Santa Barbara County ~ Sideways

January 12 ~ 14

The impromtu trip up to Santa Barbara wine country was a wonderful move.  We find room at the Flying Flags RV Park (flyingflags.com) ( a mid-tier place that is just fine for a couple of days and they, too, bake fresh cookies everyday!) in Buellton which turns out to be where the movie Sideways was shot.  We get there early and drive into Solvang which is a very curious town.  The village was settled in 1911 by a group of Midwestern Danes fleeing the frigid winters.  Its ancestry is evident everywhere.

I frankly don't find it very appealing...a lot of shops with Danish souvenirs and about a billion pastry shops!

Wander a bit then try to find a gourmet market I've read about called El Ranchero that's supposed to have great "picnic food" as that's what we're planning on doing tomorrow at a winery.  Get a few things, but not bowled over by the selection and it's a long way out of town, so if you decide to go, drive way further than you think you should.

Fess Parker Winery (fessparker.com) near Los Olivos is the destination about noon the next day.  We decide to skip the picnic because it's a bit cool and eat at the Fess Parker Inn in the town center.  We drive through miles and miles of vineyards and though it's past harvest, it's really an incredible site.  Would love to see this when they're full of grapes.

We are greeted by James in the great looking tasting room and begin sampling.  You might recognize this room from the Sideways movie.  It's where an enraged Miles drinks from the discarded wine bucket.

 Not loving the Chardonnay, which is expected because I really do not like them at all, the Viognier is great and the reds are all really to my liking.  These are not inexpensive wines, however, and we just do not have room to store them properly.  James suggests we try the Frontier Red, an everyday wine which we like a lot.  Buy that and go to Petros, the Greek restaurant at the Inn and Spa.

Though it's chilly, the charming patio is filled with sun and is the perfect spot for luncheon.  I have one of the best sandwiches ever made....sliced roast leg of lamb with carmelized onions, wine mustard, arugula and something called manouri cheese served on an olive baguette.  Accompanied by a Fess Park Pinot Noir...simply superb.  Rick has Greek meatball sliders and they are very good, but pale next to the lamb.

Los Olivos is a charming, tiny little town of mostly cafes and retail store front tasting rooms. Stop at Epiphany, a tasting room for a vineyard owned by Fess Parker's son.  James at the winery told me if I like grenache, we needed to stop by.  Unfortunately, we were more than satiated by the previous tasting and lunch and were so full we couldn't see straight and could not possibly appreciate a special wine.

Flying Flags has a pretty extensive DVD lending library.  Rick scores Sideways which we think will be fun to see again after having been at alot of the places. Since we are still reeling from our lunch we decide to just have a mug of soup and fruit and cheese and settle into the movie.

Next day, one last stop at the Farmer's Market in Solvang, a regular Wednesday afternoon event.

Picked up some wonderful produce and fabulous, huge, yellow cut orchids.

Newport Beach tomorrow where we're hoping we can finally find a car.