I'm an avid (not pretentious) wine taster and a member of several wineries in Temecula. We came here on a Sunday afternoon after having a horrible tasting experience at Santa Barbara Winery.
Upon walking in I loved the feel of the place. Not too crowded, cute decor and good music. We were greeted by a very friendly woman who explained 6 tastings (2 white and 4 red) was $10 and paid after the tastings. She gave us our glasses, poured us a Chardonnay and said we can taste inside or we could sit on the patio.
We chose to sit outside because the weather was too perfect and there were tables open. Each time we needed a new tasting one of us took all our glasses inside and were helped right away with the next tasting.
Liked all the wines except for the last red (I can't remember the name) one.
Pretty chill place to taste and chat with friends. I'd definitely come back.
Thanks to the staff for a friendly atmosphere.
Second time here and not nearly as good as the first visit. Our pourer was slow and distracted; it took forever to get through the tasting. I also thought the wine was very average, at best. I do like the funky atmosphere, but I'm not sure I'd come back. Two visits are enough; I'm done.
Review Source:TERRIBLE wine, do not go here if you have a palate. The place in more like a bar with live music than a tasting room, which is great, but unfortunately the wine isn't and the service leaves a lot to be desired. Been twice and both times had servers with an attitude and I was forces to commit the blasphemous act of pouring out wine.
Review Source:My advice: become a member or befriend someone who is!! The perks are incredible! You can come in any time (daily visits were a common occurrence when I lived in SB...don't judge me...) with a guest and enjoy a flight or a glass of wine for free. Not as great as it used to be since members used to be able to comp up to 5 guests (BRING IT BACK!), but the pick-up parties are fun and still make the Cellar Club worth it in my opinion. If you check in on the little iPad they have, you can earn a free glass for every three visits too!
Quick breakdown of my rating:
-5 stars for the wine: my favorites are the question mark wine, the Malbec rose, the Tilly blend, and the limited edition bacon reserve that is long gone by now, I'm sure!
-4 stars for the comfortable atmosphere: great inside and out, from the employees to the other winos to the decor. It can get quite packed inside on the weekend though, so I'd definitely recommend sitting outside!
-4 stars for the generous pours: I would give 5 stars if all the employees were consistent about it ;)
Overall, one of my favorite low-key wineries!
What a fun place in the "funk zone". This feels more like a microbrewery in a garage, but featuring varietals instead of IPAs. Radiohead on the iPod, and a garage door as a front door.
Service is attentive and not know it all. The wine is good, not great, but decently priced with great out of state shipping prices.
I "like" Oreana Winery! Â I "like" the wines and it is certainly fun on a Saturday afternoon when there is a band outside, it is warm and sunny and you can play cornhole! Â It is also a blast when they do all of the wonderful parties. Â Â
I would add that the winemaker Christian is a blast! Â A quality person and offers up his tasting room for so many charity events!
Because I am so spoiled I am giving it three stars. Â Please don't let that discourage anyone from going there, I am only saying that there are three or four places that I enjoy so much more! Â
But as I write this review and reflect on so many wonderful times I have spent there... I am second guessing my review and reconsidering whether or not it deserves four! Â Â Keep posted I might be doing an update before too long!
I Love this winery! Not only do they have delicious wines but they have fabulous live music on the weekends and are dog friendly. I went there with a bunch of friends on a Saturday we brought our lunch and sat on the patio listening to music and drinking yummy wine. Â Such a wonderful experience....Staff was also super friendly and helpful...
Review Source:I've been wine tasting there several times. It's probably the best tasting room in SB; big tasting room and nice patio area. They let you bring your own snacks if you do a tasting with them in the patio or buy a bottle. There's always a nice crowd but I never felt rushed. This last time I went, we got a bottle of their Tilly wine. It's a blend of Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon and it was really good. Â Oreana sells it for $20 a bottle and it won a Gold Metal for something. I'm still kicking myself that I didn't purchase any bottles to take home.
Review Source:I will admit, wine wise, Oreana is far from my favorite tasting room in town, but between the friendly staff, live music, movie nights, cornhole and overall atmosphere, it is quite a fun place to pass some time.
I would personally recommend making Oreana your 3rd or 4th stop of the day. You stop having a strong opinion about wine after a certain point. Their wines aren't bad, but to me personally, not spectacular. Despite that, I have always had a great experience here. I've been tasting there on a busy Fiesta or Thanksgiving weekend (absolute insanity, don't do it) and on a random Tuesday or Wednesday early afternoon. The tasting room staff are always very friendly, sociable and full of amusing stories and chatty despite how busy they are.
Such a fun winery to visit. Have been for urban wine tour and also during a party night with food trucks and a live band. And their wine is great. The people behind the counter are always very nice and helpful if youre looking for information. Great place, will definitely go back soon.
Review Source:This is my favorite wine tasting place in Santa Barbara.
Things I love:
1) the live music (it's always been a really good folksy singer)
2) outdoor seating
3) cornhole
4) they have a mineral-ly white that I absolutely adore
5) their little tasting menu is helpful and really adds to the experience
6) great customer service
I didn't like their Pinot Noir at all, and some of their reds tend to be too sharp. I would say I liked half of the wines on the tasting list. So I wouldn't go buying wines from them all day long, but I don't go wine tasting to buy the wine - I just go to have fun and relax, and Oreana is one of the best places in SB to do just that.
On the surface, Santa Barbara seems like a sleepy resort town, packed to the rafters with boomers and their expensive boats. But in my experience, even the preppiest of places have a funky underbelly. Oreana is proof positive that such a thing exists in SB. And thanks to the slick local marketing and branding of SB's "Urban Wine Trail" as a Thing That Visitors Need to See, it wasn't even all that hard to find.
My boyfriend and I had the good fortune to stumble under the garage doors of Oreana on a night when all the wineries were open late, hosting a block party of sorts. Inside, Oreana's owners were serving up free cheese, crackers, and other goodies -- including crispy bacon, perhaps to complement their infamous "bacon wine." The name may be a bit of a stretch -- it has a slightly smoky aftertaste, but that's about it. That said, I give Oreana props for having fun with their branding and creating a talking point that showcases their unpretentious attitude toward wine. Which you might figure out anyway, what with the video games and vintage jukebox inside the winery, and the folks with tattoos standing 'round the shop, laughing and drinking it up.
As a result, the place feels more like a cool wine bar than a winery, a place where you can hang out, peruse a wine magazine or two, and if you're headed up or down the coast, maybe get a few insider tips from the folks who run Oreana about where to go and what to see.
Another cool thing about the winery (and "Urban Wine Trail") is that it's just a short walk down to the beach from there. So you may wish to do as my boyfriend and I did -- get tipsy at Oreana, then stumble down to the water and look at the stars. Tres romantic, and a genuinely cool way to spend a night in (or rather, outside) preppy Santa Barbara.
this wine place is fun for an afternoon with the girls, but their wine is not KILLER compared to across the streets competition, Santa Barbara Winery. Oreana has interesting tastes because their wine is all barreled in stainless steel barrels (from what I remember the wine host telling us) I just couldn't taste the quality as distinctly as other wineries  I have tried. Fun but not delicious as other local wineries.
Review Source:Oreana is tucked away in the urban area of Santa Barbara. It is in what appears to be an old gas station or auto shop that had a nice conversion into a tasting room. There is a nice seating area near the windows with tons of board games to make conversation with over wine. They have a nice patio to relax on as well. Â
The tasting fee was $5/each, but you get a nice Oreana glass to take with you. Â The wines were fair. Nothing that I must buy, but I enjoyed the overall tasting.
Oreana hosted a fundraiser about a month ago so a few friends and I decided to show our support and drink some wine. There was a great vibe and good wines poured. (I liked the Pinot the most.) The band playing provided great entertainment as well.
The location is perfect. We walked over from Union Ale and easily made our way back downtown. I've had the wines before but never actually went into the tasting room. The set up is quaint and is accommodating for large groups.
Great place to mingle!
Totally boring wines and I felt a lil rushed through the tasting. Neither of the winetender chicks were very friendly. I even witnessed as some lady purchased over $300 in wine next to me and the chick was still rushie and fast-talking her out the door.
I found it strange that they were charging like $30 for some Bacon Reserve varietal, which was basically wine caught in some fires in 2008.
In my opinion, that's a mistake by nature, not an upgrade in quality. It tasted like liquid firewood.
They have nice gift bags though.. I liked those : / But, as nice as they were, I still left empty handed. I just couldn't bring myself to purchase a bottle.
The first place we hit on the SB wine trail. The decor of the place is really interesting because apparently it used to be an old auto shop.
We only had the wine flight here, because none stood out enough to actually purchase. If you still want to try it without actually going, you can get one of their bottles for cheap at Trader Joe's.
I heard that Oreana had a bacon wine while researching the Urban Wine Trail and had made up my mind in advance that this would be my favorite stop.
Sadly, the bacon wine simply tasted "smoky" IMHO and I was disappointed.
Luckily the Gewürztraminer made up for it.  Can't pronounce it - but I like it!
Bonus points for being the only tasting room we visited that had a toiletry basket in the restroom with assorted lotions, hairspray, and even spray deodorant for patrons to use. Â Simple, but a nice touch.
I was attracted to tasting at this winery when I heard they had live music. My first impression when I arrived was a "like" due to the open atmosphere and vintage Pac-Man game with bench seating around it. The crowd was a mixed but also a little stuffy and the bartenders weren't as welcoming. I stood in front of the bar for nearly 10 minutes or longer trying to get the bartenders attention and she never made eye-contact with me once. She was busy, but then I see her keep filling the glasses of others who had their tastings while I stood there looking like a door knob wondering if she'll ever, "Pick me! Pick me!" Eventually, we got tired with no glass in our hand and tried to get the attention of the other bartender we saw other newbies getting in on but ended right back where we started once the mosh of people freed up the bar.
After we got her attention, the bartenders still weren't that warm. She started off by pouring a glass and telling us a little about what we were tasting. As we got down the list, all we began to hear is, "You want the next one?" then once poured, let us be on our way. I'm not complaining, but after I had a contrast of experiences at the winery after, I think this place was only A-OK just like their wine.
Definitely my favorite of the Urban Wine Trail...
In order of preference: they are: Oreana, Santa Barbara Winery, Kalyra, then Giessinger (not so great).
I generally like most of the wines here and the whites here were really good. Â Too bad you can't keep the glasses here, because they *are* nice. Friendly serving staff. Â
Not far off of State...and cute setup. Â Typical wine tasting hours. Â Check it out!
A drunk dude hit on my wife here...
He then offered to buy me a drink....
He got kicked out shortly after.
I then bought a bottle of BACON WINE.
Good times were had by all.
Don't believe me?
Wanna bet?
I'll betcha a bottle of ANY wine your little heart desires....
<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/w8AxfAjNq7wU5jHmpLSpNg?select=2iLqv-xerUhYSU0xiU3C3g">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a>
told ya.
You owe me a bottle of Bacon Reserve sucka.
We had a great time wine tasting at Oreana recently. Â The wines are very enjoyable and they have numerous different styles of reds, whites, and a tasty tawny too. Â They were very knowledgeable about the wines, vineyards they were from, and drinkability windows. Â They poured us several good sized tastes and included several wines not on their tasting menu simply because they had them open or if we were very interested in them.
The other customers must have also enjoyed the atmosphere becuase everyone there was quite nice and chatty and more than happy to give opinions on wine, places to eat in SB, and where to taste wine next.
I will definitely return to Oreana everytime I am wine tasting in SB. Â Oh and the parking, proximity to downtown, and walking distance to several other local wineries is a huge plus as well.
Man, i gotta say i really am surprised at the less than good reviews on this place. Â It was my second favorite stop out of the 5 wineries i hit this last weekend.
The ladies here were very friendly and welcoming (unlike the rude blonde over at Carr). Â Tasting was more like half glasses!!! got a nice buzz here to kick off the tour. Â The Pinot Rose was my favorite wine here!
Cool and kickback location to take a group too! Theyve even got pacman!!!!
cheers!
Totally disagree with the low ratings of some of the reviews here. Â This is a fine tasting room with good wines, great values, and a fun, hip atmosphere. Â Their mainstays are great, and the value-priced ? Â and :-) are true values for a great many people. Â You might recognize these labels from Trader Joe's - a purple ? and an orange :-) , and they're fine value-priced wines. Â Stuffy wine snobs, leave the door open a little wider and let a few more people in. Â It's more fun that way . . .
Their tasting was a fine one and very reasonable. Â All the wines were good and I would consider them all to be at least as good as a standard wine tasting elsewhere. Â And we got to taste a few grapes from the recent harvest. Â We ended up buying a few bottles - I got the '06 Central Coast Pinot for $18, and a bottle of the ? for $10, and my friend got another bottle, and they comped our tasting fee. Â Oreana is a must-stop if you're in the warehouse wine tasting district of SB. Â I challenge you to find a more fun winery experience with better values than Oreana . . .
Ah wow... seriously? What's with the 'wine novices' and 'make them go away' comments about this place, what'a condescending dick. Of the three tasting rooms we went to in SB they had by far the least pretentious, most caring and generally non-offputting service. I dont know if any of the people who were unimpressed tasted the Verdelho but it was singularly one of the better wines i have ever had. Everything else was tasty including the stupid happiness chard that sells at Trader Joes. But hey, i describe wine as tasty instead of full bodied, fruit forward with mellow tannins. The tasting room is laid back, wine and ms pacman, how could you go wrong?! Â The lady that did the tasting was super cool, the walls are covered in interesting art and as a whole there is a general sense of welcoming. I would highly recommend coming here and it is only five bucks.
pics...
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Parked in their lot to first taste at SB Winery then at Oreana. Was the only patron in the tasting room so the lovely young lady working and I got to talk a lot about the wines and she also gave me some education on the process which included taking a look at the grapes as they fermented in huge bins. She had to do push-downs later in the day so I got a first hand look. The wines on the tasting list that day were some that I had tasted a few weeks prior, but there were some new vintages. I bought a bottle of Cab that was nice and spicy. The prices are very reasonable, the attentiveness of the staff is great and theres absolutely no "wine attitude" at this place. Theres even a pinball machine thats free to play.
The winery holds parties in their lot on occasion and you get notified about special events through email if you sign up.
Located inside an old tire shop in downtown Santa Barbara- fun atmosphere that doesn't take itself too seriously. Â We were the first, and only ones there at 11am on a Sunday...obviously not God-fearing folk, nor do we care what people think if get our drink on before noon.
G. and I tasted several Oreana wines which are made on site- or so we were told. I was a bit disappointed there was no tour or explanation of the processes they use, the grapes they choose, etc. Favorites were a 2006 Viognier- nice and creamy, Â and the 2005 "Tilly"- along the lines of a Super Tuscan, and named after the winemaker's Italian grandmother. The other wines were a tad bit forgettable, but keep trying and I promise to keep drinking.
I bought a bottle of the "Tilly"- part of the proceeds go toward helping people with Alzheimer's disease. G. bought a great tea-light candle holder made from an old wine barrel. Social and Environmental goodness was paid for and our conscious' were cleansed.
Oh, and the great girl who was working that day turned us on to both Hendry's Beach and Cold Spring Tavern. Sweet spots to spend the day.
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