Michael Brughelli’s 2019 wines – out just last week – are more than just the second release of his eponymous label. They feel a lot like a rousing encore performance. The Brughelli wines received critical acclaim early. His inaugural launch, a 2018 pinot noir and a 2018 chardonnay, saw scores high in the 90+ stratosphere […]

Santa Barbara’s big culinary takeover next week is actually two years in the making. Taste of Santa Barbara, presented by the Santa Barbara Culinary Experience in partnership with the Julia Child Foundation, was originally scheduled for May of 2020, and then the world shut down. Rescheduled to this month – May 16 to 22 – […]

“People do tell me – ‘Wait, I thought you said you’d never do pinot!’” jokes winemaker Larry Schaffer. We’re chatting inside his sleek Tercero tasting room in downtown Los Olivos. And he’s pouring me his latest release: pinot noir. Schaffer’s Tercero label has always been a bastion for imaginative, thoughtful Rhône wines. And his approach […]

This month marks a major milestone for travel to Ireland: one of the most popular European destinations for American travelers dropped all entry restrictions on March 7th and, last week, celebrated St. Patrick’s Day publicly for the first time since 2019. For a famously gregarious people, a momentous occasion indeed. I was there to cover […]

Two of our favorite pastimes have plenty to offer on their own. Drinking great wine enhances everything from consumption to conversation. Listening to music we love can lift our spirits and set the mood. Both also make us feel good. But what about putting these two actions together? And I’m talking about beyond just turning […]

I’ve discovered the perfect afternoon sipper – Rusack Vineyards just released its 2021 Boundless Mission ($28), a wine that is, quite literally, history in a bottle. The mission grape was brought over to the Americas in the 1700s by Spanish Catholic missionaries who didn’t want to go without table and sacramental wine along the way. […]

It’s all about skin contact! An apropos start of a story about Valentine’s Day, I guess. But we’re talking wine here, and those pink sippers that look and smell and taste so pretty, they’re sure to be our go-to thirst quenchers this Valentine’s Day. That seductive hue is, indeed, the product of calculated contact between […]

Pinot noir buffs from all over the world have their eyes – not to mention, their taste buds – set squarely on Santa Barbara. After a COVID-driven virtual-only experience last year, and a truncated live event at the pandemic’s onset in March of 2020, the World of Pinot Noir (WOPN) is making a big in-person […]

One of Santa Barbara’s most prolific wine producers just expanded its impressive portfolio. Miller Family Wine Company, with brands from high-end Bien Nacido to mainstream Butternut, premiered the Hand on Heart label earlier this month. What makes these wines unique is the alcohol – there isn’t any. Hand on Heart inaugural wines, with a launch […]

Wine Pioneer Jim Clendenen Passes Santa Barbara County lost one of its most prominent champions in 2021. Jim Clendenen passed away May 15 at age 68. His ebullient, electric personality was certainly a Clendenen calling card, much like his undulating blond hair and steady parade of loud shirts. “It’s funny, I always think that winemakers […]

The Martini. The Old Fashioned. The Manhattan. Names steeped in cocktail lore, each a classic, stirred cocktail (despite a famous, suit-wearing movie spy who requests his martini shaken, not stirred). As the temperature dips and the holiday gatherings commence, I find myself reaching for a spirit-forward, stirred sip that livens the tastebuds and hastens the […]

“We are a community of dreamers,” Anthony Yount tells me as we sip al fresco on the Denner Vineyards patio, overlooking a landscape of green, undulating hills and dozens of acres of proprietary vines. I’d asked the winemaker what he feels makes the Paso Robles wine world unique. He went on to find a silver […]

Some of the best Napa Valley cabernet I’ve had in a long time comes from right here in Santa Barbara. The merits of Addendum, a high-end boutique label launched by the Fess Parker Winery team in 2014, hinge on its fruit sources. Fact is that the Los Olivos-based winery has forged relationships with some of […]

One of the sexiest cocktail bars in Santa Barbara just became the merriest. Pearl Social — a consistently great place to sip and be seen in the heart of Santa Barbara’s Funk Zone — is now part of what’s become a global Christmastime phenomenon. They call it Miracle. And it officially makes Acme Hospitality’s landmark […]

After all the holiday gatherings that were cancelled last year, Thanksgiving will take on extra special meaning in 2021. More pressure, perhaps, to find that perfect wine to pair with turkey and all the trimmings. But a sigh of relief, for many, that someone else is willing to do the cooking. Here are a few […]

The appeal of Rusack Vineyards’ brand new 2019 Sauvignon Blanc ($26) has a lot to do with a clone called musqué. Referred to as “clone 27” in the biz, it’s well-known for its powerful perfume. “We’re going for a really aromatic white wine style,” winemaker Steve Gerbac told me this week. “We want you to […]

Her new label, Turning Tide, marks a significant shift for winemaker Alisa Jacobson. As director of winemaking for 19 years for the mega producer Joel Gott, she oversaw the production of some 1.6 million cases of wine a year. With her new pet project, she’s spearheading a far smaller output of right around 1,000 cases […]

A Montecito importer is commemorating Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death with the launch of a limited-edition wine. The 2018 “Ruth” Special Edition Roussanne is an organic white wine produced in France. It’ll officially become available on September 18, to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the passing of the revered Supreme Court justice. Justice Ginsburg served […]

When Travelzoo surveyed its 16 million U.S. member base early this summer, gauging comfort levels around events and activities, 34% said they were ready to attend a wine festival. And as the summer’s rolled on, and as vaccinations have increased, that number, even while tempered by the emergence of COVID-19 variants, has grown. That’s a […]

One of the newest spots to eat in town is a longstanding destination all its own. The Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club is one of the oldest of its kind in the U.S., and its polo season, which runs May through October and lures a sophisticated crowd to both play and watch from all […]

Much of the storied reputation of Bien Nacido Vineyards stems from the scrupulous involvement of its owners. Brothers Bob and Steve Miller planted Bien Nacido — “well born” in Spanish — in 1973, a rolling plot in the Santa Maria Valley whose rocky soils and cool climate would go on to create one of the […]

Winemaker Sherman Thacher prefers to chill some of his reds and to use them, even, to shift between courses at dinner. “If you’re going from appetizers to something heartier, and maybe going from a white wine to a red, and you’re sitting outside, maybe barbecuing, a chilled red can really be a great transition,” he […]

Among the unexpected silver linings of the pandemic? The fact that the appeal of living in Santa Barbara’s South Coast has surged, and surged in a big way. An enclave like Montecito is not all that far from the urban sprawl of Los Angeles, where a pandemic-inspired exodus continues. But, as so many residents and […]

As I make my way through the private gated community, and up the driveway that snakes through Kimsey Vineyard, the wind begins to pick up in earnest. It’s 3 pm, and the breeze, in its crescendo, is making the vines sway in the bright afternoon sun. This is a regular phenomenon, it turns out — […]

A new club launched by the wine team at the Rosewood Miramar Beach is aiming to elevate your at-home quaffing experience. The new Miramar Collective is a chance for fans of the Miramar experience — and any fan of fine wine — to access bottles whose premium caliber mirrors the wine list at Caruso’s, the […]

For the wine program at the San Ysidro Ranch, 2021 has been a very good year. The lucrative wine selection at the landmark luxury resort was completely destroyed when mudslides roared across the Montecito foothills in 2018. Millions of dollars in some of the world’s very best wine — more than 12,000 bottles and a […]

The Santa Barbara wine industry — and the wine world as a whole — lost one of its superstars when Jim Clendenen died over the weekend. He passed away at his home in Buellton, in his sleep. He was 68. Wine aficionados who did not know him personally certainly knew his wine, especially his flagship […]

As we begin to push out of this pandemic, and as the light at the end of the tunnel grows brighter, many Americans are taking stock of how their drinking habits have changed over the last year. As one would guess, the angst and anxiety wrought by many months of lockdowns, restrictions, and Zoom calls […]

Timing has a lot to do with rosé. That pink color – an alluring hue that can range from salmon to blush – is the by-product of grape juice and grape skins coming in contact for a few hours, or for a day, maybe two or three, until just enough tint bleeds into the wine. […]

Pinot noir lovers normally have the first weekend in March highlighted on their calendars. After all, it’s a weekend usually dedicated to the World of Pinot Noir (WOPN), the annual gathering of winemakers and wine consumers who fete Burgundy’s most famous red grape. Launched in 2001, the event has been held at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara […]

When I launched my wine writing career in Santa Barbara some 20 years ago, Jeff Wilkes was one of the first personalities I came to know. His enthusiasm for the wines he shared with me was infectious. And his energy and sense of humor made him a fantastic wine sipping companion. Wilkes was a salesman […]

Annual Promo Takes on Extra Significance in 2021 Restaurant Weeks is a yearly promotion by the Santa Ynez Valley dining scene. It’s weeks, plural – two full weeks of prix-fixe menus and value pricing that highlight the remarkable food and wine options to be found in the six charming towns that define Santa Barbara’s wine […]

The latest honor for winemaker Greg Brewer is a perk for Santa Barbara County, too: it’s the first time a Santa Barbara-based vintner has been named Winemaker of the Year by the popular publication, Wine Enthusiast. “The accolade is flattering because my name is on it,” Brewer said last week after the award was announced. […]

Winemaker Paul Lato says, “there’s a really big gap between 99 and 100.” The celebrated vintner, a Polish native who was a sommelier in Canada before he moved to the Central Coast in 2002, has earned many coveted scores for wines under his eponymous label, along with a fervent consumer following. But 100 points for […]

Alisos Canyon Gains AVA, the seventh for Santa Barbara County Santa Barbara vintners are celebrating the feds’ decision last week to designate Alisos Canyon as an American Viticultural Area, the seventh for the county. This new AVA covers 5,774 acres nestled in the Los Alamos Valley, roughly between the Santa Ynez and Santa Maria Valleys. […]

An important change of the guard at Folded Hills: the winery has hired a new winemaker. Michael Brughelli brings a diverse background to the Folded Hills project, which operates a sprawling estate and vineyard off Highway 101 in Gaviota and an elegant tasting room in Montecito. The 38-year-old Nipomo resident gained particular acclaim with Scar […]

Sarah Boggs likes to reminisce about living out her formative years in New Orleans. “People were constantly outside, constantly enjoying neighbors and friends, constantly going to festivals,” she recalls. “And they were always drinking!” Her move to Santa Barbara provided much of the same: an outdoor-driven lifestyle and plenty of good wine to drink. “We’re […]

The grinding halt wrought by a virus sprinting across the globe has certainly not spared the Santa Barbara wine industry. These are businesses that depend on foot traffic, on one-to-one connections, on personalized experience. Shut that down, as the recent mandate by Governor Newsom (understandably) did, asking all wineries and tasting rooms to temporarily close, […]