Champagne tasting!
Horses, cows and pigs 🙂
Beautiful scenery and walks…
Yes, that’s what our life in Santa Ynez Valley has consisted of recently!
Steve and I recently sold our house in Santa Barbara and are moving to Solvang, to begin life in Santa Ynez Valley. We are renovating our new home before we move in, so we are spending a few months in a vacation rental in Santa Ynez.
Santa Ynez Valley has been a favorite spot for years; we’ve enjoyed spending time here over our last 8 years in Santa Barbara. And earlier this year, we decided to give living there a try! We love the food, the wine, the views and the laid back style.
I thought I would share a few initial thoughts.
Gorgeous green scenery
We have gotten a lot of rain over the last 3 months and the valley shows it! Lake Cachuma (our reservoir) is full and the hills are beautiful and green. I keep hearing we will have amazing wildflowers this year. We love to take our dogs on long walks and have started explore a few new places. There is a great walk/hike by the Solvang Mission that we have on rotation. Also there are lots of country roads where spotting horses, cows and pigs are a norm.
Lots of wine tasting opportunities
We are members of several wineries in the Valley, which allows us to stop in for wine tastings and discounts on wine. One of our favorites is Storm Wines which I believe I have written about before. This past weekend, they hosted a champagne tasting. One of the wine club members is a champagne aficionado and led the tasting.Â
I do know quite a bit about champagne, but even I learned a few things and found a couple of new champagnes to buy. I have to stop by the local wine store in Santa Barbara this weekend to pick up some bottles!Â
Looking forward to continuing to explore our new home, Santa Ynez Valley.
Storm Wines, 2948 San Marcos Ave APT 101, Los Olivos, CA 93441