Santa Barbara's Backyard, Poured Properly
Los Olivos · Solvang · New American, Farm-to-Table · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · July 27, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Mattei's Tavern’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
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Wingman Metrics
The wine list at Mattei's Tavern reads like a love letter to Santa Barbara County — and honestly, that's the right call when you're sitting in the middle of it. This is a resort restaurant that could easily coast on tourist traffic and pour Kendall-Jackson, but it doesn't. Someone here actually gives a damn.
With somewhere between 150 and 250 labels, the list isn't trying to be a 500-bottle wine bible — it's a tight, purposeful tour of the Santa Ynez Valley and its sub-AVAs. Foxen, Beckmen, Stolpman, Dierberg, Dragonette, Fess Parker — these are real Santa Barbara producers, not window dressing. The Los Olivos District and Santa Rita Hills get proper representation, which means you're seeing both the warm-climate Syrah side of the valley and the cool-climate Pinot and Chardonnay side. The gap is anything outside California: if you want Burgundy or Barolo, you're probably out of luck.
Twelve to twenty by-the-glass options is a solid spread for a resort restaurant, and the presence of a sommelier on staff suggests the pours aren't just whatever needs to move. Expect local Chardonnay, Syrah, and Sauvignon Blanc to anchor the glass program. No evidence of a regular rotation or special BTG events, which is a missed opportunity in a wine region this good.
Dragonette Cellars Sauvignon Blanc — null
Dragonette is one of the most under-the-radar producers in Santa Barbara, and their Sauvignon Blanc punches well above what most people expect from the region. If the markup here is aggressive on the big names, this is where you find the relative sweet spot — and it's a genuinely exciting bottle.
Fess Parker Winery Riesling
Nobody comes to Santa Ynez Valley for Riesling, which is exactly why you should order it. Fess Parker's take on the grape is an odd, pleasant surprise — and at a table full of people reaching for Pinot, you'll have the most interesting glass in the room.
Beckmen Vineyards Syrah
Beckmen makes genuinely good Syrah, but it's also one of the most widely distributed Santa Barbara labels — you can find it at a Whole Foods near you. At resort markup prices, you're paying a premium for a bottle you didn't need to travel to Los Olivos to discover.
Stolpman Vineyards Syrah + Locally sourced lamb or heritage pork dish
Stolpman's Syrah from Ballard Canyon is meaty, peppery, and built for exactly this kind of farm-to-table protein. It's grown less than ten miles from where you're sitting, which makes it less a pairing decision and more just the obvious right answer.
🎲 The Bottom Line
Mattei's Tavern earns its Wild Card badge by doing something most hotel restaurants refuse to do: building a wine program that actually reflects where it is. The markup will sting, but if you're eating in Los Olivos and not drinking local Santa Barbara wine, you've made a serious lifestyle error.
Downtown Solvang · Solvang · Wine Bar & Craft Beer Bar
The Good Life is what happens when someone in a tourist town actually cares about wine instead of just selling it. Come here, drink something you've never heard of, and feel good about it.
Surprising Depth
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
Downtown Solvang · Solvang · Italian
Cecco isn't a destination for the wine list, but it's not an afterthought either. If you're in Solvang and want a solid glass of local Sangiovese with a wood-fired pizza without overthinking it, this place has you covered.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown Solvang · Solvang · New American
Root 246 is the rare hotel restaurant that actually earns your wine attention — a focused Santa Barbara County list with real producers, a sommelier who knows the material, and pricing that doesn't punish you for being curious. If you're passing through Solvang wine country, this is where you eat.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
Downtown Solvang · Solvang · Traditional Danish and Danish-American comfort food
Solvang Restaurant is not a wine destination, but it's not pretending to be one either — and that honesty is its best quality. If you're here for Danish pancakes and a glass of local Santa Barbara wine, you'll leave happy; just don't expect the list to keep up with the tasting rooms a few miles away.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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The Hitching Post II is a one-of-a-kind wine experience precisely because it doesn't try to be a wine experience — it's a steakhouse that happens to make great wine and charges you fairly for it. Send your friends here, especially if they've seen Sideways and think the mystique has worn off. It hasn't.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Santa Ynez Valley · Solvang · Thai
Na Na Thai is a genuinely surprising wine program hiding inside a casual Thai spot in Buellton — fair prices, smart curation, and a clear point of view about what wines belong with spice-driven food. If you're driving through wine country and want something that earns its own kind of credibility, this list is worth the detour.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Ballard · Solvang · New American, Farm-to-Table
The Gathering Table is the right place to drink Santa Ynez wine in Santa Ynez wine country — focused, specific, and genuinely local in a way most inn restaurants aren't. The markups keep it from being a great wine destination on value alone, but if you're already in Ballard for the weekend, you're exactly where you should be.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Proper
Canyons Village · Park City · New American, Farm-to-Table
The Farm is a solid, safe wine program for a resort restaurant — it won't embarrass you on a date or disappoint a table of non-wine-people, but it's not worth any special effort. Order what you know, enjoy the mountain views, and don't look too hard at the markups.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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