Grassini Family Vineyards

If you are in Santa Barbara, head to the historic El Paseo shopping plaza for a wine tasting treat with the Grassini Family Vineyards Winery. This small tasting room is furnished with 2 recliners and a polished wood bar that manage to look classy and home-like at once, and the atmosphere is as laid-back and comfortable as a Santa Barbara night. With chocolate pairings and treats for your four-legged friends, you can spend hours soaking up the ambiance in this local gem.

The tasting room bar is made from reclaimed wood that was discovered in the Colombia river. These fir trees were used to help transport logs down the river to lumberjack camps. These same timbers were used to build the winery in Santa Ynez.

The winery is solar powered and has a lake on the property that is used for irrigation. Wine caves are used for storing the wine. All of these features make the Grassini winery sustainable and environmentally friendly.

The wine is a far more than just the icing to this drinking experience. The Happy Valley brand is grown on land that the Grassini family had for decades in the Santa Ynez Valley. Here, the warm days and misty mornings produce Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc grapes that practically sing. Grassini also grows Cabernet Franc, Melot, and Petit Verdot on different parts of their property where they can flourish. The family handcrafts the wine in a fine wooden ranch house that, fittingly for Santa Barbara, looks like something out of a Western. The result is fantastic wines, and you can taste them in three different combinations when you go to the tasting room. The Grassini family wants to leave this wine as a legacy, and we think you will be glad they chose to.

Address: 813 Anacapa St #6, Santa Barbara, CA 93101

Phone: (805) 897-3366

Tasting Room Hours: Every day 12:00 pm through 6:00 pm

Tasting Fees: Estate tasting $15, Sauvignon Blanc Tasting $15, “Dual” Tasting $25