“CrossHatch has always been more than just about wine. It’s been about connection,” says owner and vintner Michelle Vautier.
Just around the corner from Anacapa Street on Haley, with a view of Santa Barbara Trapeze Co., the beginnings of a new story are beginning to unfold for CrossHatch Winery. In May, the winery officially unveiled its new space in Santa Barbara. It’s the first shift in a larger vision to bring together food, wine, and community under one roof — where friends can connect, book clubs can gather, competitors can play trivia, and locals can unite.
Guests are invited to step inside the cozy and intimate tasting room during the week, or enjoy the sunshine on the front patio where wine barrels and tables for two are scattered around the cement parking lot. There’s an upstairs lounge, private tasting room with inviting artwork on the walls, and office space. On weekends, expect the full back space to open up — a playground for families to gather, friends to relax, and partnerships to develop. The tasting room will remain the “anchor,” but this move helps shape Vautier’s larger vision of building a place where the community can come together.
The new space, easily triple the size of the former Santa Ynez location, was previously inhabited by Pure Joy Catering. It’s a lovely omen for Vautier, who sees many parallels to both women-owned businesses that go beyond the food industry. “I’m stepping into a space that doesn’t feel like I’m building from scratch,” she says. “There’s meaning behind this building.”
With the shift from the Valley, where CrossHatch had a tasting room for six years, Vautier hopes to put more of a personal spin on the winery she officially took over from Ryan Carr in 2023 (he remains onboard as head winemaker). An Argentinian who grew up surrounded by food and wine, Vautier believes that the Haley Street space allows for the ultimate goal of creating genuine experiences linked to both things, organically.
She envisions monthly dinners on a long table in the outdoor space, artisan market pop-ups with established purveyors, live music from local artists, and so much more. With the soft opening off her to-do list, she’s already scheming her next adventure — such as hosting World Cup viewings at the upstairs lounge (she’s Argentinian, so of course!).
The 4,000-square-foot space includes a shared commercial kitchen, where Vautier envisions a roving outfit of small, local catering businesses to “grow alongside us.” “CrossHatch will never be a restaurant,” she says, despite acquiring a farm in Templeton more than a year ago, where she and her family grow “everything but grapes.” The fruit, flowers, and jams from Imagine Family Farm may make an appearance on upcoming collaborations or bites for visitors to the tasting room, but the shared commercial kitchen is really about introducing locals to burgeoning chefs, cuisines, and up-and-coming restaurants.
The wine produced will remain rooted in a co-fermentation process that delivers just 1,000 cases annually to wine club members and visitors, and can be found at restaurants in town such as Alcazar and Convivo. And over the next year or so, the goal is also to move CrossHatch’s production facilities to Haley Street — mirroring so many other neighboring wineries like Carr, Jaffurs, and Potek.
“I’m looking forward to the fact that I’m going to be able to offer something unique and creative around food, wine and connection,” she says. “That’s the North Star.”
CrossHatch Winery is located at 111 East Haley Street, open Thursday-Monday, noon-6 p.m. Happy Hour is every Thursday and Friday, 3-5 p.m. See crosshatchwinery.com.
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