Comparison
Best SB Wineries
How to choose the best wineries by grape, area and the kind of tasting day you want.
Santa Barbara wine guides
Which tour actually fits you, which vineyards a day reaches, when the wine country is at its best and what a day of tastings really costs, answered from the live listings and primary sources rather than guesswork.
Choosing your wine tour
Comparison
Private Wine Tours
When a private car to yourselves actually beats a per-person tour, and how far you can customize the day.
Wineries, regions and the cellar doors
Wineries
County Wineries by Region
The whole county mapped: seven appellations, city versus valley, and how to choose which wineries to visit.
Wineries
Valley Wineries by Town
The valley's wineries mapped town by town and appellation by appellation, with what each corner pours.
Wineries
Solvang Wine Tasting
The wine-first guide to Solvang: the tasting rooms, what the valley pours here, fees, walk-ins, and using the town as a base.
Wineries
Los Olivos Wine Tasting
The walkable tasting-room village: fees, reservations, what it pours and how to get there.
Wineries
Sta. Rita Hills
The fog-cooled western appellation behind the county's best Pinot: where the wineries sit, what to taste and how to visit.
Tastings and experiences
Experiences
Santa Ynez Valley Tours
Every valley wine-tour format compared by rating, price and what the day actually covers.
Experiences
Urban Wine Trail
About twenty walkable tasting rooms near the waterfront, no car needed, and the guided walks that link them.
Experiences
Open-Air Wine Tours
No gimmick Jeep tour, but the real open-air ways to ride and taste this wine country, compared honestly.
Prices, timing and logistics
Planning
Wine Tasting Guide
How a tasting day works here: fees, reservations, tipping, seated versus walk-in, and city rooms versus valley estates.
Planning
Wine Country Map
The whole region mapped in plain language: seven appellations, city versus valley, drive times and what grows where.
Planning
Getting There
Drive times, the two routes over the range, arriving from LA, and why a driver decides most valley trips.