Wine Country

About 20 miles beyond the red-tile roofs of downtown Santa Barbara, it begins: the rolling blond hills that go indecently green in spring, the massive estates and miniature horses, the sprawling vineyards and "Sideways" scenery, the dude ranch with 10,000 acres, the old stagecoach stop with boar on the menu and bikers in the parking lot .... Santa Barbara County's wine country has a lot to offer. The nine micro-itineraries that follow are a quick introduction for newcomers, part of our ongoing series of Southern California Close-Ups.

To some, a Mother's Day getaway means a don't-look-back, tires-screeching hall pass for an escape with girlfriends. To others, it means an amorous sojourn with a husband or partner. Then there are those who want to take along their kids or even the family pet. Herewith, places to suit all preferences. A tip: You can sometimes get fantastic last-minute deals on websites such as http://www.hotels.com . Le Méridien, Isle of Pines, New Caledonia For the mother - or family - who has been everywhere.

Remember that long-running television series set in the fictitious Tuscany Valley (a.k.a. Napa Valley) years ago? Quite the soap opera, "Falcon Crest "  ran from 1981 to 1990 and starred Jane Wyman, Robert Foxworth, Lorenzo Lamas and the old Spring Mountain Vineyar d .  This was just when America was discovering its fascination with the wine country lifestyle. Now that the Chinese interest in wine is growing, it was only a matter of time before someone had the bright idea to make a television series about it.  According to Jayne Stars (Hong Kong celebrity news in English)

Fifty miles north of San Francisco, straddling U.S. Highway 101, sits Santa Rosa, former home of Charles M. Schulz and the gang from "Peanuts. " From the highway, as you boom past at 70 mph, Santa Rosa appears to be just another somewhere on the way to somewhere else. But a short detour east into downtown or west into the wine country quickly proves otherwise. The tab: We spent $163 for a night at the Hotel La Rose, dinner for two at Willi's Wine Bar was $84, including wine, and a lavish picnic from Whole Foods Market came to $43. Gas and incidentals added $100 to the tab. Wine at Bella and Iron Horse vineyards, of course, was extra.

The recent stage adaptation of the bestselling novel "Sideways" that debuted in May in Santa Monica is moving up in the world. The La Jolla Playhouse said it will produce the play starting in July, with former artistic director Des McAnuff at the helm. Rex Pickett adapted his own novel for the stage. The plot follows two middle-aged male friends as they make their way through California wine country and meet two women who become possible romantic interests. The 2004 movie version of the novel, directed by Alexander Payne, was a critical and commercial success.

Westlake Village, 38 miles west of downtown Los Angeles, seems farther. It straddles the Ventura County line, its golf courses, man-made lakes and gated estates sprinkled among gentle hills. Some weekend visitors golf. Some loll in the spa at the Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village or chase immortality at the California Health & Longevity Institute. (David Murdock, the soon-to-be-90 founder of Dole Foods, owns the hotel and institute.) It's a good place to lie low. My wife, daughter and I spent $142 on lodging (one night, including tax)

When I was in Solvang  a couple of weeks ago for the Garagiste Festival: Southern Exposure , afterwards I headed to Full of Life Flatbread in Los Alamos for dinner. The place is only open Thursday through Sunday and I'd never happened to be up there on any of those days before that weekend. I scarfed up more than my fair share of rustic flatbreads from the big wood-fired oven in the back. If I hadn't been able to get in (Full of Life which takes no reservations), I could have eaten just down the street at the year-and-a-half old Bell Street Farm , a little restaurant and market set in a turn-of-the-(20th)

Oregon Wine country A visit to the wineries in Oregon's Willamette Valley will not be complete without a visit to the Hopewell B&B, a little piece of heaven on a 12-acre farm. You feel right at home in your own private cottage. Hopewell B&B, 22350 Hopewell Road, Salem, OR 97304; (503) 868-7848, www.hopewell bb.com. Doubles from $125. Les and Lola Brown San Juan Capistrano

A weeklong road trip through the Santa Ynez Valley wine country drives two middle-aged buddies to unexpected tests of both their varietal and moral palates in “Sideways: The Play.” Adapted by Rex Pickett from his novel (which also spawned the 2004 hit movie), their oenophilial odyssey makes an enjoyable if at times leisurely debut in its stage incarnation at Ruskin Group Theatre. In the comic misadventures of his narrative stand-in, the perpetually unpublished author Miles (John Colella)

Vermont-based Country Walkers offers a tour of Argentina that explores on foot the wine country of Mendoza as well as the lakes of Patagonia. Add on three extra days in Buenos Aires for free by booking selected spring tours. The walks on this eight-day trip are considered easy to moderate (the tour operator doesn't call it hiking) and usually last a half day. Near the start point in Mendoza, the group visits such places as Bodega Norton, a winery that dates to 1883, and the Horcones Valley at the base of Mt. Aconcagua, almost 23,000 feet above sea level.  From there, it's a short flight to northern Patagonia near the border with Chile and the country's lake district.

Do San Francisco in style before heading out on a Princess cruise to Alaska's Inside Passage. Uncommon Journeys offers the 10-night cruise with pre-boarding extras: tours of Napa Valley wineries and the city while spending three nights at the Westin St. Francis Hotel. I like this offer for the three-day pre-trip itinerary, and the fact you don't have to go to Seattle or Vancouver , Canada, to board. Elegant Alaska , as the trip is called, also features a welcome dinner at the Presidio Social Club along with a day of wine tastings in the Napa Valley and a day touring San Francisco.

Westlake Village, 38 miles west of downtown Los Angeles, seems farther. It straddles the Ventura County line, its golf courses, man-made lakes and gated estates sprinkled among gentle hills. Some weekend visitors golf. Some loll in the spa at the Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village or chase immortality at the California Health & Longevity Institute. (David Murdock, the soon-to-be-90 founder of Dole Foods, owns the hotel and institute.) It's a good place to lie low. My wife, daughter and I spent $142 on lodging (one night, including tax)

When I was in Solvang  a couple of weeks ago for the Garagiste Festival: Southern Exposure , afterwards I headed to Full of Life Flatbread in Los Alamos for dinner. The place is only open Thursday through Sunday and I'd never happened to be up there on any of those days before that weekend. I scarfed up more than my fair share of rustic flatbreads from the big wood-fired oven in the back. If I hadn't been able to get in (Full of Life which takes no reservations), I could have eaten just down the street at the year-and-a-half old Bell Street Farm , a little restaurant and market set in a turn-of-the-(20th)

Remember that long-running television series set in the fictitious Tuscany Valley (a.k.a. Napa Valley) years ago? Quite the soap opera, "Falcon Crest "  ran from 1981 to 1990 and starred Jane Wyman, Robert Foxworth, Lorenzo Lamas and the old Spring Mountain Vineyar d .  This was just when America was discovering its fascination with the wine country lifestyle. Now that the Chinese interest in wine is growing, it was only a matter of time before someone had the bright idea to make a television series about it.  According to Jayne Stars (Hong Kong celebrity news in English)

Caroline Styne and chef Suzanne Goin opened Lucques together in 1998. A.O.C. soon followed, and a while later, Tavern . Both partners are very hands-on, Goin in the kitchen and Styne in the front of the house. Styne also puts the wine lists together and they've grown ever more eclectic and compelling over the years. The two have just moved A.O.C. into the old Orso space in West Hollywood. “I've been in love with that building ever since I used to go there with my dad,” Styne says.

Paso Robles goes to Farmshop: On Wednesday, starting at 5:30 p.m., Farmshop will pour wines exclusively from the Paso Robles wine country throughout dinner service. Reds and whites from Adelaida Cellars, Pomar Junction Vineyard & Winery, Cypher Winery, L'Aventure and Tablas Creek Vineyards will accompany a la carte items, such as Scottish salmon, California lamb osso buco and roasted jidori chicken, on the Brentwood eatery's dinner menu. The flight of five wines costs $45 per person.

Remote bays and elegant dining meet on this small-ship Tasmania Food & Wine cruise by Adventure Smith Explorations . The six-day trip explores Australia's island state with two November sailings. Tour the wine-producing region of Launceston, hike on remote Flinders Island, stop at scenic bays in Freycinet National Park and visit the former penal settlement of Port Arthur on this itinerary. When: Cruises leave from Tasmania, Australia, on Nov. 7 and 26. Price: $2,370 to $4,961 per person, depending on cabin choice; price is based on double occupancy.

If, like me, you haven't cottoned to the fact that it's the latter half of November, and that December starts in just over a week, listen up. If you're planning on a wine country trip in January, the Napa Truffle Festival   is coming up Jan. 18 to 21, the third such event. The festival celebrates Tuber melanosporum , the winter Périgord black truffle (not to be confused with the much less pungent and pricy summer truffle). Food writer and editor Colman Andrews will be speaking.

Up at WineSpectator.com for Presidents' Day, a story called “ Red Wine, White House ” by Ben O'Donnell details how Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan and their successors “helped propel American wine to the top of the world.” Nixon, remember, drank Château Margaux. “In those days,” O'Donnell reminds us, “you could afford first-growths on a president's salary.” But he didn't pour it for the whole table. Guests got the cheaper stuff while Nixon nursed his private bottle.

Forget the racy underwear, whisk your valentine off to the wine country for his or her present. The Garagiste Festival takes place Saturday, Feb. 16. Say, didn't that happen a while ago in Paso Robles? That's right. But this one is the Southern Exposure version, held in Solvang and devoted to Santa Ynez Valley wineries producing fewer than 1,200 cases. It's close enough that you could drive up for the afternoon and gives you the chance to taste more than 100 wines and 15 grape varieties.