How Santa Ynez Valley Became California’s Most Interesting Wine Region

These days, the simplest way to taste the best wine being made in the Santa Ynez Valley is to visit the former Liquid Farm tasting room way out in Lompoc, one of the farthest reaches of Santa Barbara County. There, in a cluttered, out-of-use space attached to the production facility, winemaker James Sparks just might pour you some tastes of his own label, Kings Carey wines. Lesser wines would be diminished by the makeshift room; instead, the unstructured chaos works as a foil to the precision of his winemaking.