A visit to Barbieri &Kempe can seem like déjà vu. It can also be a little like double vision. Let us explain.
Barbieri & Kempe has taken over the space in downtown Santa Barbara that once housed the tasting room of Sanford Winery. (They also have a tasting room in Los Olivos, but we haven’t been there.) Even though Sanford (and now Barbieri & Kempe) were located in a high-end outdoor shopping mall, there was a sense of refinement and exclusivity when Sanford was there. Barbieri & Kempe brings a different vibe: friendly, inviting visitors to stay a while and enjoy the experience. Even though the interior is well-appointed, their terrace (with statues of laughing dolphins adding to the atmosphere) beckons to visitors.
Once seated, you find out that the Barbieri & Kempe tasting room isn’t for one winery, but two that share the space. Then you find out that Paolo Barbieri and Erin Kempe are a couple, with each producing and bottling wines under their own names. Paolo is also a Master Sommelier and began making wine in his garage. Erin worked in restaurants and met Paolo that way. She assisted him in his early winemaking efforts until she gained the confidence to put her own name on wines she produced. Dinnertime at their house must be interesting: “My wine tonight or yours?”
The wine tasting experience is enhanced by the possibility of ordering cheese with your pours. Barbieri & Kempe is also a cheese chop with a nice selection of California and international cheeses available as a tasting plate or to buy at retail. Perhaps in recognition of Signor Barbieri’s Italian roots, there are also Italian salamis for sale.
There’s an openness to the way tastings are offered at Barbieri & Kempe that says, “We are what we are and we are where we are. We hope you like our wines.” Overall, we did enjoy them, in particular the Grenache-Syrah-Mourvèdre blend from Ms. Kempe and in particular her Illumina Bordeaux blend. In general, they both cover a wide range of varietals. There is a fair amount of overlap in the grapes each of them uses for their wines, with both of them offering rosés, reds and whites.
We have often praised in-town tasting. You miss the sight of the vines, but you spend more time tasting and less time driving. The atmosphere at Barbieri & Kempe is very urban, with the hubbub of a shopping center and all the passers-by. Somehow, that seems to add to the experience, not detract. We found Barbieri & Kempe’s wines enjoyable, if not the most representative of Central Coast wines that we have tasted. But we at Power Tasting are not wine critics; we comment on the wine tasting experience. And we enjoyed our time sampling this couple’s wines at their Santa Barbara site.