A Very Brief History of Santa Barbara Wine
Not so long ago Santa Barbara was known for a lot of things, but wine was not at the top of the list. Most people don’t know when the grapevines started.
In the 19780’s Father Junipero Serra planted grapevine cuttings on or near Milpas Street. In 1804 the largest mission vineyard was established just north of Santa Barbara. By the late1800’s there were something like 45 vineyards.
And then Prohibition…
Prohibition obviously killed the wine industry and a lot of other alcohol. But with that comes a rise in something else, bootlegging. In 1962 Santa Barbara Winery was founded that wine started being made and sold in Santa Barbara County again. Jump to present day and there are over 275 wineries and more than 14,000 cares of grapevines. Those wine grapes are worth something like 1 billion dollars annually.
From the SB Independent. Click on pic to read the article about the Prohibition days in Santa Barbara.wine went down the drain (literally and figuratively). There was definitely a rise of bootlegging. (You can read more about it in the SB Independent Article. Click on picture).
With 275+ wineries in Santa Barbara, where do you even begin tasting the wine? Of course, there are a lot of ways to go about it. We added a few recommendations below, but take a look at other sites and see which calls to you the most. Read some reviews. See if you jive with them.
Book a wine tour. Santa Barbara has a lot of wine and a lot of wine tour companies. One of our favorites that will take you over the hill from Santa Barbara to Santa Barbara Wine Country is Sustainable Wine Tours. We are not basic, so you can do more than just a wine tour, there are also biking and wine tours. No friends, we do not bike and drink, we are in California for heaven’s sake. We love Bill from iBike Santa Barbara Wine Tours.
Santa Barbara also boasts a lot and I mean a lot of wine and food pairing dinners. Go ahead and google it and there are more than I can even start to talk about.
And you know all about the wine and food festivals. I have written a few blogs about wine and food festivals in Santa Barbara.
If you want to sample wine in Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, book a private experience with us. Or want to try a bit of wine and food and get to know the city on foot, book a food tour. Food tour Gift Cards and all tours make really great presents and dates and all the things.