With so many Sparkling Wine and local champagne producers in Santa Barbara County, there are over a dozen places to taste local bubbles right in downtown Santa Barbara. 18 wineries make local Champagne you can taste and buy in downtown Santa Barbara, including 1 in Montecito and 1 in Summerland.
There are also more that are sold online, or to Wine Club only (link coming soon). Plus, check out these 2 wine bars that have local or natural bubbles for sale: Corks ‘n Crowns and Satellite.
Read on to find out where to sip!
See more! There are over 75 sparkling wine producers in Santa Barbara County.
Sparkling Wine in the City of Santa Barbara
1. Caella
Info coming soon!
2. Fess Parker
This is Fess Parker’s new tasting room in the Funk Zone! Fess Parker makes various different sparklers made in the Méthode Champenoise: Fesstivity Blanc De Noirs, Fesstivity Blanc De Blancs, Brut Rosé, and Brut Cuvée. They also make a red sparkling wine, Sibling Bubblery Sparkling Grenache. The only place to taste these sparkling wines in a flight is at The Bubble Shack in Los Olivos, Friday – Sunday. You can also buy bottles (as well as tastes or glasses) at Epiphany in Los Olivos, Fess Parker Winery on Foxen Canyon, and the SB Wine Collective here in the Funk Zone (#13 on this list).
Méthode Champenoise is how sparkling wine is made in the Champagne region of France, also called méthode traditionnelle or classique. This is the highest-quality and most labor-intensive way to make sparkling wine. It involves bottling the still wine with additions of sugar and yeast after a first fermentation, ensuring a second fermentation happens in the bottle, trapping the bubbles inside. It then goes through aging (and periodic turning of the bottles to force the lees to the neck of the bottle), until it’s ready for dégorgement (to get these lees out) and dosage (to finish the wine).
3. Foley/The Society
Foley Estates produces 2019 Foley Family Brut-style, traditional French method sparkling wine. The grapes are from the estate in the Sta. Rita Hills. They also have a Foley Food & Wine Society tasting room at Hotel Californian in Santa Barbara’s Funk Zone, where you can get glasses of Foley Bubbles, as well as their imported Lucien Albrecht Brut Rosé Crémant d’Alsace, Alsace.
4. Fox Wine Co.
Blair Fox has been the winemaker at Fess Parker for quite a few years, and he also makes Foxy Bubbles, a Champagne method, brut style Grenache Rosé, for Blair Fox Cellars in Los Olivos and Fox Wine Co. here in Santa Barbara.
5. J. Wilkes
The Champagne method Santa Maria Valley Brut Rosé by J. Wilkes is from the family-owned wine company that also brings us Bien Nacido. It’s a quality choice that has classic Champagne notes, and even a little Euro funk on the nose – in a good way! Perfect choice for Sunday brunch, afternoons on the patio and summer BBQs.
6. Kunin
Sparkling Zero Chenin Blanc Jurassic Park showcases a savory side of Chenin Blanc, and is made 100% in-house, at the winery in Goleta in the Méthode Champenoise. It’s bone dry, with zero dosage (no added sugar). It’s also sold out! Waiting for the next bottling…
7. La Lieff Sparkling Wine
La Lieff is a woman-owned winery, and recently opened their tasting room in downtown Santa Barbara. They have a lovely Sparkling Rosé.
8. Loubud Sparkling Wines
Info coming soon!
9. Margerum / Barden Blanc de Blanc
Barden, part of the Margerum Wine Company, produces limited quantity, boutique wines made from grapes solely sourced from the world-renowned Sta. Rita Hills. Their Blanc de Blanc is made with 100% Chardonnay in the traditional method used in Champagne, France. It’s aged on the lees for 3 years, and has zero dosage, making it light and crisp with delicious notes of brioche and lemon curd. You can get it by the glass or bottle at their Santa Barbara tasting room. It’s not on any tasting list, but just ask and they will always pour it for you.
This Blanc de Blanc is made with 100% Chardonnay in the traditional method used in Champagne, France. It’s aged on the lees for 3 years, and has zero dosage, making it light and crisp with delicious notes of brioche and lemon curd.
10. Melville Winery
Like Kunin’s bubbles, both the Blanc de Noir Estate and the Blanc de Blancs are made in the traditional method with no dosage (added sugar) making it also is super dry. This urban tasting room is great for lounging with a glass of wine, and Melville’s Estate Winery is in Sta. Rita Hills. Both are also sold out, so now we wait….
11. Municipal Winemakers
This fun, quirky brand doesn’t disappoint with its bubbly bottlings on both ends of the spectrum. One is made in the Champagne method, aged en tirage (on lees in the bottle) on its side for 10 years, the 10-Year Fizz sparkling Shiraz, making it one of the most special, rare wines they’ve ever released. The other is the club-only Mubbly, made from stuff like Arneis, Chardonnay, and Riesling picked at low sugars and then fermented to dryness in stainless steel. Bubbles are then added to the bottle for an easy drinker!
12. Pali Wine Co.
Pali produces Pinot Noir and Chardonnay sourced primarily from vineyards in the Sta. Rita Hills and neighboring wine-growing regions. Pali has several releases of Bubbles: a bone-dry (zero dosage) méthode-champenoise Sparkling Wine–Pali Vineyard made from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and a limited “Pet Moon Pink” Pét-Nat collab with Neighborhood Winery. They also have a tasting room in Lompoc’s Wine Ghetto.
Pétillant Naturel, or Pét-Nat, is an even more ancient way to make sparkling wine than the widely-used méthode champenoise (also called méthode traditionelle) originated in Champagne, France. In the méthode ancestrale, the wine is bottled with a crown cap before it even finishes its first fermentation, so it develops carbon dioxide as it goes. It’s not disgorged, often unfiltered, and can be made from any grape variety.
13. Paradise Springs
Info coming soon!
14. Potek
From the same winemaker as Municipal, comes a traditional, elegant sparkling wine in the classic Méthode Champenoise. This Blanc de Blanc Sparkling Chardonnay is sold out – we’ll see what’s next.
15. Riverbench – flights!
This iconic winery is located at the northern end of Foxen Canyon in Santa Maria Valley, and this Funk Zone tasting room always offers a flight of Champagne method sparklers all made in-house. They are a pioneer of sparkling wine and were the first in Santa Barbara County to plant Pinot Meunier (one of the 3 grapes allowed for Champagne in France) solely for the sparkling wine program. They make between 7-8 sparkling wines, and you can always get a flight (or join a Bubbles Club!) at either location. Read more about Riverbench here.
16. Santa Barbara Winery
A true original in Santa Barbara County, this bubbly comes from the county’s very first winery! The Sparkling Rosé is made from Pinot Noir in the Sta. Rita Hills, a renowned growing area for Pinot Noir. This is also available as sister label, Lafond Sparkling Rosé in the Sta. Rita Hills. They are made in the classic Champagne stye, aged for 16 months on the yeast in bottle before disgorging to add mid-palate texture. These wines are currently sold out.
17. SB Wine Collective
This spot carries wines from various wineries in Santa Barbara County, and changes its lineups periodically. In Fall 2022, find Fess Parker “Fesstivity” Blanc de Noirs, Fess Parker “Fesstivity” Brut Rosé (both Champagne method), and Final Girl Sparkling Viognier Pét Nat, all from Santa Barbara County grapes.
18. Skyenna
Skyenna’s Sparkling Brut UNA is a dry & crisp bubbly, made of 50% Chardonnay & 50% Pinot Noir grapes from Santa Barbara County.
Montecito & Summerland Sparkling Wine
19. Folded Hills
Folded Hills makes 2 sparkling wines: Sparkling Rosé of Grenache & Sparkling Clairette Blanche, both made in the Champagne method. Visiting the farm and winery on the 101 near Buellton is a treasure, but their Montecito tasting room is also divine.
20. Summerland
Summerland winery is now closed.
See more! There are over 75 sparkling wine producers in Santa Barbara County.
Sparkling Wine in North Paso & San Miguel
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