Food & Wine related Day/Weekend Trip from LA

[lindapugphoto]

I'm visiting LA from NY for work wed - fri, and then have sat and sun to do as i please. I'd really like to take a day trip or weekend trip within 2/3 hours driving distance from LA to visit a vineyard, or farm or both. Anyone have any experiences they care to share? farms, b&bs, spas, vineyards, restaurants? interesting towns? thank you in advance for all your help!

[csils]

2-3 hours from L.A. you have two great options for Wine Country. About 2 hours north is Santa Ynez/Santa Barbara Valley. Ton's of great little wineries, and plenty of B&B's to boot. Solvang (about 5 minutes away) is a cute little Danish town tourist trap. Would be a nice weekend for an out of towner. (if you've ever seen the movie sideways....that's it).

The other direction, about 2 hours south is Temecula Valley, another beautiful wine country area and I am sure there are B&B's to be found as well. the surrounding area is not as "tourist" friendly, though it depends what kind of entertainment you need (if you are looking for a reclusive romantic weekend, this may be the ticket). and it's about 45 minutes north of San Diego.

Both have great food and wine options, I am sure you can search Santa Ynez/Solvang or Temecula posts for great wine and food rec's.

Hope you enjoy the trip...the weather here has been steller this week (atleast as far south as SD...mid 70's to mid 80's and sunny).

[lindapugphoto]

thank you. i am generally more interested in places not made solely for tourism.

[geekyfoodie]

I'd go with making it a weekend trip and going to the Central Coast (4-ish hour drive north from LA). Do a search for posts about San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles, and Santa Maria to give you an idea of what's there. The wineries up there are everything from the big commercial ones to tiny family setups where you meet the winemakers personally. Good restaurants and there are quite a few CH regulars on the California board from the area... they've never led me astray when it comes to restaurant recs.

If you don't want to make a weekend of it, then csils recommendation for a Sideways inspired trip is your best bet, IMO. Los Olivos (north of Santa Ynez) also has some great restaurants and wineries.

[glbtrtr]

If you follow the local recommendations for Santa Barbara and the Santa Ynez wine country, you can still find lots that is away from the tourists.

If you want a unique, historic and slightly funky small town experience definitely off the tourist path and only a short distance from LA but in the Citrus Capitol of the World look at the Glen Tavern Inn and a few days in Santa Paula, off Highway 126. There is a wine spectator award restaurant worth exploring in Santa Paula - Hozy's: http://www.hozysgrill.com/ (WARNING: annoying sound track with this link -turn off sound if you don't want it when opening

)

And you can use this area as a base to explore Old Town Ventura and venture up to the growing list of wonderful dining choices in Carpinteria which is about 30 miles south of Santa Barbara.

The citrus trees in the "Heritage Valley" might be starting to blossom now and when they do you just drown in the most delicious scent imaginable. http://www.heritagevalley.net/ And you might have to settle for the fabulous Limoncello from Ventura, instead of wine.

This recommendation overlaps both the LA Board and the California Board so you might want to check out both for more suggestions. The LA board goes all the way up to Ventura, but Carpinteria is in the California Board so the Santa Paula locale is a child of these two parents.

[csils]

I have not yet made it up to Paso myself, but is a must..but may far out for you. Skip Solvang and the remaining portion of Santa Ynez valley is anything but touristy. Keep in Mind Santa Ynez, Los Olivos and Solvang are about a 10 minute drive anywhere, If you make the trip, Santa Ynez and Los Olivos is an easy trip to find plenty to do (we typically start in one area and work our way across). I'd suggest lunch for sure in Los Olivos.

Santa Barbara as well in maybe 20-30 minutes away (depending on where you are headed).

[glbtrtr]

Paso Robles is more than two hours beyond Santa Barbara and SB is two hours away from LA, so you are talking at least 4 hours out of LA to visit Paso Robles, all depending on what part of LA you are starting from.

Santa Ynez Valley is a bit more than 20-30 minutes from Santa Barbara - please drive carefully on the narrow back roads.

So three hours can get you generously to Santa Ynez; one hour and half to Santa Paula Heritage Valley; two hours to Santa Barbara; four hours to Paso Robles.

[LANative]

I vote for Edna Valley or Paso Robles (worth the 4 hour drive). If you take the coast route up or down (5 to 46 is less scenic but quicker to get to Paso), there are a lot of great places to stop, including: Laetitia Vineyards (do the sparkling tasting!) north of Santa Maria, right before you get to Arroyo Grande, the Avila Valley Barn (avilavalleybarn.com) which is on Avila Beach Rd, just before San Luis Obispo. They have a ton of great gifts, yummy treats w/samples, inc. their awesome raspberry spread, & they carry Paso Almond Brittle, & it's very picturesque. From Paso, you can visit a ton of great wineries (pasowine.com), take a day trip to Cambria, etc. My favorite restaurant in Paso is Artisan. I have my favorite wineries, but I think it's more fun to meander & stop wherever your fancy dictates. You can get a winery map online or almost anywhere in Paso. Ton of b&b's, also there is the Paso Robles Inn (get a spa room w/natural hot spring water), & some newer hotels, like Cheval. Wherever you choose to go, have a great time!

[geekyfoodie]

Second the pasowine.com website... it's a great compliation of what's up there. My current favorite winery in the area is Adelaida. Great, reasonably priced wines and the tasting's always a good experience.

[JalamaMama]

Santa Ynez Valley is 2/2.5 hours from LAX. Easy drive if you can swing it leaving LA 10am or so...come up Hwy 1 and then Hwy 101. Hwy 154 to the Valley.

If I had a budget to do as I pleased- it would be Ballard Inn- eat at Matteis and Ballard Inn, tour Foxen, Zaca Mesa and perhaps Rancho Sisquoc on Foxen Canyon road.

Hope you enjoy our famous weather while in California!

[undercovergourmet]

If you're looking for a great day trip and want to do it in a couple of hours Santa Barbara is the place to go. If you start early you could also easily include Santa Ynez. On Saturday SB has a great Farmers Market, right up the street stop at Ceste Cheese and Daily Bread, continue up State Street to il Fustino for an olive oil tasting. Now your equipped for a great picnic during your wine tour in Santa Ynez.

Traffic in & out of LA is brutal if you try to go too far you'll just end up in the car all day, not anyone's ideal journay.