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Santa Barbara County
Santa Barbara Wine Country is a unique wine growing region located in the area of Santa Barbara County, California. Santa Barbara is bounded by Ventura County to the east and San Luis Obispo County to the north and is a 90 minute drive from the urban center of Los Angles. The county has over 21000 acres of vines and over 100 wineries. The Santa Ynez and San Rafael mountain ranges within the county provides variable micro-climates and greatly differing soil types that allow a huge number of grapevine varietals to be grown in a small area. Santa Barbara is one the coolest wine growing region in California, bathed by rolling coastal fogs and ocean breezes that cause the grapes to develop slowly resulting in grapes of fuller flavor which produce quality wines. It should be noted that only half the grapes grown in Santa Barbara are used by wineries in the county. The rest is shipped all over the state, so do not be surprised if you find a wine not from Santa Barbara using the county's grapes. Santa Barbara has four wine growing regions, three of which have archived status of American Viticultural Area or AVA for short. The regions are Santa Maria Valley (AVA), Santa Rita Hills (AVA, this appellation was renamed Sta. Rita Hills for legal reasons), the Santa Ynez Valley (AVA) and Los Alamos (which has not received AVA status yet). There are more than 100 wineries in Santa Barbara country. Santa Barbara Wine Country
Santa Barbara Winery, established in 1962 is the oldest in winery in the county. This winery is only two blocks from the beach and is open from 10 am to 5 pm every day. There are great restaurants in the Santa Barbara country and of course so many wineries you do you take it all in? I suggest using a wine trail, what’s a wine trail your may ask? A wine trail is a tour of several different wineries in a region and includes wine tasting and other activities. There are official two wine trails within the Santa Barbara County, the Foxen Canyon Wine Trail and the Santa Ynez Wine Trail. The Foxen Canyon Wine Trail is a scenic drive through some beautiful country and has over 12 wineries on the tour. The Santa Ynez Wine Trail is a little less scenic but has 14 wineries on the list and you could end your day exploring the picturesque Solvang. There are several websites that have much more detailed information on Santa Barbara Wine Country, here are a few: (the Santa Barbara County Vintners Association web site) www.santabarbara.com/winecountry/trails/santayneztraile www.foxenwinetrail.com www.sbwines.com (very Detailed)
Santa Barbara County (top of page)
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