Alma Rosa Winery and Vineyards

The wine is good and that’s fact. But hopefully you’re lucky enough to have Bobby pouring the blessings into your glass. Thank you Bobby!!! Please people please enjoy more and stop being unworthy long winded critics on Unilocal

I first discovered Alma Rosa’s pinot noir at a restaurant in Santa Ynez a couple of years ago, and have been wanting to taste more of their wines ever since. This brand new tasting room, conveniently located in Buelton next to Industrial Eats, is in a beautiful space that has a comfortable and cozy «stay for a while» feel with its many couches and tables. They did a great job with every detail of this space, and its definitely worth visiting. It would be great to rent out for a private event — not sure if they do that — but they definitely should! This seems to be and up and coming area that they are putting a lot of money into, so I wouldn’t be surprised if more tasting rooms open up nearby in the not too distant future.
Unfortunately we arrived too late to taste (they are open until 7 pm on Fridays and Saturdays, but tasting stops at 4:30 pm) so our options were a glass or bottle of any of the wines on the tasting menu. We had a bottle of the pinot, and they were also kind enough to give us a taste of a second pinot that we’d been eyeing. Both were great, so I definitely want to come back and taste more of their wines and possibly join the club.

Unfortunately I got turned away at 4pm too bad. Not coming back. It looked like a pretty tasting room but if you tell me you can’t pour for us makes me think you don’t care about our business.

Came ready to buy based on previous experience in 2009. Found out that it’s under new ownership since then. The wine was not as good as it used to be and we were basically ignored in the tasting room. Left without finishing our tasting.

To address Danielle’s ONE star review– they were BRAND NEW! Give them a break! There most certainly is a bathroom here and it was clean and just fine. No port-​a-​potty.
What a shame to give such a harsh review when they were just getting off their feet. Anyway…
Great pinots! We bought 2 bottles.
Great comfortability. Love the long bench inside with comfy pillows and ottomans.
Bring your pup inside. They’re welcome!
Order from Industrial Eats (adjoining) and eat outside with your wine. Or inside at Eats–
No corkage fee at Industrial Eats when drinking Alma Rosa wine. And the food is excellent there, by the way.
Chrystle (sp?) was attentive and pleasant. So was the male worker.
Customers there were nice, pleasant people. I very much enjoy this winery.
Absolutely no snobby pourers here.
There was a cool giant «picture» on the wall… No, not a picture… the clouds were moving slowly on this «picture.» …Really cool. It got even cooler with each pour.
I’ll be back every time, for sure!

very hip and and modern space! my only coplaint is that there are a LOT of flies around. would be great if they invested in some sort of a screen door? and it’s not the only winery to have this problem i noticed. must be the sugars in the wine. you can also order food from next door and eat while wine tasting here as long as you sit outside.

They have a wonderful happy hr from 4 – 7 with live music on Friday and Saturday. We had a fabulous server named Bobby. He was super knowledgeable about the wines were were tasting. He made the whole experience unforgetable! Right next to Industrial Eats, which is also a major plus in my book.

My son-​in-​law and daughter love Alma Rosa Pinot Noir. I am always thanked when I bring over a bottle on birthdays or holidays. Unfortunately their tasting room is no longer located in the Santa Rita Hills surrounded by vineyards. The new tasting room is very nice, but it is easy to drive by without seeing it in what appears to be an industrial warehouse location. Nevertheless, getting premium Pinot Noir from the Santa Rita Hills for under $ 50 will keep me coming back. I thought the 2013 Clone 115 Pinot Noir for $ 45 was superb as did my wife, son-​in-​law and daughter. The tasting fee of $ 15 was waived with the purchase of three bottles. The server was not very knowledgeable about their wine, but very nice. Limited parking, but not very busy.

This was a pretty cool tasting room, recommended to us by the owner of another winery in the area. It’s not the typical feel of a tasting room with a bar, more like take a seat on a couch or on a stool at one of their tables and wait for somebody to help you.
They bring you water and crackers when you are seated and then you choose which tasting list you want to do. I went with the cheaper one, it was $ 12, but when they charged me for it, it was only $ 10.20. I don’t recall exactly what I tasted, but I think it was a Chardonnay, a Pinot Gris, and four reds, with majority of them being Pinot Noirs. The guy who helped us was friendly and informative.
I ended up purchasing a bottle of their 2013 Pinot Gris, which I thought was out of this world. So crisp and slightly sweet. Loved it. After we left they emailed me with an offer for free shipping on an order of 3+ bottles. I will probably take advantage of that in the near future.

We did wine tasting for my moms 50^th birthday and this tasting room was excellent! The atmosphere is relaxing and comfortable. A beautiful location and great tasting room associates. Definitely recommend trying their 40^th anniversary Pinot Noir! Yum!

The new tasting room is so lovely, makes up for losing the previous location, which was very special. The staff are so nice, and answered all our questions. We tasted and bought bottles. Particularly pleased with the location next to Industrial Eats.

Love this tasting room. Modern décor with lots of natural light and some really solid wine selections. We received a 25% off coupon from the Vinters Festival, so buying a few bottles came out to be a really great deal. Their 2013 Pinot Noir is one of my faves and their pourers are very knowledgeable. The day we tasted, they even had some great cheeses and small bites that were complimentary. A great experience!

Nice tasting room setting and pretty good wines, but industrial location and service sucks!
If it weren’t for the horribly rude service on Saturday, 5/​9, I would probably give 3.5−4 stars. Our pourer had attitude from the start. Wouldn’t tell us anything about the wines and after she poured our last taste, immediately came over with her iPad to ask us to checkout. I asked if we were able to purchase bottles and if we could try our last wine tastes before determining what we’d like to purchase, and she just huffed away. We ended up buying 3 bottles (no thanks to her service) and she had the nerve to tell us that there was a choice to leave an optional tip. Seriously?!? Did she actually think she provided us with good service?

Everything Richard touches is magnificent! The 40^th Anniversary wine is fabulous!!! You can’t go wrong with any of their wines! Santa Rita Hills Pinor is a fantastic voice!

Pretty new tasting room in a semi industrial area. After spending 2 days in Paso, the Santa Ynez wines are a bit pedestrian. That said, we bought a case of Pinot Blanc at an amazing price! $ 100 for a case. Alma Rosa was promoting this very drinkable white and we were on a mission to purchase several cases of every day whites on this three day trip. The annoyance came, when we paid and found a a $ 12 tasting fee tacked on. Not good business practice. When I questioned the fee, I was told that since the case was so heavily discounted, they couldn’t afford a free tasting. She said had we bought 2 or 3 bottles at regular price, the fee would have been waived. Many of the regularly priced wines were at $ 19. Do the math, it’s a silly policy. Not going back to Alma Rosa until they change their tasting fee structure!

Excellent experience! Fabulous wines, amazing service… what else can you ask for? Our hostess was very friendly, knowledgable and entertaining. Additionally, their winemaker, Richard Sanford, is an eminent figure in the wine industry and a true pioneer of Pinot noir in SRH. Their new tasting room is very modern and perfect for large parties. Definitely a MUST GO for any serious wine enthusiast.
Also, the delicious restaurant next door has no corkage fee… hint hint

This is my favourite winery. I loved Sanford wines so I followed Richard Sanford down the road to his organic vineyards on Santa Rosa Road. (You had me at organic). Beautiful property and amazing wine. I’m drinking the 2012 Pinot Noir Mt Eden Clone from the El Jabali Vineyard. So lovely. I miss their tasting room in the hills. It was heaven. I hear they will be back that way in a couple years but until then this tasting room is very convenient to Buellton and Solvang. «The Spanish name was chosen as a tribute to the place and the people behind the wines, alma meaning soul and rosa referring to the original California Rancho Santa Rosa land grant, the location of our Rancho El Jabalí Vineyard». (From their website). The people that create this wine love the grapes because you can feel it in the glass. Cheers.

Legendary winemaker Richard Sanford’s new tasting room on Industrial Way in Buellton. Tasting room is intimate and unpretentious — a great setting to sample his line up of wines from the Sta. Rita Hills.

Quaint little winery tucked into the Santa Rita Hills. No point lying. We came here because of Sideways. This is the first wine tasting room that they visit in the film. Since the film’s release, the owner had to give up the Sanford name (long story explained to us by one of the employees). So yes, this is the actual place in the film.
For variety, we decided to share the varietal flight and the pinot flight. A refined wine palate I have not, but I did enjoy a few of the wines and found a couple not so enjoyable. If I remember correctly, my favorite was the «2011 Pinot Noir — Santa Rita Hills,» whereas my girlfriend liked the «2011 Pinot Noir — Clone 115 — La Encantada Vineyard, Santa Rita Hills.»
Now this isn’t Alma Rosa’s fault, but boy are some winegoers loud and obnoxious. Part of the charm is how small the tasting room is. But when a group of people suddenly enter and act like they own the place, your experience goes south quickly.
Fortunately, we were on our last glass and we escaped to the back to check out the surroundings. The aforementioned employee saw me taking photos and invited us to check out their planning room. Apparently, the walls are stacks of hay bales reinforced with rebar and covered in clay. You can see how thick the walls are. It was a cold day and the inside was toasty warm thanks to the insulation.
It’s great to see small wineries remaining small and maintaining that independent charm. Despite the annoying patrons, we enjoyed our quick stop at Alma Rosa.

Sometimes an impression is so bad that you have to be blunt: This winery sucksss! (No offense to Alma’s wine club members).
First off, they have no bathrooms. This vineyard is really out of the way and when you arrive, in the parking lot is a big nasty port-​a-​potty that every drunk person that day has peed in. I was so grossed out having to use it in it’s gross splendor, flies buzzing, that it was hard to be expected to enjoy myself wine tasting. I don’t mean to sound harsh but it’s also really hot up there in the hills so the smell of urine and feces leaks into the air and it’s just disgusting. People are drinking all day and driving long distances. Get a proper bathroom. Please, if not for your guests, for your employees.
To add insult to injury, the wine room was filled with one rude pourer after another. It blew my mind how snobby these people were. I was so turned off by everything about this vineyard that the wines didn’t even matter. This is not the kind of place I want to spend my time in wine country on vacation. Period. I don’t need the smelly port-​a-​potty filled with everybody’s sh** and vomit, and I certainly don’t need the attitude either.