Planning a trip very soon to these areas and looking for suggestions. Could use info re tasting rooms, deals, restaurants (that offer fish options). Thanks!

time2testit wrote:Planning a trip very soon to these areas and looking for suggestions. Could use info re tasting rooms, deals, restaurants (that offer fish options). Thanks!

Lompoc: Loring Wine Company

If you make it to Los Olivos, visit Tercero. I also like Byron for their single vineyard Pinots.

Go to Los Olivos and hit Tercero!

I don't know much about the wine in that area, but Lompoc has a great dive bar called Wicked Shamrock with an awesome selection of micro-brews.

time2testit wrote:Planning a trip very soon to these areas and looking for suggestions. Could use info re tasting rooms, deals, restaurants (that offer fish options). Thanks!

It's been a while since I've been tasting at any wineries in the region, though Terravant, in Buellton, is a restaurant/tapas place that has good food and samples of 40 or 50 different wines, and might be worth checking out.

By far the best restaurant in the area, and really one of the better restaurants all of the southern half of California, is the (rather unassuming) restaurant at the Ballard Inn. Very, very highly recommended.


On the other end of things, Paninos is a quite good and casual sandwich shop which is great for lunch; there is one in Los Olivios, one in Santa Ynez, and another in Solvang.

neilfindswine wrote:
And lunch at the Los Olivos Grocery (KOBE BURGERS!!!!)

And Tri-tip Sandwiches! Which is a big deal coming from the land of no tri-tip sandwiches.

redwinefan wrote:And Tri-tip Sandwiches! Which is a big deal coming from the land of no tri-tip sandwiches.

Thanks, but alas no tri tip or burgers for us. Looking for fish or vegetarian type options.

As has been said Tercero with Larry is a must, make sure you tell him you are a wooter. Qupe, Saarloos, carthart, zaca mesa

First off, thanks to those of you who mentioned me (-: Very nice of y'all to do so!

Second, there are a plethora of options for both places, and much depends upon what kind of 'experiences' you want to have. As far as food goes, there are a few places I would recommend:

The Ballard Inn is one of the best 'foodie' options in our area. Period. It's quaint and service is top notch. No need to get too fancy here (or anywhere else up here for that matter) but it's okay to if you want to.

Root 246 is top notch as well. Shaun King, the new chef there, is committed to sourcing locally and can do both seafood and vegetarian very well. $1 oyster night on Wednesdays ta boot!!!!

Sides Hardware and Shoes in downtown Los Olivos is worth the visit, though they tend to do more meat than other things so you'll need to check out the menu.

One of my faves in the area is Full of Life Flatbread in Los Alamos, about a 15 min ride north of Los Olivos. Big wood burning oven that turns out fantastic flatbread pizzas. They also have a great local wine and beer list!

As far as tasting rooms go, you'll need to give me an idea of the types of wines you like. There are many choices here and I'd love to hear about the following from you:

Have you been here before? If so, where did you go before and what did you like?

If you have not, what types of wines do you like? Varieties? Red or white? And how much are you looking to spend on an average bottle?

How much driving do you want to do in one day?

How many days will you be here in total?

Exactly when are you thinking of coming up?!?!?

Once I hear back from you, I'll be happy to make some further suggestions. And feel free to email me directly at larry@tercerowines.com if you'd like (and that goes for others out there ta boot - more than happy to help out . . . )

Hope to see you up here soon!

Cheers!

tercerowines wrote:First off, thanks to those of you who mentioned me (-: Very nice of y'all to do so!

Second, there are a plethora of options for both places, and much depends upon what kind of 'experiences' you want to have. As far as food goes, there are a few places I would recommend:

The Ballard Inn is one of the best 'foodie' options in our area. Period. It's quaint and service is top notch. No need to get too fancy here (or anywhere else up here for that matter) but it's okay to if you want to.

Root 246 is top notch as well. Shaun King, the new chef there, is committed to sourcing locally and can do both seafood and vegetarian very well. $1 oyster night on Wednesdays ta boot!!!!

Sides Hardware and Shoes in downtown Los Olivos is worth the visit, though they tend to do more meat than other things so you'll need to check out the menu.

One of my faves in the area is Full of Life Flatbread in Los Alamos, about a 15 min ride north of Los Olivos. Big wood burning oven that turns out fantastic flatbread pizzas. They also have a great local wine and beer list!

As far as tasting rooms go, you'll need to give me an idea of the types of wines you like. There are many choices here and I'd love to hear about the following from you:

Have you been here before? If so, where did you go before and what did you like?

If you have not, what types of wines do you like? Varieties? Red or white? And how much are you looking to spend on an average bottle?

How much driving do you want to do in one day?

How many days will you be here in total?

Exactly when are you thinking of coming up?!?!?

Once I hear back from you, I'll be happy to make some further suggestions. And feel free to email me directly at larry@tercerowines.com if you'd like (and that goes for others out there ta boot - more than happy to help out . . . )

Hope to see you up here soon!

Cheers!

Thanks Larry. We sent an email this evening. Trip is soon! Reds are preferred. We really liked the Rhone Rangers event here and like GSM's, Pinot, Zin. In the past we've been to Foley, Lafond, Byron, Qupe, Longoria. Going to the wine ghetto because we haven't been before. Staying in Lompoc and Buellton.

time2testit wrote:Thanks Larry. We sent an email this evening. Trip is soon! Reds are preferred. We really liked the Rhone Rangers event here and like GSM's, Pinot, Zin. In the past we've been to Foley, Lafond, Byron, Qupe, Longoria. Going to the wine ghetto because we haven't been before. Staying in Lompoc and Buellton.

Don't forget Core wine, pretty good juice as well

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. And a special thanks to Larry from Tercero for meeting up with us at the Los Olivos tasting room for a great tasting! Everything we tried at Tercero was really good and we ended up buying his not yet released 2009 Mourvedre. I will edit and update the list at some point but on our 2 1/2 day trip we visited the Lompoc Wine Ghetto and enjoyed: Stolpman, Longoria, Loring (LWC), Pedrasassi, Samsara, Jalama, Flying Goat. Also went to Laetitia, Foley, Cambria, Rancho Sisquoc, Byron, Andrew Murray, Kenneth Volk, Tercero. Had a really nice/tasty time at Avant for dinner in Buellton.

ERMD wrote:Don't forget Core wine, pretty good juice as well

And look who is up today with a 4 pack.

ERMD wrote:And look who is up today with a 4 pack.

I noticed that, but we didn't make it there and now we have beyond too much wine to deal with. And the Core was mostly Rhones, which we love. Ugh. Hopefully it will come up again when I have some room!