A spirited toast to all things alcoholic! By Leslie Dinaberg
The newest volume of The California Directory of Fine Wineries: Central Coast Edition (Wine House Press) takes a good thing and improves upon it, which isn’t always that easy to do.
Editor Tom Silberkleit has the tough job of navigating through hundreds of Central Coast wineries and tasting rooms and selecting the very best places to sip and savor throughout Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. Then writers K. Reka Badger and Cheryl Crabtree (both frequent Santa Barbara Seasons contributors), joined for this edition by Daniel Mangin, get to write profiles of the top 50 destinations, which each feature lush, full-color photographs by Robert Holmes, along with sidebars listing locations, specialties and nearby attractions.
It’s no surprise that this beautiful, visually-appealing book is featured in most of the top hotel rooms in the county. It would also make a great gift for the wine-loving people in your life.
Carhartt Vineyard tasting room, courtesy California Directory of Fine Wineries Facebook page
Among the Santa Barbara County wineries that made the cut are Alma Rosa Winery & Vineyards, Beckmen Vineyards, Blair Fox Cellars, Byron, Cambria Estate Winery, Carhartt Vineyard and Carr Vineyards & Winery.
Also featured are Costa de Oro Winery, D’Alfonso-Curran Wines, Demetria Estate Winery, Fess Parker Winery & Vineyard, Foley Estates Vineyard & Winery, Foley Food & Wine Society and Foxen.
Grassini Family Vineyards, Hitching Post Wines, Loring/Cargasacchi Tasting Room, Pali Wine Co., Sanford Winery & Vineyards, Silver Wines and Zaca Mesa Winery & Vineyards are also featured in The California Directory of Fine Wineries.
Byron tasting room, courtesy California Directory of Fine Wineries Facebook page
“There’s a lot more activity in the Funk Zone this time around,” says Crabtree, who wrote the majority of Santa Barbara County entries. The update includes the addition of a number of Santa Barbara urban wineries, including Pali, Silver Wines and Blair Fox in the Funk Zone, and Grassini, in the downtown El Paseo Wine Collection. There is also the addition of the Foley Food & Wine Society at the Bacara Resort & Spa, where you can taste from a large portfolio of Foley-owned wineries.
This visual feast of a wine book is available at Chaucer’s Bookstore, 3321 State St., as well as some of the local tasting rooms and wine-related venues.
Cheers! Click here for more cocktail corner columns.
When she’s not busy working as the editor of Santa Barbara SEASONS, Cocktail Corner author Leslie Dinaberg writes magazine articles, newspaper columns and grocery lists. When it comes to cocktails, Leslie considers herself a “goal-oriented drinker.”
Originally published in Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine on May 22, 2015.
