This is how you do Santa Maria Valley.

Santa Maria Valley is the oldest AVA in Santa Barbara County, established in 1981, and the second oldest in California, after Napa. The city itself is agricultural — think strawberries, broccoli, cattle, a rail line. It also invented Santa Maria style barbecue: tri-tip over red oak, pinquito beans, salsa and garlic bread, a genuine regional American cuisine. The tasting rooms out here are unhurried and frequently family-run, and there is a good chance the person pouring also farms the block the wine came from. That is the pleasure of this end of the county — you get the history and the hospitality without the crowds. Explore the estates or venture into town for some tiny wine. Come hungry and give the drive up an extra thirty minutes.