About Refugio Ranch Vineyards
Refugio Ranch is where the Gleason family's Santa Barbara wine story began: a 415-acre former cattle ranch on the north face of the Santa Ynez Mountains, with the Santa Ynez River as its property line, purchased by Kevin and Niki Gleason in 2004. They planted a select 28 acres in 2006, leaving most of the ranch wild, and harvested their first estate fruit in 2008.
Everything is farmed and picked by hand at low yields, and the wines are Rhone to the core: Syrah, Grenache, Petite Sirah, Roussanne and Viognier, joined by Sauvignon Blanc and the rare Malvasia Bianca. Refugio Ranch remains the foundation of Gleason Family Vineyards, the family group that also includes Roblar.
The Los Olivos tasting room is a piece of local history: a circa-1911 building that once filled Pacific Coast Railway tank cars, renovated and expanded in 2023 with alfresco tasting areas, a farm-stand marketplace stocked from the family's organic farm, and a second sibling tasting space in a cabin believed to be an original railway ticket booth. It is open daily at the north entrance to the village, with private reservation-only tastings also offered at the estate barn itself.
The Gleason family's founding Rhone estate, poured in a 1911 railway building with a farm stand at the edge of Los Olivos.
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A wild, hand-farmed estateJust 28 planted acres on a 415-acre mountain-face cattle ranch along the Santa Ynez River.
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Rhones and raritiesEstate Syrah, Grenache and Petite Sirah alongside Sauvignon Blanc and Malvasia Bianca.
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Railway-era tasting roomsA 1911 tank-car station and an original ticket-booth cabin, joined by a big outdoor patio.
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A farm stand out frontProduce and pantry goods from the family's organic farm at the village's north entrance.
"The Gleason family's founding Rhone estate, poured in a 1911 railway building with a farm stand at the edge of Los Olivos."
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Current Releases
Wines change with each vintage
For an accurate list of current-release wines and library bottlings from Refugio Ranch Vineyards, please check the winery'Santa Ynez Valley producers typically rotate vintages and offerings seasonally.
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Refugio Ranch Vineyards has not published a current tasting menu or pricing that we have been able to verify. Check the winery website for what is being poured and what it costs before you visit.
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