One of my favorite places to venture into is Santa Barbara County so this past weekend Karl and I planned to hit the wineries on the Foxen Trail in Buellton, Ca. On that day we hit 5 out 12 wineries on the trail, this gives us a reason to go back and enjoy the beautiful scenery, rolling hills and the slight scent of the ocean air.....and of course the WINE.
When we pulled into Firestone we were greeted by miles and miles of vineyards lining the estate. It took my breath away. The winery itself was very inviting and their employees were just as inviting. Their wine tasting was $10 but I suggest not to do a share tasting with your partner because it’s well worth it if you taste the reserve wine as well as the estate wine and compare syrah, Riesling, Chardonnay just to name a few. Their wines were a complete surprise to both of us; there wasn’t a wine we disliked. From their crispness of their Riesling to their boldness of their 2007 Lineage it was no wonder why we joined Firestones wine club and took home a bottle of their Riesling.
The next stop was Curtis Winery which to be honest with you didn’t look all quaint on the outside but lined up against the mountain with vineyards surrounding the grounds, we decided to try it anyways and I’m so glad that we did. The winery was so inviting, gifts lined the wall and different mustards from a local venue were out on display for people to taste and ohhhhhh myyyyy the mustard was a treat, oh and I can’t forget their truffles!! The wine tasting was $10 and for an extra $2 you can add a chocolate to your wine tasting which was a good pairing their Heritage Series Blended wines.
The next winery we came upon happens to be one of our all time favorites, the Koehler winery. The entrance is so inviting, you can’t see the winery until you cross a little bridge, a little duck Xing sign and drive up a hill to the tasting room and once you get to the top you have the most amazing view of their vineyards and the neighboring vineyards. Don’t be surprised if you are welcomed by one of their two Koehler winery cats. The tasting is $10 which includes a logo glass (we are now owners of 6 glasses)….we were both in agreement that the Estate Syrah was our favorite red, with the many layers of the dark plum and spicy finish you could only imagine how great this would taste with a nice juicy steak. The other reds we enjoyed were the Grenache, Sangiovese, and Les Trois Cepages which is a blend of the Grenache,Syarh and Mourvedre it’s certainly soft and elegant.
Our next stop was Fess Parker the home of Daniel Boone! The grounds were just lush and beautiful and the winery itself was just huge! But unfortunately for Karl and I we were very disappointed in the wine selection. Nothing we tasted tickled our palate. I ended up purchasing some cheese and sausage just to see if that would work with the wine they offered, but still we weren’t impressed. I think I was more impressed with their coonskin bottle toppers and Karl liked their coonskin etched wine glass….which we took home.
We decided to just take a short drive down the road to the next winery….well we THOUGHT it was a winery as we headed through the electric gates (which should have clued us in) we continued to drive through this amazing manicured estate, vineyards just as far as the eye could see, a lake with ducks waddling around….we finally had a hunch that maybe the winery wasn’t here and most of the wineries we had visited in the past didn’t have electric gates….that’s when we turned our car around and exited the property and then saw their sign “WINE TASTING 1.8 miles”…..which took us to Zeca Mesa a winery nestled in the hills of Los Olivos the Viognier was our ultimate favorite with the aromas of honeysuckle and white peach hint at sweetness, however this wine is dry on the palate with notes of ripe apricot which would pair up nicely with chicken, oysters or tuna.
~ Jolene aka. Oenophile
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