My wife and I have completely different tastes in wine. I chase complexity, acidity, structure. She wants something that doesn’t require three hours in a decanter and a geology lecture to enjoy. So I dragged her to Santa Barbara wine country, a region famous for exactly the kind of cool-climate, high-acid wines I love and she typically hates. Four critically acclaimed producers. Two days. Can I find a single winery we both agree on?
I’m Dustin, and I’ve tasted thousands of wines—my mission is to make wine accessible and fun for everyone by cutting through the snobbery and complication with honest, helpful reviews for non-wine people.
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🍷 WINERIES FEATURED ⬇️⬇️
Peak Ranch
Dragonette Cellars
Tyler Winery
Brewer – Clifton
📍 WHERE WE STAYED
The Landsby Hotel, Solvang
🍕 WHERE WE ATE
Industrial Eats, Buellton
Olive Hill Farm, Los Olivos
Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Cafe, Los Olivos
Cailloux Cheese Shop, Solvang
The Gathering Table, Solvang
Nella Kitchen & Bar, Los Olivos
Solvang Bakery, Solvang
TIMESTAMP
00:00:00 Intro
00:00:40 The Mission
00:01:41 Day 1 – Peak Ranch
00:04:38 Industrial Eats
00:06:12 Exploring Los Olivos
00:06:53 Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Cafe
00:07:38 Dragonette Cellars
00:09:42 Cailloux Cheese Shop
00:10:10 The Gathering Table
00:11:23 Day 2 Begins
00:11:47 Solvang Bakery
00:12:52 Tyler Winery Mae Estate
00:14:59 Nella Kitchen & Bar
00:16:29 Brewer – Clifton
00:19:16 Final Verdict
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20 Comments
Excellent Video! Thanks for sharing.
What a fantastic, fun, personal video! Loved, loved it! Hope you and your beautiful wife do these wine tours more often. And yeeeeeess salads should be chopped already!
Okay, now do Dry Creek Valley. Somehow I think you'd both be happy there 😉 (of course I say that while quaffing a Ridge Rhone field blend). Hey, if our paths should ever cross there, I'd be honored to spot you two a tasting or two.
Otherwise: Excellent video, and well worth the wait and the mastering of the technical difficulties. While I agree with you about the demonic rabbit, I have to say that your wife is even cuter than you are (and her Good Grief work is just heart-melting), so you'd better be good to her!
As far as the salads are concerned, yeah, I prefer not having to use a knife on mine, but for me flavor is everything, so what the heck.
A few of my Wine Clubs are from Santa Barbara. Did you get a chance to stop at Evan’s Ranch in Los Olivos? They are part of Gainey Winery. Evan’s Ranch produces fantastic Syrah and Pinot. Gainey produces great Chards and Pinots. My other Wine Clubs is Au Bon Climat, but their wine room is in Downtown Santa Barbara.
Great video! I love Santa Barbara County wine!
When are you going to go to Paso Robles,? The wines here are incredible! Thanks for another great video!
Great video, thanks for taking us along. You did really nice job filming and narrating the trip. Your start at Peak Ranch was hilarious. No doubt the type of situation I would get myself into.
Your wife is gorgeous! Great video! My husband and I have different preferences (he thinks white zin is delicious! )-: ) and I've exposed him to different varietals, styles, vintages, etc. and it's always fun to see his reaction compared to mine. Thanks for a great video!
Love the Diatom chardonnay! They carried it at Costco last year.
Great video now you have us wanting to plan a trip to Santa Barbara.
Thanks for taking us on this trip, such amazing wines over there, cheers!
I am 100% with you on ‘unchopped’ salads. I don’t order or eat a salad for reasons of presentation!
Love Santa Barbara and glad you had a great experience! Their wines are still very underrated. One of these days, we'll need to share some Sine Qua Non!
Great video, makes me want to take a trip out there! Put Paso Robles on your trip list, they have some amazing wines and wineries.
you are lost …
Love DIATOM CHARD….always have one in my fridge!!
Depends on the salad…. but man I love Industrial Eats so I trust them to do it right. I know I've had salads there that were chopped, so must just be what they are doing that day. The sandwiches there are crazy yummy, too.
Cailloux is such an underrated spot. I day drank there by myself once while the wife shopped and had a great time chatting with the host and the owner.
I like watching your videos, you make wine sound so down to Earth. Not like other YouTubers who make it sound so snobby. However please stop using ratings when describing wines. That is someone’s opinion and all palates are different. Thanks
Nice video Dustin. I noticed you guys did not have any Merlot on this trip. Did you threaten to leave if your wife ordered any frickin' Merlot?