Mona our tasting bar server at Municipal Winemakers
Sunday morning, we stop in downtown Santa Barbara to visit Municipal Winemakers (Muni) and DV8 tasting rooms. First sign we see designates that we are in the Funk Zone. Fun name and very appropriate for the motif we find in these tasting rooms. We locate DV8 and totally missed Muni winery during a walk by 30 minutes prior to the winery opening at 11am. The prominent sign outside Muni indicates it is a dive shop, “Dive Den”. During our return after a short visit to Santa Barbara FisHouse on the corner of Anacapa and E. Cabrillo Blvd, we ask a gal (Mona) fussing with chairs at the dive shop for directions to Municipal. We are there!
Muni has antique office furniture and days gone by of school auditorium chairs line the walls. We are charmed by the decor and the welcome we receive. A tasting menu is presented by Mona on an index card. The wines are terrific. Winemaker David Potter is doing magic here and at his newly opened Potek Winery on 406 E. Haley Street. We meet with him later at Potek, as he fills barrels just placed in that facility. We purchased 3 bottles of his wine that day: Muni Dark Red, Muni MCS Red and his Polek label Riesling.
Marc and Dominique Simon, owners of DV8 Cellars
Just steps away in the next building, we meet with Marc and Dominique Simon, owners of DV8 Cellars. Here we enjoy their flight for the day and learn about their other love, Formal One car racing. Each wine label is based on this theme. Their wines are impressive and memorable. We head home with a bottle of their Monaco, a Syrah blend from 2 Santa Barbara vineyards, Larner, and SB Highlands. Famous Kunin Wines is in the front of the same building but by this time it is packed with tasters. We get a quick taste of one wine and then off to winery number 4.
We visit, Drake Wines where we are greeted by a very happy couple visiting from Perth Australia. The tasting bar is little funky and charming. We speak with Danielle Klein, as noted on her card, Drake Wines West Coast Ambassador. Their Chardonnay spoke well to us and it is added to our assortment from this one block of wine tasting in 90 minutes.
Also located within these 3 buildings on this one block of Anacapa St., Santa Barbara is a very popular wine and beer tasting room, Corks & Crowns. Find a parking spot, spend a portion of your day here. It is some of the best of the Funk Zone experiences in wine tasting.
