kobe burger, steamed in red wine was delicious. Topped with cheddar, grilled onions, mushrooms and mixed greens. Even the ribs were succulent, fall of the bone good. Being in wine country they have an excellent selection of wines by the bottle and glass too.
Hi! Let's eat a burger at Jalama Beach Cafe.
Stay tuned for Day 2 where we visit Saarloos, Demetria, Tres Hermanas, Kenneth Volk, Cottonwood, and grab some delicious food at Los Olivos Cafe.
28. May 2009 at 10:02 am
Burger steamed in red wine?! That sounds awesome! Could you taste or smell the wine in the burger?
28. May 2009 at 10:24 am
Yeah, slightly. It wasn’t overwhelming. But it really had that umami flavor. Savory, meaty. Delicious.