The Charming Hamlet of Los Olivos

Once a quiet stagecoach stop, Los Olivos blends Old West charm with epicurean delights and a compelling wine scene, writes Mira Advani Honeycutt

Timelessness and a whisper-soft ambience greet you at Los Olivos, a historic town that is a part of California’s Central Coast. The Old West still lingers here reminding you of the time when cattle ranches once sprawled for miles and stagecoaches drove into town. Such small towns still exist in the Santa Barbara wine region. Here, downtowns are still three to four blocks long but in place of blacksmiths, livery shops and taverns, there are Michelin-starred restaurants, wine-tasting lounges and a luxury inn that once served as a stopover for weary stagecoach travellers. The Los Olivos AVA is one of Santa Barbara County wine region’s seven appellations.

Its 47 vineyards — over 1,121 acres — are planted with Rhône- and Bordeaux-style grape varieties taking the lead, followed by Spanish, Austrian and German varieties that are gaining popularity.

Located a two-hour drive north of Los Angeles, the unincorporated township of Los Olivos was established in 1886. It was named after the 5,000 olive trees planted when the Wells Fargo stagecoach stopped at the legendary Mattei’s Tavern, now the luxurious, “Inn at Mattei’s Tavern, Auberge Resorts Collection”.

Built by Swiss immigrant Felix Mattei, the fabled Tavern was known for Felix’s wine cellar and his wife Lucy’s epicurean delights. That hospitality has continued over the years with different owners and chefs.

Stepping into the Inn, it’s hard not to be transported back to the 1880s, when the tavern was a hub for the stagecoach line that ran from San Francisco to Santa Barbara, until its demise in 1901 with the arrival of the narrow-gauge Southern Pacific Railway followed by early automobile travel.

The newly refurbished Inn has become a popular getaway for weekend warriors seeking an eclectic wine experience. A sophisticated resort in farmhouse style, the Inn’s collection of 67 luxury rooms, suites and cottages are spread over 6.5 acres of lush lawn, anchored by the water tower, while maintaining the Inn’s trademark white balcony and wisteria-draped porch.

The 3,000-bottle cellar is stocked with local wines and a stellar collection of international wines. The Inn’s restaurant, helmed by chef Kevin Malone, serves ranch-inspired cuisine with ingredients harvested from the Inn’s garden. Along with the chic European style Felix Feed & Coffee lounge, the Bar (once a local winemakers’ hangout) has been modernised, although it still evokes an Old West vibe with its worn leather chairs, vintage rugs and mounted deer heads.

Los Olivos’ 19th-century boom town spirit of blacksmith shops and taverns which was replaced by a wave of art galleries and antique stores in the late 20th century, has now evolved into a compelling wine scene. The petrol station is long gone, replaced by a general store and a wine lounge. There are no vineyards or wineries in downtown Los Olivos, but winetasting rooms abound, with 30 within a fiveblock radius crisscrossing the main street.

However, some reminders of the past remain in the 2.5-square-mile village and the iconic WWII memorial flagpole still anchors the centre of town.

The 2004 multi-award-winning film “Sideways” was shot in the region with one pivotal sequence in the “Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Café”. Owner Sam Marmorstein claims the Sideways effect is still the single biggest reason for visitors to flock to his town and to Santa Barbara County’s wine country in general.

“More people started discovering this place and recognising that we have great wines in the area,” he noted of the film’s long aftermath. “It became a wine destination. Besides, it’s a mere two-hour drive from Los Angeles and an easy one-day trip.”

Despite the steady rush of wine aficionados, Los Olivos maintains its laidback ambience. “It still has a real, quiet feel to it; it’s small-town America,” Marmorstein explained. “It changes on the weekend when tourists come, but during the week it’s quiet and pretty sleepy.”

Local artisanal wines are what you will discover here. While a few winemakers and producers have vineyards in Los Olivos and nearby appellations, some don’t own vineyards but source fruit from other growers along the Central Coast. They may not even have a production facility, so they make their wines at one of many local custom crush operations.

In an Instagram-worthy, tree-shaded garden along Grand Avenue, one can savour an impressive portfolio of Epiphany Cellars’ complex Rhône-style blends or a selection of sparkling wines made in the méthode champenoise style at the Bubble Shack. Along Grand Avenue, Coquelicot offers a range of 14 different varieties, from Cabernet Franc and Malbec to sparkling Sangiovese Rosé and an orange wine, a blend of Grüner Veltliner, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc. Up the street, there’s an impressive selection of Syrahs at Andrew Murray, Larner and Evan’s Ranch.

Along a side street, Liquid Farm’s sunny porch fronting an uber-cool farmhouse-style lounge, offers Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from the region’s noted Sta. Rita Hills and Santa Maria Valley appellations. Other Pinot gems can be savoured at Story of Soil, Samsara and Dragonette Cellars.

Nearby, Tercero offers an immersive wine experience of Santa Barbara’s multiple microclimates and diversity. Owner and winemaker Larry Schaffer is laser-focused on the region and produces wines exclusively from this county: some 30 wines that range from Picpoul Blanc and Clairette Blanche to Mourvèdre, Cinsault and Cabernet Franc. There are many more wine-tasting rooms in the area, but the few restaurants are nothing short of stellar, such as the one-star Michelin restaurant Bar Le Côte, The Tavern and Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Café, the town’s longest-running
restaurant, established in 1995.

“There were just maybe three or four tasting rooms,” recalled Marmorstein when he first opened. “Ours was the first restaurant in Los Olivos and we had half the space. The other half was an antique store.” His concept was simple — wine-friendly food and local wines offered by the glass. The restaurant’s success motivated Sam and his wife Shawnda to take over the antique store in 2000 and use thatspace as a wine shop.

After a day of wine savouring, Nella Kitchen & Bar is a popular spot at the 19-room Fess Parker Wine Country Inn, established by the late Hollywood actor Fess Parker, founder of the eponymous winery. While sipping a local artisanal wine on Nella’s terrace overlooking Jedlicka’s Saddlery shop, or nursing the Golden Spur cocktail by the glowing fire pit on Mattei’slawn, it is easy to be seduced by the leisurely pace of the postage stamp-size hamlet and drift back to a time when stagecoaches still pulled in.