This is how you do Santa Ynez.

Want to feel like you walked onto a movie set? Sagunto Street is three blocks long, the storefronts are western, and there are horseshoes set into the crosswalks. Santa Ynez still looks like what the valley is: ranch country. Cattle, horses, hay, and a wine industry that grew out of agriculture. It is also the gentle correction to the idea that Santa Barbara County means Pinot Noir. Drive east from town and the fog runs out — Happy Canyon gets warm enough for Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc and full-bodied Bordeaux blends. The whole valley is one long thermal corridor and Santa Ynez is the warm end of our little world. If you have only ever thought of this region as Pinot country, this is the town that will happily change your mind.