“In order to get into the wine business, you have to be adventurous.”
Ryan Carr of Carr Vineyard and Winery is indeed adventurous! His first job was making snowboards, then went to the University of Arizona for graphic design and worked for a landscape company. It was in college that he took a class on plant science, a seed was planted, and since 1999 he has been farming vineyards and making wine– what an adventure! When Ryan made his way to the Santa Ynez Valley he thought he would start a graphic design business. Little did he know he know the adventurous path that laid ahead…
Starting on the farming side of the industry in 1998, Ryan began working for viticulturist, Craig McMillan. Getting outside to escape the computer was a no brainer for Ryan, he fell in love with being in the field, and before he knew it he was helping lay out and plant vineyards.
Developing relationships from his vineyard work Ryan was able to get his hands on some extra Cabernet Sauvignon fruit in 1999. With that and the help of some food grade trash cans, he made his first batch of ‘home’ wine, producing about 10 cases. That wine was given to friends and family, who actually LOVED it!
In 2000 Ryan was approached by Andy Kahn who had just started his own winemaking facility. Starting up his new business and tight on money, Andy suggested Ryan work for him (for free) in exchange for winemaking help and the use of the facility. Not willing to pass up the opportunity Ryan jumped in. He made his first 325 cases with 1.5 tons of Cabernet Sauvignon, 1.5 tons of Cabernet Franc, and .5 tons of Pinot Noir. That was the beginning of the Carr label. Each year they continued to make more wine, and after several years Ryan really had a good thing going.
“As a farmer I am trying to represent the exact location more than anything. So it’s a hands off approach to wine making. Very minimal additions, and manipulation.”
One of the main factors that sets Carr apart from other wineries in our area is that they lease vineyards throughout Santa Barbara County; including Sta. Rita Hills, Los Olivos District, Santa Ynez Valley, Ballard Canyon, and Happy Canyon. Growing in all of these locations allows Ryan to get to know and see the differences in each growing region and make many different varietals.
California in general is a young wine region, so Santa Barbara is very new in the grand scheme of things. Being a young region we often look at older wine producing regions, such as France and Italy, for inspiration and advice. With that said, this is not Italy, or France, its California. We are finding our own techniches and styles over the years. You can see it happening in Santa Barbara, with all these sub appellations coming up. The basic understanding as to what our environment can do is increasing.
“Santa Barbara is such a special place, and without the influence of Burgundy we wouldn’t know that Sta. Rita Hills is perfect for the Burgundian varietals. Without the influence of the Rhone we wouldn’t know that Ballard Canyon is the place we should be growing the Rhone varietals, and same for Happy Canyon and the Bordeaux’s. It’s incredible what we can do within such a small area of California.”
Want to meet more local winemakers? Catch our current Featured Winemaker on our blog, or come meet them on the last friday of every month!
Meet Our New Executive Chef: When Life (and Serendipity) Had Other Plans
After 30 years of running Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Café, we’ve learned that chefs come in all flavors. Some are fiery (okay, most of them), some have egos bigger than our wine selection, and occasionally, just occasionally, you find one who’s simply perfect for your kitchen family.
Enter Chef Alex Garcia.
You know how life sometimes has a funny way of steering you exactly where you need to be, even when you had other plans? That’s Alex’s story. He originally dreamed of being a Marine, but when life handed him a family, his priorities shifted. Then he set his sights on the police force – until a torn ligament said “not so fast.” He even spent a few years in construction, managing a home building project from the ground up (talk about transferable skills!). But the restaurant world kept calling him back, and those connections were too strong to ignore. Turns out, the universe had other plans for our guy.
From Dishwasher to Executive Chef: A Story of Heart and Hustle
The truth is, Alex’s story started way before he picked up his first chef’s knife. As a kid, he learned what real work looks like by helping his parents build their landscaping business. First-generation immigrant work ethic? Yeah, he’s got that in his DNA.
His restaurant journey? Pure Alex. Started as a dishwasher (the most humbling gig in any kitchen, let’s be real) and worked his way up to line cook. Trust us when we say that kind of mobility doesn’t happen because someone likes you – it happens because you earn it.
But here’s where it gets good. Alex’s reputation as that guy who works harder and smarter than anyone else? It opened doors. Other restaurants wanted a piece of that magic. Soon he was overseeing restaurant projects from the ground up, wearing the managerial hat on many occasions – and let me tell you, that hat fits him like it was custom-made.
At one point, Alex even took a detour into construction for a few years, where he managed a complete home build from foundation to finish. (Because apparently mastering just one industry wasn’t enough for this guy!) But those restaurant connections kept calling, and eventually, the food world won him back. Funny how those construction project management skills translate perfectly to running a bustling kitchen, isn’t it?
When Alex gets bored, he doesn’t scroll through his phone – he learns something new. Creates something new. Ask anyone who’s seen him smoke meats (his signature passion) or craft seafood dishes that make locals come back week after week.
Why We’re Over the Moon
Look, we’ve worked with our fair share of “creative geniuses” whose brilliant ideas don’t quite pencil out (sorry, but having the most expensive ceramic plates – and different ones for every dish – just doesn’t work, no matter how fancy it looks). What makes Alex different? Character. Pure and simple.
He’s been our Sous Chef under Chef Brooke, so when Brooke headed to San Francisco, the choice was obvious – Alex was already ready.
What to Expect
Your beloved Los Olivos Café classics? They’re safe and sound. Alex gets it – tradition matters. But he’s also bringing his own flair:
Get ready for some seriously amazing smoked meats (his secret techniques are… well, they’re staying secret)
Local seafood that’ll make you wonder why you ever ate anything else
Continued commitment to our CCOF Certified Organic farm – Alex is thrilled to carry on our farm-to-fork tradition
The kind of dishes that make sense for wine country but still surprise you
From running a seafood establishment to creating menus for a vegan spot with friends, Alex has done it all. But we like to think he’s finally home.
The Bottom Line
We feel like we’ve won the culinary lottery. Alex’s honesty, work ethic, and creativity are exactly what we’ve been looking for.
Welcome to the family, Chef. We’re thrilled to have you.
We grow many fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers on the Café Farm, from a variety of lettuces and herbs to carrots, squash, zucchini, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, beans, and of course – pumpkins. And, you’ll see arrangements of the sunflowers, zinnias, delphinium, bachelor buttons, snapdragons and euphoria decorating the tables at the Café. Many of the flowers are edible, including borage and sweet peas. There’s such an extraordinary abundance that the Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Café owner’s Sam and Shawnda Marmorstein have been pondering creative ways to share it with customers. Everything grown on our farm is CCOF Organic. The bounty of the farm is brought daily to the Café where Chef Chris is inspired to develop specials with the produce while other items are used as staples in our menu, such as salad greens and the pickles that come with sandwiches and burgers on the lunch menu.
Yes, we make our own pickles! We think that you can’t have a sandwich with house-made buns, house-made burgers, brisket and hand cut fries, and not attend to the fine detail of a delicious homemade pickle, probably the most perfect accompaniment to a sandwich. What’s not to like? With flavors and textures often described as tangy, crispy, crunchy, sharp, spicy, briny, piquant… this could be a wine label!
Did you know that pickles go way, way, and we mean way back?! Many historic figures, including Cleopatra and Julius Caesar, liked pickles. Pickles date back forty-five hundred years to Mesopotamia where it is believed cucumbers were first preserved. Cleopatra, a devoted pickle fan, believed they enhanced her beauty.
Bill Metzgar, a private chef new to the area via New York and LA and his wife Jamie (Jamie is Asst. Wine Director in the Wine Merchant) were talking with owners Sam and Shawnda about the possibility of creating private cooking sessions at their Bernat Winery Retreats. Bill, passionate about the Farm to Table movement, and a former writer for Edible Buffalo, was wowed by the gorgeous organic produce growing in the restaurant garden. Bill said, “We discussed the bounty and what they were doing with it and we struck upon the idea to can and preserve as much as possible, when the time came. The unique varieties of cucumbers and tomatoes beg to be used and enjoyed year round and canning is one way to make that a reality.”
Pickles come in many recipe versions, and adapting the wonderful refrigerator pickle Chef Chris makes for the Café was a unique challenge that they collaborated on, coming up with the Café Farm Pickles that are being sold in the Wine Merchant.
There are two varieties, “Chef’s Deluxe Recipe” and “Spicy Garlic Dills.” We think they came out great – and now, you can enjoy this Café staple and the fresh from the farm flavor year round at home. Purchase Pickles herebefore our very limited supplies run out.
Pickles inspired Thomas Jefferson to write, “On a hot day in Virginia, I know nothing more comforting than a fine spiced pickle, brought up trout-like from the sparkling depths of the aromatic jar below the stairs of Aunt Sally’s cellar.” We think Jefferson would have loved our Café Farm Pickles, and so will you!
Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climat– Pioneer Winemaker of Santa Barbara
According to the Au Bon Climat website, Jim Clendenen grew up in Ohio in a “gastronomically impoverished” culture. It’s safe to say that he has since more than made up for that epicurially lost time during the last 30 years!
A Global Education
Like many of his generation, time spent in Europe during a semester abroad opened his eyes – and his mind – that food and wine could be more than burgers and California Mountain Burgundy. Such a transformative experience caused him to dedicate his career to wine instead of law, which is what he was actually there to study.
After a stint at Zaca Mesa, which has become so well-known for cultivating future winemakers that it’s called ‘Zaca U,’ Jim partnered with Adam Tolmach to create Au Bon Climat. His time in France influenced both the name of the winery and Jim’s approach: he sought to craft more subtle, vibrant, and age-worthy Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays. In other words, he wanted to create what he wanted to drink.
Francophile Tendencies and Shared Vision
Jim’s Francophile tendencies were shared by winemaking colleagues Bob Lindquist, Adam Tolmach, and Ken Brown.
Adam Tolmach, Bob Lindquist, and Jim Clendenen
They got together on a regular basis to drink the French wines they all loved so much, thereby cementing the future of Santa Barbara winemaking whether they knew it or not. Since then, all have become giants in the wine industry, but it’s still Au Bon Climat that stands out as the best Burgundian-styled using fantastic California fruit.
Jim is quick to point out that it’s the Clendenen Family label that’s actually his “first” label because the grapes are from his own vineyard and he has built it from the ground up. There, he creates wines from more esoteric French grapes like Mondeuse and Aligoté which are seldom seen stateside. Such wines are highly acidic and beg to be paired with richer foods, which is also a direct nod to his time in France as a young man.
Epic Meals
But winemaking isn’t the only way Jim carries out his quest to make up for gastronomical impoverishment of his youth: his lunch time meals for staff and visitors alike are legendary. He personally prepares a feast at the winery every day that he’s there and everyone sits down together at a communal table to enjoy it. You never really know what you’ll get since Jim usually cobbles together a meal
from what he has available – the veggies come from his garden and the meats are from local farmers. A thoughtful selection of wines are always present on the table. Truly an experience!
We, however, don’t need to wait for an invitation because we’re featuring Au Bon Climat wines through the month of August. We are offering the three featured wines below for 20% off throughout the month. We hope you get to take advantage of this fantastic deal!
If you look up the definition of “ground truth,” you’ll find many different definitions. Among soldiers, the “ground truth” refers to the strategic reality of a military situation. For a meteorologists, it refers to atmospheric information collected on location. Among poets, it refers to the fundamental truth. Before being a winemaker Garrett Gamache would collect ground-truth data out in the field when working as a geologist. But as a winemaker his label “Ground Truth” refers to what the French call terroir: the expression of grapes in specific soils and microclimates.
Garrett came to his own ground truth in a roundabout way. Like many young Central Coast winemakers, he didn’t come from a family of farmers. Instead, he discovered his calling after majoring in geology and growing frustrated with the office jobs he found after graduation. He worked for Ryan Carr of Carr Winery during his undergraduate degree at UCSB, and it was this call to be back in nature that led him to learn how to farm, essentially. He quickly realized that his favorite wines were the result of minimal winemaker intervention and instead tasted of their specific terroir.
Garrett’s minimalistic approach is immediately apparent in his wines. He strongly believes that wine should be an expression of the terroir above all else, and to achieve this, he keeps his production super small. Grapes for his wines are sourced from the best vineyards around Santa Barbara County, like Whitehawk Vineyard for his Viognier, Coquelicot Vineyard for his Rosé, and Kimsey Vineyard for his Syrah. The cooler temperatures in Whitehawk allow the aromatic nature of Viognier to fully develop while maintaining structured acidity. Similarly, the sandy soils of Kimsey are perfect for Syrah because it helps the earthy, spicy nature to show forth instead of big, jammy fruit. Finally, whole cluster pressing allows his Rosé juice to run free, with minimal skin contact, which naturally allows the earthy notes of Syrah to more subtly assert themselves.
Garrett also uses only indigenous yeast for fermentation, which means that yeast is not used to impart flavors that are not natural to the grapes, to the juice, or to the aging process. The resulting wines express pure, varietally-correct characteristics that speak of the beauty of soil and of climate and not of technology.
His smaller approach is aligned with his humble demeanor: when asked where he sees himself in ten years, Garrett replies that he’d like to keep making fantastic, small production wines. In fact, his current releases are his biggest yet at a combined 300 cases! While he probably wouldn’t mind being known as the great winemaker that he is, Garrett isn’t looking to become the next Robert Mondavi; in fact, he’d prefer that his label is recognizable, not him. In a time when so many are seeking to be the next rock star winemaker, Garrett’s approach is refreshing because his focus is purely on the wine and not on self-promotion. See for yourself and discover more in our interview that we had at the Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Café:
We enjoyed hosting Garrett at Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Café on July 28th as he poured for part of our Final Friday Featured Winemaker series.
Due to the ever-changing nature of wine shipping laws, we may be able to ship wines, directly or indirectly to your state. We use UPS, FedEX , and as our standard carrier for CA, OR, NV, and WA we use GLS. When shopping online, enter your address to see if it is a state we currently ship to. We only ship Ground and we use the shipper that offers the lowest cost at current market rates.
Legal Requirements
You must be 21 years of age or older, to order or receive alcoholic beverages from winemerchantcafe.com. Receipt of shipments containing alcoholic beverages requires the signature of a sober adult (a person 21 years of age or older who is not intoxicated). Wines purchased from winemerchantcafe.com are not for resale and are for personal consumption only.
Wine is a Delicate Commodity
Wine is a perishable commodity. Wine does not like extremes of temperature: hot humid summer and cold winter weather may adversely affect the condition of your wine during shipment. winemerchantcafe.com is not responsible for, and will not replace wine that is damaged by extreme weather conditions during shipment. When your wine order is picked up for delivery, responsibility for the wine becomes the responsibility of the purchaser. We want you to be pleased with the product being shipped to you. If there are extreme weather conditions taking place during the time of your order, our Wine Merchant staff will contact you to communicate when your order will be shipped. If you are concerned about shipping options for your order, please do not hesitate to contact us at 805-688-7265 ext. 6 or at info@winemerchantcafe.com.
Returns & Cancellations
We will replace or refund you for any bottle of wine that is damaged or flawed within 30 days. Please send an email to info@winemerchantcafe.com or call us at 805-688-7265 ext. 6 to arrange for the return of a corked or flawed product. Once the wine is received we will refund your credit card account for the cost of the wine less shipping and handling. If the original shipment was damaged or flawed you will receive a full refund, including shipping and handling charges. We ask the customer return the unfinished portion of the original bottle for replacement. By law, we cannot accept returns of alcoholic beverages unless the product is corked, or flawed. We are also unable to accept the return of wine that was damaged due to adverse weather conditions during shipment, or wine that is ordered in error.
Three Decades of Memories. One Unforgettable Evening. Join us December 14th for an intimate celebration of 30 extraordinary years. We're closing our doors to the public and opening them exclusively for our anniversary guests, an evening dedicated to the community that has made Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Cafe a cherished gathering place for life's most meaningful moments.
For three decades, our tables have witnessed first dates that became forever, quiet weeknight evenings that became traditions, the go-to place to meet friends and treat family, and the chosen spot for proposals that changed everything. Now, it's our turn to celebrate you.
An Exclusive Five-Course Journey Chef Alex has crafted an exquisite menu showcasing California wine country cuisine with ingredients from our organic Cafe Farm and artisanal preparations made in-house. Each course pairs with exceptional wines from our award-winning collection, selected by Wine Director Sam Marmorstein to honor our region's finest winemakers and 30 years of relationships.
Reserve your Seat Today Tickets: $170 per person (+ tax and gratuity)
$30 from every ticket benefits Veggie Rescue, bridging food insecurity in our community.
We are blessed to be among breathtaking vineyards and numerous farms and ranches, but Santa Barbara Wine Country is also home to an abundance of talented artists. We have the pleasure of hosting the work from many of these artists at the Los Olivos Café.
Featured Artist: Katy Smith
July 11 - September 29, 2025
Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Cafe is delighted to showcase the evocative California landscape paintings of Katy Smith. During your visit, you'll have the opportunity to experience her captivating work while enjoying our wine and cuisine, with select pieces available for purchase.
Smith specializes in landscape paintings that capture the essence of California, from the rolling hills, ranches, and vineyards of our beloved Central Coast to the majestic mountains of the Sierras. Her connection to the local landscape makes her work particularly meaningful for our Santa Barbara County setting.
Artistic talent runs deep in Smith's family, stretching back to the 1700s in Ireland and continuing through her own daughter today. Most notably, she descends from James Edwin McBurney, a key figure in the development of the Art Colony at Laguna Beach in the early 1900s.
Her subject matter and loose brushwork reflect California Impressionism and The Eucalyptus School, enhanced by the subtle romanticism and color palette of the Hudson River School painters. Her work has been described as ethereal, evoking both strong spiritual emotion and a profound sense of place—qualities that perfectly complement the serene atmosphere of our cafe and tasting room.
Smith's paintings are held in private collections across the United States and have been featured in Plein Air Today. We invite you to immerse yourself in her beautiful interpretations of California's landscapes while savoring our carefully curated wines and seasonal menu. Visit www.katysmithartist.com to learn more about the artist.
Stop by to view and purchase your favorite piece!
Featured Local Winemaker Series
Our popular Featured Local Winemaker series continues! A great way to get turned on to wines you haven't tried and to learn more about the wines and winemakers you may have already been acquainted with. Check out our interviews and blogs!
Follow us on social media (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) or sign up to our email list to be the first to know when we close our doors for exclusive local winemaker dinners-- a few of our past winemaker dinners have featured: Wes Hagen of J.Wilkes (formerly Clos Pepe), Dick Dore and Bill Wathen of Foxen Wines, Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climat, and Bob Lindquist of Qupé.
Located less than one mile from Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Café, our three-acre CCOF certified organic farm supplies the freshest seasonal produce directly to your plate. Since 1995, we've been committed to sustainable farming practices and farm-to-table dining in California's Santa Barbara County wine country.
What We Grow on Our Organic Farm
Our CCOF-Certified organic Café Farm produces an abundance of seasonal vegetables and herbs throughout the year, including:
Year-Round Leafy Greens & Salads:
Romaine lettuce and little gems
Fresh spinach and arugula
Seasonal kale varieties and Swiss Chard
Herbs & Aromatics:
Fresh basil (featured in our signature pesto)
Cilantro and parsley
Garlic and onions
Seasonal Vegetables:
Heirloom tomatoes (summer harvest)
Sweet corn (summer)
Snap peas and asparagus (spring)
Bell peppers and hot peppers
Butternut squash (fall/winter)
Carrots (year-round)
Radishes (year-round)
Fresh zucchini (summer)
Farm-to-Fork Philosophy: From Our Soil to Your Plate
Our seasonal menu changes regularly to showcase the peak harvest from our certified organic farm. When you dine with us, you're tasting vegetables and herbs that were growing in our fields just hours before your meal—the ultimate farm-to-table experience in Los Olivos.
This commitment to hyperlocal sourcing means:
Maximum freshness and flavor in every dish
Support for sustainable agriculture practices
Reduced carbon footprint from transportation
Seasonal menu offerings that celebrate California's Central Coast growing seasons
Organic Certification & Sustainable Practices
Our farm maintains CCOF (California Certified Organic Farmers) certification, ensuring that all produce is grown without synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or chemical fertilizers. We employ regenerative farming techniques that build soil health and support local biodiversity.
Our sustainable practices include:
Crop rotation to maintain soil nutrients
Natural pest management
Water-efficient irrigation systems
Composting and organic soil amendments
Visit Our Farm-to-Table Restaurant
Experience the difference that hyperlocal, organic ingredients make when you dine at Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Café. Our chef creates seasonal menus that highlight the best of our farm's harvest, paired with wines from California's Central Coast.
Supporting Local Agriculture in Santa Barbara County
Beyond our own organic farm, we partner with other local organic farmers throughout Santa Barbara County to bring you the finest California Central Coast cuisine. Our commitment to supporting local agriculture has made us a destination for sustainable dining in Los Olivos since 1995.
Come taste the difference that farm-fresh, organic produce makes. Our award-winning restaurant in the heart of Santa Ynez Valley wine country offers the authentic farm-to-table dining experience that California's Central Coast is famous for.
Part One: Meet Ryan Carr of Carr Vineyard and Winery at the Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Cafe as he shares his journey to winemaking and what makes Santa Barbara Wine Country a stellar growing region.
Part Two: Ryan shares his philosophy of winemaking and what he’s learned in his 17 years of winemaking.
Take a moment to learn discover more about this talented winemaker and his wines on our BLOG. If you’re interested in experiencing Carr Vineyard and Winery Wines for 20% off throughout March, learn more about our Featured Wines of the Month here.
Here’s how we promote our local wine scene and the talent making the beautiful juice we love to pour:
The last Friday of each month (with the exception of November & December) the featured local winemaker will pour his or her wine between 5:30-6:30 at our Wine Merchant. Cost is $25 per person. Small delicious bites included with the tasting. Our Special Events page will keep you up to date with winemakers we will be hosting.
A tasting flight will feature the wines so guests can experience the entire line up before deciding what they would like to take home.
Selected wines will be available on our extensive by the glass menu.
Selected wines from the featured winemaker will retail at a 20% discount throughout their designated month.
An interview with the featured winemaker shared through our emails and social media outlets and on our YouTube Channel.
On our ten-acre property, less than a mile from our Cafe, four acres are devoted to Sangiovese, Syrah, Nebbiolo, and Cabernet grapes from which we create wines under our private label, Bernat wines. An additional 4-acres of prime land have been cultivated by local organic farmers for themselves through the years, but their focus wasn’t solely on providing produce for our restaurant. When Shu and Debby Takikawa, the last farmers to farm this section of land, took over the 40 acres behind us, Shu encouraged us to farm it ourselves. We were eager to try, but knew well that running a farm along with our current endeavors– a vineyard, winery, wine merchant, and restaurant– we needed help.
That’s when we found Matt McCurdy, or he found us, that’s another story. Eager to take on the project and apply his knowledge from his past endeavors– working at our local Windmill Nursery being one of them– Matt leaped in and started planting. Well, first we dived into organic heirloom seed catalogues. We chose all the flowers that would bring the bugs to benefit the farm and would also cut nicely for flowers to put on the Café tables. We brought chef Chris Joslyn into the discussion, and chose vegetables he would love to use for our restaurant’s menu. We’ve been very pleased with seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company.
Our first summer was full of zucchini and cucumbers. The vision was growing…literally. We played around with various pickling recipes and pickled the cucumbers to place next to our Café’s burgers and sandwiches. Some of them we even put in jars and sold in our retail section, they were a hit and quickly sold out!
Well, it’s been almost a year now, our biggest lesson learned is the land has much to teach us. Will Rogers said, “The farmer has to be an optimist or he wouldn’t still be a farmer.” — That’s the truth!– We planted green beans, carrots, beats, and reaped nothing from them. Yes, we watered, weeded, and provided healthy soil and sunshine, but they never ended up on plates at our restaurant. Why you may ask?
What we learned:
We initially started by planting a large amount of different types of crops. Planting many different varieties of each plant, gives us an idea of which species not only grows best in each area, but which of those tastes the best. We pay close attention to each plant and learn which ones like which soils, climate preference, and which are affected by pests and how. All of the varieties of Kale we planted thrived through the winter; red lettuce, and romaine were also very successful.
Pests have been our biggest problem. Our first crop was planted when one of our dogs, Gypsy, was on vacation. The gophers and ground squirrels noticed and began moving into the farm. They ate almost all of the green beans we planted. Of 600 plants only 10 survived! They also ate the tops off of the carrot and beet plants. Although losing their tops did not initially kill them, since the plant was working hard to regrow the tops, the produce didn’t survive after all.
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The other challenge all farmers face, are weeds, we are no exception. Since our farm is CCOF certified organic, using herbicides is absolutely out of the question, not to mention it would deplete the nutrients in the soil and affect the quality of our produce. Being a small farm with only Sam and Matt to do the weeding, we quickly realized that we must be missing something– there was no way we could keep up. The weeds aggressively took over and whole rows had to be plowed back in to the soil before the plants had a chance to grow to maturity. Weeding through the research (yes, that was a pun) of all the various farm equipment to assist with this problem was overwhelming, even to a veteran vineyard farmer, like Sam. It was time to seek the advice of someone who had more experience in large scale farming than us. Sam met with a local veteran farmer, Steve Loyal, who shared valuable information. Steve directed us on the best equipment for a farm our size. We bought a hand hoe on a wheel that as we push, it slices under the soil cutting the roots of the weeds. Our tractor also needs some additional equipment to mechanize weeding, which we can tell you more about by the next time we post a Cafe Farm Update. We now look forward to watching our seeds grow to their full potential before the weeds can take them over (hopefully).
Though we are still in the midst of a big learning curve, we have had much greater success now that Gypsy is back on the job maintaining the ground squirrel population. Thanks to our hard working farm dog approximately 1500 heads of lettuce, 200 pounds of snap peas, and many, many buckets of onion, garlic, kale, swiss chard, arugula, spinach, turnips, and cilantro—came from our Cafe Farm since July 2015. We are getting a healthy head start for this summer with 900 plants of various heirloom tomato varieties in the ground, 10 types of lettuces, and squash and pumpkins ready for fall; we are excited to continue to expand the beauty and bounty on our menu at the Cafe.
While we are talking about the farm, it’s worth mentioning that we have an annual benefit Farm Dinner event called In the Vineyard & On the Farm . If you’d like to experience our Cafe Farm and our Bernat Wines firsthand click here for information. It’s a beautiful event that sells out every year, so if you’re interested, don’t wait to reserve your seats!
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In the heart of Santa Barbara Wine Country, we are the premier wine merchant for California Central Coast wines, from Santa Barbara County to Monterey County, with select vintages from other areas of California’s Wine Country and noteworthy wines from around the world.
We’d love to share wine country musings, events, and special offers with you. No need to worry about getting inundated with emails from us, we only send them about once a month both from the Café and the Wine Merchant.
ach is immediately apparent in his wines. He strongly believes that wine should be an expression of the terroir above all else, and to achieve this, he keeps his production super small. Grapes for his wines are sourced from the best vineyards around 
We enjoyed hosting Garrett at Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Café on July 28th as he poured for part of our Final Friday Featured Winemaker series.
On our ten-acre property, less than a mile from our Cafe, four acres are devoted to Sangiovese, Syrah, Nebbiolo, and Cabernet grapes from which we create wines under our private label, 
Our tractor also needs some additional equipment to mechanize weeding, which we can tell you more about by the next time we post a Cafe Farm Update. We now look forward to watching our seeds grow to their full potential before the weeds can take them over (hopefully).
While we are talking about the farm, it’s worth mentioning that we have an annual benefit Farm Dinner event called 