On California’s Central Coast, San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles have become popular tasting venues and home to the highly regarded Chardonnay and Zinfandel. But most famous is there southern neighbour, Santa Barbara County, whose stock value rose as the setting for Academy Award winning film Sideways. Its Mediterranean-style climate generates some of the state’s best Pinot Noir, Syrah and Chardonnay.
A popular past time when staying in Santa Barbara is to tour the Vineyards in the morning on one of the many tours that the hotels will organise, in the afternoon relax with a picnic in the grounds of the vineyards and sample the wines under sunny Californian skies..