Curtis Winery

Curtis Winery is a business with a colorful past and a bright future. As it turns out, the current owners, The Firestones (Yes, also of the Firestone Tire Co.), own the winery, but are closing the Curtis Winery doors on March 31^st. However, they are going to be leasing the vineyards and winery to the very well known wine maker, Andrew Murray, who will reopen under his brand and label on April 1^st.
Out of respect for Curtis Winery, and since these are the wines that we tasted, we want to still highlight some of the information that we learned from our visit. The winery was named after Polly Curtis, the Grandmother of the owners. The vineyards and winery were started in 1995 with the tasting room opening in 1998. They have created some wonderful wines that we all very much enjoyed. They also have a red wine label called ‘Jarhead’ where the sale of each bottle goes to support the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation, a scholarship for the children of U.S. Marines. They make an awesome late harvest Viognier! The Traveling Winers felt privileged to have visited before the winery changes hands.
Moving on to the next generation of the property, vineyards and winery, the staff are also keeping a positive attitude and are excited to begin work with Andrew Murray, a well known wine maker that focuses on Rhone varietals. Both of our hostesses for the day, Stacie and Cassandra, will be staying on with Andrew and are excited to be a part of the new label. Andrew has been making wines for over 25 years and promises to continue making quality wine at this location.
Who knows! The Traveling Winers may be back to check it out and see how it progresses! Be on the lookout!
The Traveling Winers at The Vineyard Trail

Try to do the chocolate and wine pairing if possible! We did it the first visit and absolutely LOVED it! The second time around, we had the tasting in the barrel room due to reconstruction. It was surprisingly very fun! Kinda cool to be surrounded by all their wine! The staff is friendly, but not the friendliest we’ve met. Some of them care a little too much about hearing themselves spue information rather than taking more personal consideration the party’s experience. There also were some awkward moments of them watching you sip the wine in weird silence. The wine is delicious however! Our favorite is the late harvest. It tastes like honey and vanilla evenly blended together to create the most AMAZING dessert wine we’ve ever had! Great location. It was nice to sit out on the grass under the shade of a big tree to relax after our tastings.

Delicious wines, great service, beautiful location. Victoria served our tastings and was outstanding in her knowledge of the wines and area, plus a charming lady! Good luck to you all as Andrew Murray takes charge.

WOULD NOT GO!
I would not step one toe in there door ever again! I cannot believe this place and there customer service. I go wine tasting all the time in Sonoma and Napa. I belong to three winery’s and I never EVER been in a winery where I felt like I was at the DMV. They were so rude it was crazy. We had a bigger group which I know in some cases winery’s don’t like that. We had 6 people with us but only 4 were tasting so we didn’t think it would be that big of a deal, and the place was a nice size. Also looking around in the building it wasn’t to crowd. So as we are walking up to the door I open it and this man comes up to my face and said how many or do you have a reservation. I said no we don’t we have 6 people but only 4 are tasting. Then he advise me to step outside the building so we can talk. I did so an I didn’t see what the problem is. He said we have too many people tasting wine and two huge parties are coming in an a hour. A HOUR! An one is a close friend of the family so we have to serve them first. UMMM OK if they are a close friend of the family then they have already tasted this wine and get it for free or at a good rate! ME a paying customer is going to pay full dollar and maybe join your club but now NEVER! AN I will tell everyone what you did to me and my friends! It was such a great birthday gift! Thanks Curtis Winery!

Always love this winery. The staff is always fun and makes it a great tasting worth stopping on your trip through the wine country. And they have a chocolate pairing! Close enough you can also hit Fess Parker and Khoeler !

Curtis Winery was our first stop during a wine tasting tour up in Santa Barbara. I was blown away by their Viognier and dark chocolate (sea salt) pairing. It is a solid stand alone wine in itself and is even better accompanied with rich, dark chocolate. I undoubtedly enjoyed the majority of their wines and the ambiance during the tasting. You could definitely tell the staff was passionate about their wines and were educated in the wine making process, as well as background of the winery. I am definitely planning another visit within the near future!

So disappointing that Billy and Julie are no longer at Curtis. We have been wine club members for years and we always have loved visiting the winery. However, our last few experiences have been anything but positive. The wine is still delicious, but it is the people that make the difference… Too bad!
We certainly miss Elizabeth D… the former wine club manager. Sure ran smoothly with Elizabeth in charge!

Great wine here for those who love Rhones! I joined the Wine Club back in October 2013 after a great time at their tasting room on my first visit. The club has been great and the shipments have always been fairly priced (around $ 90 – 100 for the trimester three bottle shipment).
Curtis has since merged with Andrew Murray and their tasting room has been officialy converted over as of April 2014. I can say this is actually good news to me as I’ve heard great things about AMW. I plan on checking out the tasting room first thing this summer as soon as I can make it up to Santa Ynez.

This low rating is mainly because Billy (the guy who served us) was very rude. My friends and I came here as part of a wine tasting group tour and were quietly conversing amongst ourselves at the edge of the group while Billy introduced some of the wines in a very long-​winded and pompous fashion (not pouring until he was done with his speeches). He was obviously irritated that we weren’t hanging on his every word and made snarky comments about us not paying attention or caring about wine. Then he ignored us and tried to skip pours. The wine was ok– nothing bad but not amazing. The chocolates were good but he gave us attitude about liking the chocolate better than the wine. I don’t like stuffy, snobby places like this. Did not experience this at any other wineries in the area.

Great stop and excellent wines. Billy is the best in the tasting room. Having a bottle of the Grenache with fillet mignon tonight.

My boyfriend and I tried the wine and chocolate pairing at Curtis’. Not only the wine and the chocolate were amazingly delicious but we received the best service possible.
Plus, the mustard and pretzels were a nice touch. We made sure to come home with all those 3 items for a very decent price.
We will definitely go back there.
Oh and don’t forget to go see the mini horses nearby, especially for the little Sebastian’s fan (any Parks and Recreation fan will get the reference) ;-)

We visited 5 wineries, and Curtis was one of the best. It’s a smaller winery, they have 8 people on staff and they do all the harvesting by hand and stomp out the grapes by feet, the old fashion way.
Our pourer Billy was very friendly, knowledgeable, attentive, charismatic, and funny. $ 10 for wine tasting and we also got the chocolate truffle tasting for $ 8.
For pics and more info on our wine tour visit my blog:

We stopped by this winery during our Santa Ynez trip because my boyfriend bought a Travelzoo deal – $ 19 for 2 wine tastings with gourmet chocolate pairings, plus a free bottle of wine. The location was beautiful, and the tasting room was nicely set up.
Overall, the wines were good and all the chocolates, although delicious on their own, paired well with each particular wine. Our Travelzoo deal included a bottle of Syrah, but we decided to use the credit from that bottle ($ 29) to purchase the 2010 Reserve ($ 45), which we both really liked.
The staff was very friendly. The lady who poured our tastings even gave our friends (who didn’t have the Travelzoo deal) an extra pour – the regular wine tasting ($ 10) included 6 pours, while the Travelzoo deal included 7 different wines.

Had a great time here. We arrived right on the heels of a larger group which I thought would make it a nightmare. The main room was already full so we followed the group into the back room. Maybe we weren’t supposed to as shortly after we arrived it was closed with a ‘private party’ sign put up. We stayed anyways and glad we did. Our pourer was Billy who’s very entertaining and did a great job managing the large group. There’s a third club they have that’s not listed with the first two… it’s the ‘Billy Club’ and only Billy can invite membership it appears.
I ended up at Curtis because of an online deal and ended up joining the wine club and took a few bottles home.

I don’t understand anything less than a five star review for this place. My husband and I have been coming to Curtis for three years now after being introduced to their wine by friends. We have always had great experiences. In fact, we became members because we enjoyed their wine and the experience so much. They throw a great party every year called Calypsofest. We have attended three years in a row and have brought new friends every year. And, Elizabeth, their manager is a gem!
We just visited the tasting room again this weekend with some friends and had a great time. Even though they were really busy, we were given excellent service by the pourers. Give this place a chance, and you won’t regret it!

Oh, Curtis, Curtis! You are on our No. 1 list for winery experience in Santa Barbara.
Today was my husband’s second visit here, and my first. A pourer by name of Elizabeth presented us with the most delightful wine tasting experiences in Santa Barbara! She even provided us with three additional, complimentary wines, not included on our list. We bought three bottles to-​go, and can’t wait to enjoy them back home in L.A.
Curtis is worth a stop in Santa Barbara. We wholeheartedly recommend this delightful winery.

Now here was a place that surprised me. I had driven by Curtis on my last trip to this area and really felt like I would never stop here. But, because it was so close to Koehler, we decided to give it a try. The winery is up a small hill from the Foxen Canyon road and thus had a very nice view of the vineyards in the valley looking back in the direction of Koehler. The tasting room was fairly good sized and modern looking.
The place was fairly crowded, so we ended up doing our tasting down by the register. They had a small table set up as you walked in with bread and pretzels and samples of various gourmet dips and sauces.
Where I ended up surprised is I expected to not really like their wines, yet I found them actually pretty good especially the whites (and I prefer reds). Had i not already spent a considerable amount on wine I might have been tempted to buy something, as I was on the fence about buying one of the whites.
My wife did end up buying pear flavored balsamic vinegar and some horseradish garlic dip.

Solid! I have been a member at Curtis for about three years; been visiting for six. There is rarely a wine on the tasting list that I’m not interested in. I love the Mouvedre, so far I haven’t tasted a vintage I didn’t fall for. The late harvest Viognier is great, and their Rose was the first to turn me on to the pink. Wine, that is.
If you get Jason or Elizabeth, you’re in luck, but everybody here is nice. Well worth the visit!

This was the first stop on the wine tour I took in Solvang. Knowing that it was part of the Firestone group, I knew it would be a classy place. And I wasn’t disappointed. We had a tasting in the barrel room, which was a chilly place, but kinda cool. Mark was our server, and he was really knowledgeable.
I really enjoyed the Syrah and the dessert wine. I wasn’t blown away by any of them, so no purchases here, but they had a nice behind the scenes tour and gift shop. (Try the pretzels and dips) Definitely a nice way to start a day in wine country.

It was cool that Andrew Firestone from the bachelor poured us wine on VDay
, but as soon as we got in the car to go to the next place, my friend and I got sick and yakked our guts out (and no, we weren’t even crunk yet). We think one of the red wines was rancid or there were cooties on the crackers. Still sick, but my friend is on her death bed. I’m never going here again! Puke, puke, puke!