Kicking Back at Rideau Vineyard’s Relaxation Celebration

If my editor-in-chief’s shocked reaction when I recently told her I was taking a few days off is any indication, I’ve been in desperate need of a vacation. But before I left town for a few days, I wasn’t going to pass up the chance to visit Rideau Vineyard on August 16 for their celebration of National Relaxation Day, a very worthy occasion, in my opinion.

I had never visited Rideau’s vineyard off Solvang’s Alamo Pintado Road, and while I find it’s hard for me to have a bad time visiting a winery, it seems downright impossible for me to have had a bad time at Rideau. The moment my friend Leila and I stepped out of the car, we were immediately taken by the sight of the historic adobe house framed in vines and rosebushes, as well as the beautiful grapevines stretching into the distance under the blue summer sky. The aim of “relaxation” was already off to a great start.

Vineyard Manager Steve Russell greeted us with handshakes and a warm smile, immediately making us feel comfortable and welcomed, and showed us to a picnic table in the shade just outside the main tasting room. It was positioned perfectly; we could enjoy the full comforts of the warm summer breeze outside, the shade of the massive oak tree, and the lively conversations and laughter of the families, friends, and couples at the other picnic tables.

While we heard great things about the lobster roll and the new-to-the-menu smashburger, Leila and I opted to split a pizza and a vegan platter — such a welcome thing to see on a menu when you’re a vegetarian who loves a cheese board! The savory hummus, scooped up with pita bread and carrots; the crisp, perfectly tart pickles; the sweet dried figs; and the delectable, salty olive tapenade all made for the perfect summer-day picnic treat. And that’s before mentioning the Rideau wine jam — made from a blend of Rhône white grapes, it was beautifully sweet and refreshing, and Leila and I had fun speculating and swooning over what other foods we would pair it with.

When our pizza arrived, we dove in eagerly. Rideau offers four handcrafted pizzas — which include the Prosciutto (arugula, mozzarella, prosciutto), the Calabrese (mushrooms, olives, feta, Calabrese-style salami, and red pepper), and the Margherita (tomatoes, basil, mozzarella) — and we opted for the Mediterranean, a heavenly concoction of perfectly baked dough topped with creamy mozzarella, salty olives, crumbly feta, and savory artichokes. While the vegan platter was the perfect complement to the white wines we tasted, this pizza went beautifully with the tart, savory reds.

And I haven’t even gotten to the wine yet.

Normally, every time I’ve gone wine tasting, there’s been at least one in the lineup that has me puckering my lips: Well, that one’s not for me. Not so with Rideau’s Signature Flight, a set of five wines that are truly a feast for the senses. The winery’s commitment to natural, pesticide-free grapes and emphasis on quality over quantity truly shine through. The estate viognier, aged 10 months in natural French oak, comes from vines originally planted by vineyard founder Iris Rideau, a true trailblazer as the first Black woman to own a winery in the U.S. The wine is fresh and light, perfect for summer, and enhanced with a mineral quality that Russell said comes from the earth of what was an ancient creekbed that runs through where these vines are planted.

The flight also included the juicy rosé, the stunning La Encantada pinot noir, and Rideau’s signature red blend, the four-grape Château Duplantier. My other favorite of the Signature Flight was the Eighteen Eighty-Four, named for the year the property’s historic adobe was originally built. It’s a complex GSM blend with a higher percentage of grenache (44 percent to mourvèdre’s 40 percent and syrah’s 16 percent), which Russell explained gives the wine its sharper flavor. It’s a beautifully tart and spicy wine that had me sipping extra slowly, trying to figure out all the different flavors like an intriguing puzzle.

We were also given the chance to taste a few bonuses: the Blanc de Blancs, Rideau’s first sparkling wine, a bubbly treat with notes of green apples; the Nolan Ranch cinsault, a tart and herbal beauty; the estate syrah, whose earthy richness made a heavenly pairing with some chocolate tarts; and the stainless-steel-aged estate viognier, which stole the show for me with its crisp and refreshing kiss, the perfect counterpart to its slightly creamier, French-oak-aged sister. 

Shennie Smith, who was performing live along with her guitarist on a small stage underneath the oak tree, enhanced the already-serene vibe with her beautiful voice singing a range of hits from Ed Sheeran to Dolly Parton. Her entrancing version of “Jolene” caught my ear immediately, but Leila and I were thrilled to get to hear her perform Lana Del Rey’s “Venice Bitch” — we clapped so enthusiastically when the song ended that Smith grinned, nodded our way, and said, “We have some Lana girlies over here!”

After Smith treated everyone to Lana’s “Say Yes to Heaven,” Russell treated me and Leila to a tour of the vineyard. We walked through the historic adobe, lovingly maintained and charmingly decorated, and past the estate-grown vines — which include syrah, mourvèdre, grenache, roussanne, and the heavenly viognier — and through the rooms full of French oak barrels and stainless-steel vats patiently holding the next bottlings. I learned so many things in such a short time; having been with Rideau for 17 years, Russell truly knows the place, and the magical grapes it produces, inside out.

Determined to soak up every bit of the atmosphere that we could, Leila and I played a few rounds of cornhole and had our picture taken sitting on a comically oversized pink lawn chair before deciding to spend the rest of our time lounging at a picnic table in the shade. Listening to Smith croon out a few more gentle songs, with a glass of cold, crisp viognier in my hand, the oak branches overhead rustling in the summer breeze, and the joyful conversations of the people around us, I had the thought: It really doesn’t get better than this.

Rideau Vineyard is located at 1562 Alamo Pintado Road, Solvang. See rideauvineyard.com.