In planning a Paso Robles tr
ip from Southern California, we realized there was one area of the greater Santa Barbara wine country we had never visited – Los Alamos.
Since we were driving up on a Friday and didn’t have an appointment in Paso until 4pm it was a perfect stop to break up the drive. The main drag of Los Alamos is adorable with some high quality boutique wineries opening tasting rooms. Los Alamos is a sleepy town that lights up Friday-Sunday with wine and food coming together. Lodging wise you have the historic Union Hotel and the uber hipster redone motor lodge the Alamo Motel. We got a sneak peak into the various rooms and definitely would plan a weekend to stay there if we came up with friends again. We stopped by at lunch time so we quickly ate at Bob’s Well Bread Bakery (pretzel was amazing) but heard amazing things about the Bell Street Farm and Full of Life Flatbread. Before we talk wine – it is important to note that most wineries and many of the new eateries have limited hours, definitely do your research before coming up on a weekday.
We visited 4 wineries- but only tasted at 3. My wine partner for the weekend had lived in Santa Barbara for 2 years and previously had belonged to Municipal Winemakers so we stopped in for a purchase rather than a tasting. The experience at Bedford Winery and Frequency were amazing, I wish I could say the same about Casa Dumetz. Nothing was purchased there, and I will never return. It was a bummer as the wine wasn’t too bad and the beer side of the house looked intriguing. Overall – it will be interesting to look at Los Alamos as it evolves in the next few years, more wine and food will make it a must stop!
sunsets and wine 