Babcock Winery & Vineyards

About this place

Babcock Winery & Vineyards was established in 1978, when Mona and Walter Babcock purchased a 110-acre property at the western end of the Santa Ynez Valley and planted their first 20 acres of vines. Their son Bryan Babcock left graduate studies in enology at UC Davis to join the family operation, producing the winery's first commercial vintages in the mid-1980s. In 2001 he helped identify and propose the boundary lines that created the Sta. Rita Hills AVA, where the estate was once the only commercial winery and vineyard on its stretch of Highway 246. Today the winery marks more than 40 years of winemaking, producing Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and late harvest, port-style, and library wines. Its tasting room and lounge on Highway 246 offers two tasting flights plus wine by the glass or bottle, with snacks and non-alcoholic beverages, across indoor and outdoor spaces; no reservations are needed for parties of seven or fewer.