Santa Barbara or Temecula for wine tasting?
 

Sometime this summer we're driving south to visit a niece in Fullerton. We plan to go wine tasting one day while with her and would like some thoughts on which area to visit. Both are a couple of hours away (Temecula slightly closer I think) so driving time isn't much of a factor. Any thoughts and suggestions from those of you who have visited either area will be appreciated.

Our last wine tasting was in Temecula, at the Callaway winery. And that was ok, but we wouldn't have driven to Temecula just for that or anything else. We were just passing through.

Santa Barbara, on the other hand, is a destination in itself. The wine country is just over the mountains to the north in the Santa Inez Valley. An easy drive. This is where much of the movie Sideways was filmed. The locales in the movie are real and you can take an auto tour to visit them. See:

http://www.santabarbaraca.com/sideways/

Temecula is quite a bit closer but not as good. From Fullerton to the Santa Ynez wine country could be at least 2.5 hours to 3 hrs each way.

Here are some things to consider:

Distance/drive time:
Santa Barbara will be a much longer drive compared to Temecula, especially if there's traffic getting through LA. The wineries are further past Santa Barbara (in the Santa Ynez Valley, as the previous two posters pointed out), so that's an additional half hour drive each way from Santa Barbara to factor in.

Weather:
Temecula is usually very, very hot during summer. The Santa Ynez Valley can also get hot because it's more inland than Santa Barbara itself.

Wineries:
We're not that fond of wines from either area, but we like to visit some of the ones in Temecula for their restaurants and to view their properties. Santa Barbara area wineries have nice settings, too.

Overall, if you're only interested in wine tasting and the experience, Temecula will be more convenient. If you're looking for more of a day trip, choose Santa Barbara -- along the way to/from the Santa Ynez Valley, you could stop in Santa Barbara for sightseeing, the beach, shopping, etc. Solvang is close by, too.

IMO, wine and food choices are much better in Santa Barbara/Santas Ynez than Temecula. And, as dbdurand says above SB area can be a destination in and of itself. From the historic mission to Stearns Wharf, to the beaches and the museums.
However, for just a day trip from Fullerton I'd probably take Temecula simply becasue the drive is shorter.

Here are some closer options:

http://www.galleanowinery.com/

http://www.sanantoniowinery.com/

Galleano is near Ontario and still has vineyards in place.

San Antonio is a historical winery for tours & tasting but no vineyards on site.

Both are a closer option for tasting.

Thanks to all of you for your thoughts and suggestions. I had no idea about the winery in L.A. Checked the website and it might be just the answer. We could stop in the Santa Ynez Valley on our way down and check a few places. We've always loved Santa Barbara and haven't been there for years. It might deserve a stop too.

Again thanks. Your ideas are very helpful.

I would stop on my way down - not go back up - it is a pretty far drive - depending on traffic - it took dh and I a LONG time (we live in OC) to get there over a weekend - I think like 5 hours... :(

I agree, stop in the Santa Ynez Area and Santa Barbara on your way down to LA Area. It can be a long drive back up there. Sometimes traffic is terrible on weekends.

Absolutely not as a day trip. Not only can the traffic in LA be bad but the traffic just south of Montecito/Santa Barbara bottlenecks and can add at last an hour to your trip depending on traffic...and you're still a good 45 min away from Santa Ynez.

Grappolo's, Hitching Post, Los Olivos Cafe and The Vineyard House are all wonderful restaurants to try and if you do a search on here you will find lots of wineries mentioned. My favorites are Gainey, Byron and several more that are closer to Santa Maria (Cambria, Rancho Sisquoc and Foxen.)

Not to sound like a wine snob, but for those who actually like wine; we wouldn't be caught dead wine tasting in Temecula. And the scenery doesn't even come close to Santa Ynez. I know folks who will drive to Paso Robles(north of Santa Ynez) for a day trip. If you aren't up to driving, skip Temecula.

San Ynez all the way! Just the scenery and restaurants alone are worth the trip. I am a wine snob and really didn't find a lot wines that I loved at the wineries. My favorites were at http://www.losolivoscafe.com/ Make a reservation. We had lunch and paired different wines by the glass with a few appetizers. Read about the Parker ratings and select high ranking wines from their list. You will spend less than going to a bunch of tasting rooms. There are several wineries that are beautiful and worth seeing. One that comes to mind is Sunstone Winery http://www.sunstonewinery.com/ I prefer oaky full bodied chardonnays and I found many citrus bland stainless steel varieties at the vineyards. If you are staying the night http://www.fessparker.com/html/inn2.html it is across the street from Los Olivos Cafe. http://www.matteistavern.com/ is a must for dinner. If you are staying more than one night http://www.hitchingpost2.com/ for steaks is good too. Make reservations for all restaurants.

I had to re-read the original post too: OP wants to go wine tasting with her neice while visiting her IN Fullerton. So she needs options while there. Not on the way down or back. So she needs to keep things close.

After the first couple of glasses, all wines start tasting better :)

If you just need to be close to Fullerton, there is wine tasting in Disneyland.

Thank you all for your very diverse responses. Lots to think about. Based on your experiences I think we will rule out Temecula and Disneyland (we don't plan to go there on this trip). We'll probably visit wineries in the Santa Ynez region on the way down (thanks for all the suggestions for that region) and see what our niece thinks when we get there.

She's attending college. She grew up in Livermore, not a bad wine region, and invited us to accompany her for her first wine tasting a year or so ago on her 21st birthday. Thought it would be fun to do some tasting again while we're with her. I'm sure we'll think of something fun.

We favor reds, particularly Italian varietals, Sangiovese, Barbera, etc. Our wine club in Livermore specializes in these.

Thanks again to all of you!

http://www.starlanevineyard.com/db_category Dierberg a division of Starlane has some good reds. Also Gainey.

Los Angeles vineyards will be nothing like going to San Ynez.

It's a bit cool for that style but you might be interested in Palmina which, unfortunately, is in Lompoc, about half an hour from Santa Barbara. Perhaps they can steer you to some others

www.palminawines.com

If you want to spend a lot of money on tasting fees to try some really bad wines then go to Temecula !

We've gone to Temecula many times for wine tasting and have always enjoyed the trip and the wine. As with wines from other regions, some are great, some good and some not-so-good. The Temecula wineries have a very good selection of Italian varietals. And one thing I love about going there is that if you don't like what you taste at one winery, you can drive to another easily - some are less than 2 minutes apart by car - actually within walking distance of each other.

And Temecula is much, much closer to Fullerton than Santa Barbara is. It does get very hot there in the summer, but the tasting rooms are always nice and cool!

We are going on our first trip to San Luis Obispo in a few weeks and I'm looking forward to visiting the wineries in that area. I'd love to have suggestions from the posters here as to which wineries I should visit!