Of the eight popular tasting rooms that now dot Los Olivos in Santa Barbara County, Richard Longoria Wines should top every wine lover’s list of stops.
Longoria first worked in Sonoma in 1974, where André Tchelistcheff, the founding father of California's modern wine industry, befriended him. The legend encouraged the aspiring winemaker to move to Santa Barbara County, then an emerging wine region, where Longoria made wine at many of the region’s pioneer wineries, including J. Carey, Rancho Sisquoc and Gainey Vineyard. Now, Longoria spends his time developing his own label, including his flagship wine, Pinot Noir from Fe Ciega (blind faith) Vineyard in the Santa Rita Hills.

Meet Longoria and you'll find a down-to-earth guy who's into art and has drawn upon that love in his wildly popular wine label “Blues Cuvée” to promote his Cabernet Franc. When he started selling Cabernet Franc in 1990, few consumers were familiar with it. As soon as Longoria put an artistic label on it, it quickly sold out. Nowadays, his wines are highly regarded on their own and Longoria continues his “Blues Cuvée” labels just for fun.– Kathy Marcks Hardesty.

Longoria Tasting Room, 2935 Grand Ave., Los Olivos, CA (805) 688.0305