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Every August, we head up to Santa Barbara Wine Country for an annual wine club barbecue, held by Foxen Winery.  It’s our favorite summer road trip.  We also visit another favorite winery, Sanford Winery.  There are many great wineries in the area, but Foxen and Sanford are the 2 wineries we love to visit, during our Santa Barbara Wine Country Road Trip!  Here are our fun memories of the Foxen BBQ and Winery visit.

 

Foxen Winery is located in the Santa Ynez Valley of Santa Barbara County, California.  The valley is between the Santa Ynez Mountains and the San Rafael Mountains. The communities in the area are, Solvang, Santa Maria, Buellton, Los Olivos, Ballard, Lompoc and Santa Ynez.  Los Angeles is located 125 miles south and the City of Santa Barbara is just 31 miles south of Santa Ynez Valley.

 

The Foxen Winery Anchor Club Barbecue was held at the beautiful Tinaquaic Picnic Grounds.  Guests come from all over the United States and even from other countries.  This year there were 240 party goers. Pretty awesome!

 

Everyone’s favorite part of the barbecue is wine tasting, of course.  Foxen had many wonderful wines for guests to taste.  Some of the wines tasted at the barbecue are exclusive to wine club members.  Great discounts are offered to the members afterwards, even on their high end wines.

 

Though, this barbecue is aimed towards adults and wine tasting, the event is very family friendly.  This year, there were a lot of familes with children in attendance.  There was even a Hawaiian Shaved Ice Truck there.  It was a big hit with the kids..adults loved it, too!  Thanks, Shaka  Shak!

 

Great live music is always enjoyed at the barbecue. We dined on delicious food from a popular, local eatery, Hitching Post Restaurant.  Wonderful prizes were raffled off, as well.  It was an amazing party and the weather was gorgeous!  Thank you, Foxen Winery, for another magical event!

 

After the barbecue, we always drop by the winery to purchase some of the wines that we got to taste at the event. Foxen Winery is known for their Pinot Noirs, we always buy a few of their best.  We also bought a Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Rosé.  We purchased a very special Cabernet Sauvignon, Dry-Farmed – Mamére Vineyard 2012.  One of the best Cabs that I’ve tasted in a very long time.

 

Foxen Winery is dog friendly, yay!  The place was packed with party goers and their dogs! The crowd was very festive inside. It was so much fun!

 

Foxen has a lovey patio area, where you can enjoy your purchased wine and like mentioned before, the weather was beautiful. It can get extremely hot along the Foxen Canyon trail in August.  But, this weekend, the weather was mild and just perfect!

 

By far, Foxen Winery is our favorite winery in California and that’s a big statement.  California has hundreds of wineries up and down the state.  This place is special to us and the wine, spectacular!  Their annual barbecue is the cherry on top!  Our family had a wonderful day at Foxen Winery, as always!  Go visit Foxen Winery!  Located at 7600 Foxen Canyon Road, Santa Maria, CA 93454