Mission Santa Barbara Wine experts across nation visits Santa Barbara County for wine tour
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. - Chris Geideman runs a restaurant in Connecticut. He loves exploring new wine flavors.
He's visiting Santa Barbara County this week for the Mission Santa Barbara wine tour.
"I'm here because I love Santa Barbara wines. I have been drinking them forever," Geideman said.
More than half of the wine at Geideman's restaurant are from Santa Barbara County.
Geideman decided to join the three-day wine tour, because he's looking to purchase even more wine for his restaurant.
During the tour, participants are getting to visit local vineyards while meeting with winemakers.
It's a chance for wineries in our area to sell their bottles to potential clients.
"They're coming right in the middle of harvest. They're seeing the grapes, the winemaking and now they're part of the harvest as well," said Wes Hagen, a winemaker in Santa Maria.
One of the highlights of this tour is that wine experts will get to come away with a complete understanding of the wine culture in Santa Barbara County.
Tour organizers said the number of participants continues to grow each year.
"Santa Barbara is making some of the best wines in the world right now. You go to some of the top restaurants in New York City and the wine is from Santa Barbara," said Stephen Janes, a local winemaker and organizer of Mission Santa Barbara.
This year 42 wine experts from throughout the country participated in the wine tour, which is the most it's had in the tour's five years.
