SAMsARA Wine Co. Los Olivos

“I have been a member of Samsara's wine club for over a decade, since they were a tiny operation in Lompoc's wine ghetto. Oddly, I discovered them in a little wine bar in Virginia, at which time I promptly bought all that was left of their stock. Being from the Santa Ynez Valley, I made sure to visit on my next trip home. There is a reason I have stayed a member of this long. It has been fun watching this winery grow over the years and I make sure to visit every trip home.”

“We threw my father a retirement party with 20+ guests and stumbled upon SAMsARA Wine Co via a Google review. We called ahead and organized our large party for tastings. 20 is a huge group, but Mia, handled it with ease. She knew which pour each person was on despite us all going at various paces! We had a wonderful time. In fact, it was so fun, that my family (6 of us) went back the next day and enjoyed another bottle(or two… 😃). Mia was playing her guitar and singing the most beautiful songs. It was quite a lovely evening. The wine itself was even more spectacular. We left with a few orders or their Library wines and… admittedly opened them up the next day. This will be a stop for me each time I visit Los Olivos and I highly highly recommend you do too. Always good to call ahead and reserve, but they will no doubt take care of you if you just pop in.”

“I fell in love with this wine after trying it at the Annual Cathedral Catholic Wine & Brewery Night in 2022 & have been a huge fan since. My daughter found you while in Santa Barbara a week before Xmas & grabbed me a few bottles. I wish you were in more store in San Diego.”

“My wife and I had a delicious wine tasting at SAMsARA. Danny was super knowledgeable about the wines and we had great conversation about the Santa Rita Hills and Santa Barbara wine region. Mia sings and plays guitar on the first Friday every month. We were fortunate to hear her fabulous vocals tonight. One of the best wine tasting experiences we had had in 20+ years.”

“My wife and I visited Los Olivos in January with no plan on which tasting rooms to visit. I didn’t a little research in the morning and contacted some of the wine nerds I know from New Orleans looking for a recommendation. Everybody said skip Los Olivos and go directly to the vineyards as it’s become a little too hip after the movie ‘Sideways’ came out. However, we were in the area and just decided to shoot from the hip as to where we would end up. We stumbled upon Samsara for no other reason than it having an inviting entrance AND it being open (as we were there early in the day). First, they were not quite ready for people… they seemed flustered by our presence. No problem. From my experience working in the service industry for two decades, I’ve learned that people walking right when you open is not ideal, but after a little bit of confusion, my wife and I were sipping on one of their tasting menus. It was an older woman “helping” us. Unfortunately, I don’t believe she carried enough knowledge to lead a tasting… let alone, try to sell a bottle of wine. I’m no level 4 sommelier, but I used to attend tastings 3 times a week for 10 years and have some slight idea of how tastings usually work. She had nothing. No tasting notes, no mouth feel, and hardly any information aside from a map of where the grapes were grown. I even tried to give her some hints on what the wines we were tasting were like. She didn’t bite. I lended her a few descriptors but she replied with “I’ve never heard that before” with a pretentious undertone to her voice. I quit asking questions as she had no answers. Unfortunately, my wife wasn’t picking up on me wanting to leave and purchased a [pity] bottle of their 2022 granache/syrah blend before heading out. Long story short, the wine was 5 stars. The tasting experience was a 1 star. The woman serving us was unqualified for her job on both a customer service and wine knowledge.”