Santa Ynez Weekend Trip

We recently went on a little trip to Santa Ynez and the surrounding towns and I wanted to share a bit more about what we did. We went for a little birthday trip for me and had the BEST time! It was such an easy, doable trip from LA. We will definitely be back again soon!

where to STAY

We stayed at the new(ish) Hotel Ynez, located a little down the road from Santa Ynez. It was very clean, had a pool and allowed dogs, so we were able to bring Bear with us. We loved the property and enjoyed being able to sit outside and relax, play bocce and hang by the pool. They also have bikes you can borrow. We were also recommended / considering:

— Skyview Los Alamos (same owners as Hotel Ynez)
— Alamo Motel
— Bodega Los Alamos
— Fess Parker
— The Landsby

For our next visit, I’d like to stay at Fess Parker in Los Olivos—it has such a charming downtown area with tons of restaurants and tasting rooms in walking distance. There are also tons of AirBNBs and house rentals in the area!

DAY ONE

The main thing to do in the area is visit different wineries and explore the towns. We basically did one town each day—Santa Ynez the first day, Los Olivos the second and then Los Alamos on our last day.

On our way up, we stopped in Ballard to have lunch at the new Bob’s Well Bread. The original location is in Los Alamos and can have really long waits, so this was perfect and super close to Santa Ynez. It did not disappoint and kicked off a weekend of incredible meals!

We then made our way to Brave & Maiden for a tasting and I highly suggest making a reservation if you want to visit. We went on a Thursday afternoon and were one of two groups visiting so it was really nice and private. They set us up outside (because Bear) and we had a gorgeous setup overlooking the vineyards and taking in the beautiful architecture of their property. I loved that it was a more modern barn style architecture—it was truly stunning and gave me so many ideas for our landscaping!

After checking into the hotel, we played a little bocce ball and then had dinner at SY Kitchen, which came highly recommended. It was absolutely delicious—everything was insanely delicious. Highly recommend the passionfruit margarita and the Gigli al Ropeton.

DAY TWO

We had breakfast at our hotel and then meandered into Santa Ynez to check out some of the shops (spoiler alert: there aren’t a ton!). We enjoyed popping into Santa Ynez General, which had a really amazing assortment from brands I had never heard of, which is always so refreshing!

Lucky Hen Larder is an amazing grab and go spot with great sandwiches to take with you to the vineyards. We picked up two sandwiches and some snacks and headed to our first tasting at Sunstone Winery. I had been here before and just love the atmosphere and vibe. It feels a bit like you are in Italy and is a fun place to spend the afternoon. Reservations aren’t necessary here, but always recommended, especially on weekends.

After Sunstone, we went to Los Olivos to the Story of Soil tasting room, which had been recommended to us the day prior. They focus on single varietal and single vineyard, with minimal intervention. We loved the tasting room and its lowkey porch for tastings—highly recommend if you are in Los Olivos. Reservations not required, but recommended.

We were about to head back to the hotel when we walked by the Fresh Garage Patio advertising chilled reds. The key to my heart, we had to stop! And I’m so glad we did. I see their wines a lot in stores (the ones with the label Love You Bunches) and always rolled my eyes at how cheesy it was. Turns out they actually make natively fermented wine with un-crushed & whole grapes (hence the bunches name). Everything was so good and I’m looking forward to picking up a few of their bottles!

Dinner was at the newly opened Nella Kitchen + Bar, which is located at the Fess Parker hotel. We sat outside (again, Bear) and it was such a pretty spot with great atmosphere. We loved every single thing we had. Not surprising because the team at SY Kitchen is behind it! Definitely get a pinsa (or two!).

DAY THREE

We spent our last morning relaxing by the pool before checking out. We then headed to Los Alamos for our final stops before going back to LA. So many people had recommended Bell’s to us, but we didn’t even try to get a reservation because it’s so popular. We somehow had luck on our side and were able to walk right in for lunch! We had such an incredible meal—we got the famous egg salad sandwich, the salad and fries. Everything was so so good and the atmosphere on the back patio was so nice. Definitely make a reservation ahead of time if you’re able!

After lunch we wandered into the LoFi Wines tasting room, a winery that specializes in low intervention, native yeast and carbonated wines. It was the most casual of our tasting experiences, but the wines were so good and interesting if you are into unique wines. We bought a bottle of their Mencia, which is a Spanish type of wine that not many people make here in the US. Their Gamay was another standout..honestly, it was all so good! You can also find their wines at stores in LA.

We made a quick stop at Depot Antiques, which was a bit disappointing. I like to go antiquing everywhere I go, but they mostly had lots of little things like pottery and dishes. After that we went to Bodega Los Alamos, which everyoneeee recommends, but for good reason. It’s a fun outdoor wine bar with lots of interesting bottles and their own label wines.