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Wine Tasting
updated: Jul 17, 2012, 9:00 AM

By Edhat Subscriber

I have a group of friends coming in from out of town and I'm looking into wine tasting tours that are local (in Santa Barbara) and in the Santa Ynez Valley. What does the Edhat Community recommend?

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

SBFUNLOVER	2012-07-17 09:15 AM
I maybe bias but our tour company is the greatest. We are the #1 attraction and #1 tour on Trip Advisor for the Santa Ynez Valley. We have an excellent staff of tour hosts and a great selection of wineries. We are local and we are the oldest tour company based in the Santa Ynez Valley. We also have a Santa Barbara office run by a 20 year local! Just search for Stagecoach Wine Tours.
COMMENT 298362	2012-07-17 09:33 AM
Urban wine trail downtown. It's free!!
COMMENT 298375	2012-07-17 09:56 AM
Stagecoach Wine Tours!
COMMENT 298411	2012-07-17 11:01 AM
The Lompoc Wine Ghetto is great. Some really good wines.
COMMENT 298427P	2012-07-17 11:16 AM
I met a driver for Captain Jack's at a wine tasting. I think his name was Mark. He seemed to be passionate but unpretentious when discussing local wines and eateries. Seemed like he'd be a good tour guide/driver.
COMMENT 298460	2012-07-17 12:12 PM
ditto Mark at Captain Jack's. very knowledgeable and personable.
COMMENT 298547	2012-07-17 03:07 PM
My friends and I did a bike tour through the Santa Barbara Adventure Company, and it was a blast-- a great way to do wine tasting, and it was very well organized... would do it again in a minute!
COMMENT 298550	2012-07-17 03:13 PM
Another vote for Mark at Captain Jack's! They will customize tours too - tailored to your preferences.
COMMENT 298597P	2012-07-17 04:31 PM
note--there is some reverse bias towards tours, especially the mini-buses--because of rowdy weekend (think batchelorette party) drinkers. Try to find a small group tour to get into the more intimate tasting rooms, some of which ban the bigger group tours.
COMMENT 298746	2012-07-18 07:39 AM
Sustainable Vine Wine Tours has a bio diesel vehicle and visits the organic and sustainable vineyards. This is the new "in" thing. (805) 689-3911 info sustainablevine com
COMMENT 298762	2012-07-18 08:09 AM
The Urban Wine Trail is a lot of fun, local and there are something like 17 tasting rooms in the Funk Zone and around town now. It is a little far to walk to get to some of the best (Carr, Jaffurs and Whitcraft for example). Try SB Pedicab urban wine tours. It is way better than piling into a mini-bus and gives time for some fun in the sun while getting around!
COMMENT 298764	2012-07-18 08:20 AM
I second the Lompoc Wine Ghetto suggestion. One location and more than a dozen great wineries!
COMMENT 298797	2012-07-18 09:15 AM
EOS Transportation provides great multi-winery tours in the S.Y Valley, complete with great food. Greg is an excellent and entertaining chauffeur for the eventful day.
COMMENT 298827P	2012-07-18 09:57 AM
Lots of options--check out the tour and transportation members of the Santa Ynez Valley Visitors Association for some great professionals and knowledgable people! www.VisitTheSantaYnezValley.com

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