The Gatehouse at Bien Nacido

We visit this wine country every year with friends, and Bien Nacido was our favorite this trip, fabulous wine, excellent service, great snacks and the live music was an unexpected gift! We had a fabulous afternoon. They had games for the kids and patio is dog friendly. We highly recommend and will definitely be back! Thank you!

WOW! What an absolutely AMAZING visit! We sat on the patio and were able to gaze at the legendary Bien Nacido Vineyard. Brittany & Morrie were the absolute BEST hosts. So knowledgeable, personable & helpful! If you have not visited before, this is a MUST! So beautiful and peaceful. CHEERS!

My wife Julie and I had a wonderful tasting experience at Bien Nacido yesterday. The setting was lovely, the wines superb, and Brittany's service was outstanding. We can't wait to go back!

Visited Bien Nacido in August 2023 and did their Black Label tasting. All of the wines were amazing, especially recommend the Pinot Noir Rose, Chardonnay, and The Captain Pinot Noir was probably the best Pinot Noir I've ever had, anywhere. The patio has a beautiful open view towards the mountainside where the grapes grow. Visit here in the afternoon under a clear blue sky - you'll be glad you visited BN while in Santa Ynez.

What a beautiful addition to the Santa Maria Valley and on one of the most iconic sites in the whole world. The wines from Bien Nacido & Solomon Hills are amazing. I love the Belle of the Ball and the Succession, but you honestly cant get a bad bottle. Try the ATV tour if you have time to book it. Its the best way to experience the whole beauty of the property.

What an awesome first-time visit! En route home from Los Olivos and a planned stop at Bien Nacido... and WE JOINED THE WINE CLUB! Morrie was a great host and we were not disappointed!

TLDR: Good wine, nice place, Napa prices and pretentiousness I’ve tried plenty of wines from this vineyard before, just made by different producers. And I usually like it. But I wanted to try these grapes right from the source, so I visited the new Gatehouse. It’s a nice place. A little smaller than I expected but everything is new and the outside seating is plentiful. The vineyards lining the hills are beautiful. The wine is good. The black label stuff especially. It lives up to its name. I especially liked the Syrah, enough that I was thinking of buying a bottle. But this is where the bad comes in: the ridiculous pricing and manufactured exclusiveness. I felt like I was in Napa with these prices and rules. $60 tasting, $75 for the high end one. No waiving the tasting fee unless you join the wine club, no matter how many bottles you buy. The black label bottles go for $125, the more pedestrian bottles are $50 minimum. I wanted to buy a bottle of the XO Syrah at $125 and they told me “You have to buy at least 3 bottles because of the scarcity of the wine”. Which makes no sense at all, I have to buy more bottles because there aren’t so many bottles? This is very reminiscent of Napa pretentious wine club / allocation nonsense. I’ve never heard such a thing in Santa Barbara / Santa Maria. At other wineries if I want to buy a bottle of wine they are happy to sell it to me. So I’ll be skipping this place from now on and keep getting my Bien Nacido fix from Ojai and other producers. The next day I got a 12 year old bottle of Bien Nacido Syrah for $100 from Ojai which is better than the XO anyways.

We had a wonderfully relaxing afternoon. Beautiful view and cozy fireplace as it became a little chilly. Brittany was great as always. Love her expertise and education.