{"id":2752,"date":"2024-08-30T13:52:32","date_gmt":"2024-08-30T13:52:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2752"},"modified":"2024-08-30T13:58:08","modified_gmt":"2024-08-30T13:58:08","slug":"santa-rita-hills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2752","title":{"rendered":"Santa Rita Hills"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Generally, when Power Tasting<\/em> recommends a place to visit, it\u2019s a location near wine tasting, but not wine tasting by itself.  We make an exception for the Santa Rita Hills, because they\u2019re just so beautiful<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interestingly, we shouldn\u2019t be referring to the Santa<\/em> Rita Hills at all.  There is a large Chilean winemaker called Vina Santa Rita and they objected to the use of the same name as applied to wines.  So the official name is Sta. Rita Hills.  We don\u2019t care; we\u2019re sticking with Santa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The area stretches from the town of Buellton to the east and Lompoc at the western extreme.  It\u2019s roughly 17 miles wide and 10 miles from north to south.  And it\u2019s in Southern California, which means it must be hot, right?  No, Santa Rita Hills has a very unique climate that makes it ideal for the grapes of Burgundy: Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

South-facing vineyards, with the Sant Ynez mountains behind them, and fog trying to climb over the mountains.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That climate is made by an ocean and some mountains.  The ocean, of course, is the Pacific, which lies due south of the Hills.  Now, California runs north-south, so shouldn\u2019t the Pacific be west of it?  But just to the west of Lompoc, the coastline hangs a hard left for about 75 miles, putting the Pacific to the south.  Paralleling the coast are the Santa Ynez mountains.  So when cool, moist air rises from the ocean in the form of fog, it is stopped by the mountains.  Some does get over them, of course.  You can see the clouds trying to make it past the Santa Ynez\u2019 in the morning hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because the southerly winds are blocked, there\u2019s nothing stopping the east-west gusts.  Thus the Santa Rita Hills have ideal conditions: lots of sun, but cool and breezy.  The conformation of the Hills creates a valley with spectacular views wherever you look.  Words, even photographs, don\u2019t do justice to the Santa Rita Hills.  We have enjoyed great vineyard vistas around the world: the C\u00f4te d\u2019Or, Barossa Valley and Napa Valley closer to home, just to name a few.  The Santa Rita Hills are far less developed than any of those and the vineyards that patch the views make it even more gorgeous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should point out that the drive to the Santa Rita Hills is almost as dramatic as the Hills themselves.\u00a0 There are two ways to get there from Santa Barbara<\/a>, which is most likely the starting point for most wine tasters, or else from Los Angeles.\u00a0 One is Route101<\/a>, which we have written about before.\u00a0 From Santa Barbara, it runs along the coast until the town of Gaviota, where it makes a sharp right turn.\u00a0 As you drive, you pass through a gap in the mountains where suddenly the morning fogs lift, as though a curtain is going up.\u00a0 Those mountain walls are quite a sight themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other route is via Routes 154 and 246.\u00a0 The latter is the main drag of the Santa Rita Hills.\u00a0 There are stunning views of the Pacific through gulleys in the mountains and equally spectacular views of Lake Cachuma on the inland side.\u00a0 You also pass through the quaint but touristy town of Solvang<\/a> before reaching the Santa Rita Hills.\u00a0 We recommend 101 to go and 154\/246 to return to Santa Barbara or back to L.A.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, did we mention that there\u2019s wine in them thar hills?  If you go to admire the scenery, you ought to try some wine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Generally, when Power Tasting recommends a place to visit, it\u2019s a location near wine tasting, but not wine tasting by itself.  We make an exception for the Santa Rita Hills, because they\u2019re just so beautiful. Interestingly, we shouldn\u2019t be referring to the Santa Rita Hills at all.  There is a large Chilean winemaker called Vina … Continue reading Santa Rita Hills<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2752"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2752"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2752\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2756,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2752\/revisions\/2756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}