About Sipping Santa Barbara

Visiting a wine region for the first time is exciting but can also be a daunting experience. It can be challenging to remember and make sense of the appellations, geographical characteristics, soil types, and climate differences. On top of that, wine lovers need to consider how to spend their limited amount of time sifting through the many wines and wineries.

This book is meant to be an introduction to the wines of Santa Barbara County. It will provide the pertinent information to maximize your time in Santa Barbara. Through this book, the readers will be armed with information to get them started on exploring the wines and identify the types of wines that they might enjoy. From there, they’ll be able to branch out on their own and create their self-guided wine tour in Santa Barbara County.

What You Will Learn

An introduction to Santa Barbara Wine Country, including the history, region’s layout, climatic features, geographical distinctions, wine grape varieties planted, and the who’s who.

Impressions of Santa Barbara wineries: A summary of more than 50 top wineries in Santa Barbara, their house styles, contact details, and Google Maps geolocations.

Restaurants and wine bars: Over 20 recommendations on where to eat and drink.

Wine recommendations: Specific wineries and wines to try, along with wine tasting notes.





Bonus! Antonio and Jeni Moretti are the proprietors of Moretti Wine Co. and the wine shop called Taste of Sta. Rita Hills, which doubles up as a tasting room for the winery. A visit to their wine shop is a real treat as Antonio and Jeni are passionate about sharing their wine knowledge. Also, the shop offers a wide selection of wines by the glass and most of these wines are from elusive wineries that don’t have a tasting room or are hard to make an appointment with. We recommend that you make this place your first wine-tasting stops in Santa Barbara in order to receive a personal orientation to the wines from this region! Thanks to Antonio and Jeni, who have shown tremendous support for this book, Taste of Sta Rita Hills will be offering a free wine tasting for one person with every copy of Sipping Santa Barbara purchased . Please show your book to claim this gift.

Testimonials

Charine and Matthew have captured Santa Barbara Wine Culture with passion and aplomb, making recommendations that are amazingly sympatico with my local favorites. As a Santa Barbara winemaker since 1994, I offer enthusiastic praise for ‘Sipping Santa Barbara’ and would offer it to friends and family as a one-stop guide for planning and executing an amazing trip to one of the most underrated and bucolic wine regions on planet earth. If this publication doesn’t get you fired up for a trip to our Wine Country, nothing will! Wes Hagen Winemaker & Raconteur / J. Wilkes Wines, Santa Maria, CA Being from Santa Barbara, I have a lot to say when the topic of Santa Barbara wine producers comes up in conversation. Sipping Santa Barbara is going to be the primary source document I recommend everyone pick up when desiring to learn more about Santa Barbara Wine Country. From the formative producers to the most important newcomers, Charine Tan & Dr. Matthew Horkey paint a full picture of the diverse winegrowing that happens from the Southern tip to the Northern most point of Santa Barbara County. Matthew Kaner Wine Director & President / Will Travel For Wine, INC // Covell Wine Bar // Augustine Wine Bar // Dead or Alive Bar // AM/FM Wines // Good Measure