Cheers!

The girls and me at Curtis

Happy Tuesday!  Lots of people were lucky enough to have a three-day weekend due to MLK Day, but unfortunately I was not one of them.  Even though I didn’t have yesterday off, I had a great weekend with some girlfriends in Santa Barbara wine country! Well, we didn’t actually enjoy Santa Barbara proper, but rather the Santa Ynez region instead.  It was magnificent! I had such a great time, I wanted to share our intinerary.  Enjoy!

10:30 AM:  We left Los Angeles at about 8:30 and made it to Solvang in exactly two hours.  Since it was an overcast morning, the drive was nice and relaxing.  After dropping our things off at the Hotel Corque, our driver for the day - Carl - picked us up to start the festivities!

11:00 AM:  First stop: Buttonwood!  This quant, smaller tasting room was the perfect way to start the day.  Located just minutes from our the hotel, we had a glass of wine in our hands by 11:03 AM!  The tasting was $10, which included two whites, a rose and three reds.  The Cab Franc was our favorite and we each ended up purchasing a bottle to take home. The women serving us was extremely helpful (and honest) and assisted us in planning the rest of our day.  That was one thing we really noticed up in wine country… everyone was so happy!  And she let us keep our tasting glass for free.  Yipee!

11:45 AM:  Next stop: Beckman!  This is a larger vineyard that had great-quality wines.  We all went with the Reserve tasting for $15, which was quite tasty, but a little chincy due to the automatic wine pourers on all of the bottles.  The pours were still sufficient, but the plastic tops on all of the bottles lessened the overall ambiance of the tasting and made us feel like this was more of a corporate, big-box establishment – which is not really what one goes looking for when heading to wine country in an effort escape the “big city”.

Wine-taste in style! Katie at Beckman. Blazer (Steven Alan), pants (J. Crew), tee (American Apparel), bag (Mulbery), booties (Shopbop), watch (vintage Rolex).

 

1:00 PM:  Lunch time!  For lunch, we headed over to Los Olivos – a cute small town with lots of tasting rooms, galleries, etc. Panino was recommended and when we showed up, the place was packed – so we knew we had a winner.  They make really simple, fresh sandwiches and salads and we all cleaned our plates. Yum!

2:00 PM: Kaena!  We received a two-for-one tasting for Kaena from the first place we tasted (Buttonwood, with the very helpful women) and it was just a block away from Panino, so we strolled over after lunch.  The creator of Kaena originally started his winemaking at Beckman, after to moving to California from Hawaii.  We had a great time at Kaena!  The energy in the tasting room was quite vibrant and the pours were very generous.  The winemaker himself was serving us (instead of the usual tasting room rep), so we were treated to every varietal available – which was quite abundant – and also got some great lessons about the product. 

3:00 PM: On to Curtis!  By now, we were having a jolly-good time and noticing that Grenache seems to be the specialty in the Santa Ynez Valley. Curtis happens to specialize in Grenache and had heard good things, so we were excited!  Carl, our driver, also advised us that Firestone now owns Curtis (as in Andrew Firestone from The Bachelor).  But don’t let that deter you!  The grounds and tasting room were beautiful and the wine was GREAT!  I purchased the Z Cuvee, which was nice and buttery – just how I like it!

4:00 PM: Last stop: Zaca Mesa!  What a beautiful place!  We definitely saved the best for last.  Starting off with the small guy (Buttonwood) and finishing with Zaca Mesa was the perfect loop.  We loved ZM so much, we signed up for the wine club (woops!).  Now we have an excuse to go back every three to six months to pick up our wine.  They can also ship it to you for $18, but why waste the opportunity to make another trip?!

Entering Zaca Mesa

5:00 PM:  Nap time!  After Carl dropped us off back at Hotel Corque we all rested our eyes before getting ready for dinner back in Santa Ynez.

8:30 PM: Chow time at Grappolo!  Wow… what an amazing restaurant!  Like Panino, this place was packed, so we knew we were in for a treat.  Trattoria Grappolo is one of only two restaurants in the small town of Santa Ynez and it is incredible!  It’s like you’ve hopped on a plane and headed back to the freshest, simplest, most delicious part of Italy for a gorgeous meal.  The food was light and “clean” and I couldn’t understand why a restaurant of such caliber was in such a small town!  If this was located in L.A., it would probably be rated as a tip-top establishment.  All I have to say about this place is GO!

10:00 PM: Boot Scootin’ Boogie!  After din-din, we headed next door to Maverick Saloon.  This place was the real-deal, complete with live music, cowboys and stiff drinks. Be warned:  those cowboys know how to dance, so make sure to wear your dancing shoes, ladies!

Sunday: Explore Solvang!  Despite having such a fun-filled day on Saturday, we were up-and-at-‘em by 8:30 on Sunday!  We strolled through Solvang and picked up some amazing pastries at Olsen's Danish Village Bakery, had breakfast at Paula’s Pancake House (right next door) and then picked up a freshly-baked pretzel for the road (just in case we needed to nibble) at Old Danish Food Farm.  Needless to say, we had a great trip and are already looking forward to going back!