Santa Ynez Valley vineyard
Santa Ynez Valley vineyard in autumn
Santa Ynez Valley vineyard in autumn
We just returned from a two-day, mid-week weekend in the Santa Ynez Valley wine country. As it was mid-week and off season we practically had the place to ourselves. While there we hit up Foxen, Curtis and Beckmen Vineyards, as well as the Flying Goat tasting room in the “wine ghetto” of Lompoc, a small town abutting the Vandenberg Air Force Base, about an hour north of Santa Barbara. The name is derived from the fact that the tasting room is one of a few located in the town’s commercial warehouse district. Nevertheless, they served up some excellent Pinots from a number of the area’s vineyards. I was hoping for some more photo ops while we were there, but not much was going on as the season winds down. However, we were treated to some lovely landscapes as the effects of fall turned the vineyards a nice golden yellow. It’s nice to know that if we tire of the lack of seasons down here, autumn is only a couple hours away.
