20+ years on, the film Sideways has had an indelible impact on the wine world: from changes in the popularity of varieties, inspiring new wine lovers, and increasing the local tourism in Santa Barbara County wine country. That’s why I call it “Sideways Country.”
Sideways Wine Country 101
Generally when I say Santa Barbara County wines or Sideways Country, we’re talking about the AVA’s of Santa Maria Valley, Santa Ynez Valley, Santa Rita Hills, Ballard Canyon and Happy Canyon. More recently, the Los Olivos District and Los Alamos area (called Alisos Canyon) have been added as AVA’s. I would also include any vineyards, wineries and tasting rooms between the above AVA’s and Santa Barbara along with Santa Barbara City itself. For example, I went to Ojai Vineyards this time, which is outside the above AVA’s and in Ventura County. In the past, I also went to Au Bon Climat’s tasting room in Santa Barbara City.
To make things more complicated, it’s not too far to continue north to San Luis Obispo County, which I wrote about last year or even Paso Robles if you really wanted to do all of them in one wine tasting trip. I wouldn’t consider those parts of “Sideways Country,” but all of the places I’ve mentioned so far could be labeled as Central Coast wines with other AVA’s and sub-AVA’s within them. Thus, it’s not so uncommon for producers from all these places to source grapes from each other too, so just because one has a winery or tasting room located in one AVA, it doesn’t mean they don’t source their wine from other AVA’s or wine regions within the Central Coast.
Solvang
Although there are wineries spread out all over, a lot of the established wineries are located northeast of the 101, which is where I did most of my tastings last time I went in 2018. Some of these wineries like Foxen and Fess Parker were where they filmed the tasting scenes if that’s what you’re interested in. However, it’s also easy just to go to the tasting rooms of these wineries and smaller producers who don’t have their own winery, which are located in the various towns like Los Olivos, Buellton, Lompoc, Los Alamos and Solvang.
As you must already know, Sideways Country is known for their Pinot Noir but also their Chardonnay and Syrah. Other Rhone varieties, Sangiovese and others are starting to be produced along with Cab and other Bordeaux varieties, mainly in Happy Canyon (I reviewed a Star Lane Cab a while back from here). I also got to taste some rare hybrid grapes at Ojai (see notes below).
Other Things to Do
Of course, there are some great places to eat. For example, Sideways fans will want to check out the Hitching Post II in Buellton. In addition, you’ll probably want to taste their wines at their next-door tasting room, at the bar or with your food at the restaurant. They even produce a Merlot, which seems sacrilegious given the film. Right down the road is the ostrich farm Ostrichland, where you can feed emus and ostriches. Another restaurant featured in Sideways is the Wine Merchant Cafe in Los Olivos. This is where the 4 main characters have dinner just after Miles launches expletives about Merlot. 
There’s the Danish influenced town of Solvang with its many decorative non-functioning windmills and Danish bakeries. The Solvang Restaurant is also featured in the film. Here you can get Danish dishes including their famous pancake balls called Aebleskivers.
There’s golf. There’s horseback riding with beautiful views of the hills and Pacific. There’s whale watching along the Channel Islands. You can catch boats from the Santa Barbara Harbor. There’s an Indian Casino and Chumash Indian Museum. There’s also great fishing near Ojai at Lake Casitas along with a water park during the summer. Closer to Solvang and Los Olivos is the Cachuma Lake where there’s also fishing. 
My Trip
This being my second trip and given our accommodations based in Solvang, I decided to focus on wineries I wanted to try with tasting rooms nearby. I had gone to some of the actual wineries last time, so tasting rooms would be enough for a no-frills wine geek like me. I found several I was interested in all within a block from each other in Los Olivos, which is just 10 minutes from Solvang. Because we also went fishing in Lake Casitas, I checked out Ojai Vineyards. Since it was still winter and around the time of the Superbowl, it wasn’t crowded, but some tasting rooms were closed.
Below I’ll recap some of my tasting experiences and add some tasting notes of local wines I drank at the hotel. A few on my list that were closed or we didn’t have time for at Los Olivos were: Donnachadh, Lumen, Dragonette and Brewer-Clifton. The Taste of Santa Rita Hills Tasting Room is also a good place to go to try a variety of producers in the region, but they were closed when I came by too. There were so many good wineries to choose from, so I had to limit myself. Plus, I tried to choose places I hadn’t gone last time.
Winery & Tasting Notes
Samsara Tasting in Los Olivos
I came for their Pinots, which I had heard good things about. They didn’t disappoint, but their Syrahs are pretty good too.
2023 Bentrock Vineyard Santa Rita Hills Chardonnay – 100% Neutral barrel for 17 months. Only 4 barrels made. Savory nose mix of spice and leesy notes with a tiny bit of vanilla. Partial malolactic. Medium-bodied. Super high acid. Spice. Salinic. Bentrock is owned by the Hilt and Jonata owner. Intense and vibrant. The nose could open up more 93+
2023 Rancho La Viña Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir – 67% whole cluster. 10% new oak for 10 months. 8 barrels made. Pretty nose of flowers and red fruit. Mild spice. Earthy notes. The palate is tense, ripe with medium acidity. Great feel and good balance. Tannins are soft but give enough structure. Light but powerful. Should improve. 94+
2022 La Encantada Vineyard Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir – 55% whole cluster. 40% new oak. Only 5 barrels made. More spiced and savory on the nose. More acidity. Darker fruit profile. But still well balanced. More tannic structure. This one will age a while. 93+
2022 Our Lady of Guadalupe Vineyard Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir – 40% whole cluster. 50% new oak for 11 months. Sort of in between the first 2. Plenty of oak spice notes. Some floral but less than la Viña. More red fruit than the La Encantada but less acidity but more tart than the Rancho La Viña and more structure. Vineyard owned by Dave Phinney. 93
2022 Cuvée d’Inspiration Santa Barbara County – Syrah 55, Grenache 36 and Mourvedre 9. 75% whole cluster. 100% neutral barrels for 22 months. 10 barrels produced. Dark and red fruit. Medium acid. Savory olive and meaty notes. Tannins are soft. A yummy wine. Most savory of the wines so far. 92
2022 Zotovich Vineyard Santa Rita Hills Syrah – Sandy soils. 90% whole cluster. 100% neutral oak 22 months. Like the previous one but all about the savory, spicy and dark fruit and little red fruit. Higher alcohol. More structure. Acidity is still good though. Northern Rhone-ish. 93
2021 John Sebastiano Vineyard Santa Rita Hills Syrah – More red fruit but also more alcohol. Rounder. More meaty. More tannins. 92+
Stolpman Tasting in Los Olivos
I chose Stolpman to try less traditional varieties and styles. Their Sangiovese is definitely one of the better Californian Sangioveses I’ve tasted.
2024 Sauvignon Blanc Estate Santa Barbara County – Baked green, herbal notes. Fresh and easy. Citrus. Some salinity on the backend. Clean and easy to drink. 90
2024 Unfiltered Sauvignon Blanc – This is bigger, fuller riper, less acidic. A little bitter on the backend. Different style. 89
2024 Syrah Estate – Ripe, round with high-Ish alcohol. Nice big fruit up front. Some floral. Some soy. Lower acid. Not obviously Syrah. Some tannins.More of a crowd pleaser relative to the Syrah we just tasted at Samsara but it’s not over the top. Just less Northern Rhone-ish than the Samsara. 90
2024 Uni Chardonnay Roussanne (60/40) – Round, some vanilla and oak spice. Medium-low acid. Apple and peach. Midpalate lacking some. 89
2023 Cuandrilla Especial – Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, a bit of Sangiovese – Darker than the straight up este Syrah. Similar style. Fruity, dark and ripe with some soy savory notes. A little meaty. Way more tannic than the este Syrah. 90
2025 Vin Gris Rosé – Dark pink color. Gamay and Trousseau 50/50 – Somewhat funky, herbal nose. Ripe strawberry and cranberry fruit. Tangy. Somewhat tannic for a rosé. 90
2022 Sangiovese Estate Ballard Canyon – 18 months mostly neutral oak. Pretty and rather typical cherry notes with decent acidity. Herbal and spice notes. Not too far off from Tuscany. Tannic. Needs food now or more aging. 92+
2024 Gamay Noir Estate Ballard Canyon – Feels like some carbonic. Fruity. Light. Round. Some herbal notes. Some tannins but relatively soft. 89
2023 La Croce Syrah Sangiovese (50/50 co-fermented in concrete) – Dark and red fruit. Tannic. Plus alcohol but generally kept in check. Spice. Mint. Good length. Similar flavor profile to the other estate Syrah based wines but more refined. 92+
2023 Crunchy Roastie Syrah (95/5 Syrah/Viognier) – Carbonic Maceration. Fruity, floral, yeasty. Some spice and meatiness. Softer and juicier than the estate based Syrahs. 91
Love you Bunches Red – Sangiovese with carbonic maceration. You get the fruity side of carbonic but keeping the acidity, herbal side and tannins of their regular Sangiovese. Great deal at 20 bucks. 91
Tensley Tasting in Los Olivos
I knew this place made great Syrah from previous experiences, but the owner is one of the few trying to make fine wine accessible to the masses by offering $1 tasting experiences, which is unheard of in California and increasingly more wineries around the world. Sideways Country is cheaper than Napa and Sonoma on average for tastings, but it’s still not cheap. Tastings were typically $30-50. In terms of all the Syrah tasted from the 3 tasting rooms in Los Olivos, I like the Samsara style better but the Tensley ones are impressive and restrained enough. They could still pass for a riper Rhone producer in certain vintages but definitely more New World but not over the top. The Stolpman Syrah was the least Rhone-ish but still not super modern either.
2023 Clairette Blanche Santa Barbara County – 80% Clairette Blanche with 10% Viognier and 10% Roussanne. White floral nose. Medium-bodied. Banana. Peach. Low acid but stays fresh. Alcohol somewhat high though. 168 cases made. 89
2024 Nolan Red Blend – Syrah, Mourvedre, Petite Sirah – Ripe purple fruit and flowers with black pepper. Smooth tannins. 240 cases made. Decent length. An easy going Syrah. 91
2024 Tensley Vineyard Syrah – From Tensley’s house in Los Olivos. More gamey and leathery on the nose. Fruit is ripe and round. Easy to drink. Well managed phenolic. Sort of in between in style between Stolpman and Samsara. Samsara is more Northern Rhone with the whole clusters and higher acid while Tensley is still more fruit driven but more structured and restrained than Stolpman. More drinkability young than Samsara but still potential to develop. 93+ 
2024 Colson Canyon Vineyard Syrah – Both Syrahs have neutral oak and no whole clusters. Similar style as the Tensley Vineyard but a step up in intensity, ripeness and more noticeable alcohol. Violets. Dark berry fruit. Licorice. More tannic than the Tensley too. Equal amount of savoriness. More length. 95+
Ojai Vineyards Tasting in Ojai, Ventura County
I’ve liked their standard wines in the past, but I came mostly because of their relatively new, unique use of hybrid grapes. Ojai works with UC Davis to make and test hybrid grapes resistant to disease (specifically Pierce’s Disease), more sustainable and more easily farmed organically grapes by mixing Vitis vinifera and Vitis arizonica grapes of different varieties. Their estate red is made from the hybrid Paseante Noir, which is a cross 50% Zinfandel, 25% Petite Sirah, 12.5% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Vitis Arizonica from the southwest US. Their estate white is made of two hybrids: Ambulo Blanc (62.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12.5% Carignane, 12.5% Chardonnay and Vitis Arizonica) and Caminante Blanc (also 62.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12.5% Chardonnay, 12.5% Carignane and Vitis Arizonica). They don’t use GMO tech. They use traditional hybridization techniques. These are among 5 hybrids released by UC Davis in 2020. 
2024 Picpoul Nolan Ranch Santa Barbara County – Nose is more savory while the palate medium-light bodied and fresh and citrusy. Neutral oak but there’s a spiciness to the nose and the back end. 90
2024 Estate White 60% Ambulo Blanc, 40% Caminante Blanc. Nose is shy but there’s some honey. Herbal. Some white floral notes. Apple and pear skin. Medium-bodied. Medium-low acid. Finish is savory and chalky 6 months on lees in neutral oak. Complex. Different. 91+
2024 Carignan Sans Soufre Ajouté – 100% whole cluster. Native yeast and herbal notes. Round and smooth. Low acid. Dark berry fruit. Low alcohol. Easy to drink. An approachable, clean natural wine for beginners. 90
2023 Paseante Noir – 16 months in neutral oak. A little bit of whole cluster. The nose has lots of ripe dark fruit with a bit of herbal notes. Similar notes on the palate with medium+ body, low acid and noticeable tannins that would be fine with food. A fruit driven wine overall. They say it’s a local favorite and the closest they have to Bordeaux blend wine. Alcohol is a little higher but should be OK, especially with good. Overall, despite lower acid for both reds, they still keep fresh and fruity. 91+
Ojai Paseante Noir
2022 Duvarita Syrah – Loamy sandy soils. Neutral oak. Closer to the coast near Lompoc. Ripe and fruity but cooler fruit than the previous two reds. A yummy, pure fruited Syrah. Round and approachable now with round tannins. Acid is a little higher than the previous two but still only medium-low for me. 92
Other Wines Tasted
2022 Calera Pinot Noir Central Coast
Calera has been known as a great Pinot producer from the region for around 50 years. This is their entry-level Pinot. Destemmed. 10 months in 10% new oak. Rather typical Pinot nose with moderately expressive floral and red fruit notes. The palate is medium-light bodied and fairly round with medium acid. The alcohol is a little high. Ultimately, the alcohol and slightly lower acidity would help me distinguish this from Burgundy and put it somewhere in the New World but it’s still distinctly Pinot and not over the top Syrah-like Pinot. There’s a touch of oak spice as well. I would serve this chilled given the high alcohol (14.5%). Perhaps it would’ve performed better. 89
2023 Diatom Chardonnay Santa Barbara
Diatom refers to algae fossils in the soil you can find here. 100% stainless steel with no malolactic. The nose is shy but opens up slowly. There’s ripe apple, pear and banana. Lime. Leesy notes. Medium+ body. Acidity is medium-low. I was expecting more acidity and salinity because many unoaked Chardonnays try to mimic Chablis, but this still has the relative ripeness of California but not full on California ripeness but there’s still more body and lower acid than an average Chablis. 14.5% alcohol, which you don’t feel at all in terms of heat, but in its body. I like unoaked Chardonnay, but ultimately, I want more acidity to go with the rounder and bigger body that most unoaked Chardonnay don’t have but this has. Perhaps served a bit too warm for this level of wine. I think this label has been on magazine lists for best bargain wines, and at $20 it’s OK. The producer is also the same as Brewer-Clifton, which makes some highly rated Chardonnay and Pinot while Diatom is sort of their bare bones line with low intervention and no oak. I like the body and ripe fruit and some producers sacrifice those and make it all about acidity but this one lost some of the acidity in achieving the former. 89
2020 Jonata Todos Ballard Canyon
57% Syrah, 24% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petite Sirah, 6% Cabernet Franc, 3% Misc. (includes everything else they grow such as Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Sangiovese). 18% new oak. Really dark, opaque color. Nose has medium intensity dark fruit and a touch of spice. Some meaty notes. The palate is big, full and palate staining with dark fruit and some red fruit, medium acidity. Relatively round tannins. A touch of vanilla and spice. Alcohol is high and warm but not hot. Not my style in general, but if you have some BBQ or meat stew especially during the winter, I would open a bottle of this. Maybe more complexities will come out given the blend, but now it’s all about big dark fruit – quite Petite Sirah like. This is from the same owners as the Hilt and Screaming Eagle. This is usually $50+. 92
2021 Mallea GSM Santa Barbara County
44% Grenache, 42% Syrah, 14% Mourvèdre. Native yeasts. Some whole clusters. Unfiltered. A fruity, simple wine. Sort of on the low intervention side with the native yeasts but clean. More on the dark fruit side. Touch of spice. Low acid. Alcohol is a bit too high for the amount of fruit concentration. Is it past its prime or will it open up more? Fine for 10 bucks but expecting more since it’s made by the same winemakers as Tyler and Sanford and Benedict. The winemaker of Tyler, Justin Willet, also produces Lieu Dit, which I love for their Loire Valley influenced wines. This Mallea project is more Rhone Valley influenced. He has a tasting room for all these wines in Downtown Santa Barbara. 87 On the second day, I served it colder, which helped make it feel fresher and not as high in alcohol but not really the nose, which is to be expected.