Blackhawk Transportation & Limousine has been driving Santa Barbara County wine country . A Santa Ynez tasting day is the trip people most often get wrong on their own: the valley is forty minutes out over San Marcos Pass, the tasting rooms are spread across five towns, most of them now want an appointment, and the pours add up long before the drive home does. Put the group in a limousine or a party bus and none of that is your problem.
We run wine tours out of Ventura, Santa Barbara, Camarillo, Thousand Oaks and the rest of the coast, and we will build the route around what you actually want to taste rather than a fixed itinerary.
Wine country is not a one-vehicle problem. Four people tasting for an afternoon and a bachelorette party of thirty need different cars, and we run both.
See the full fleet, or our Santa Barbara limo service page.
“Santa Ynez” is shorthand for six distinct areas, and they do not taste alike. Tell us which you want and we will route the day properly:
We also run tours into the Santa Maria Valley to the north, brewery tours for groups that would rather not taste wine all day, and the Santa Barbara Urban Wine Trail in the Funk Zone when you want a half day without leaving town.
A full day is usually six to eight hours door to door. Most groups get to four or six tasting rooms in that time; we will build a route for more if you want to push it, but tasting rooms hold appointments to a window and a rushed pour is a wasted one. We pick up wherever you are, hold the vehicle at each stop so nothing has to be carried or left behind, and get everyone home.
Two things worth knowing before you book. Most valley tasting rooms now require reservations for groups of six or more, and some cap group size entirely — book those before you book the car, or tell us and we will work the route around what you get. And larger vehicles cannot always park at smaller estate wineries, which is a routing question we will raise with you rather than discover on the day.
Our chauffeurs drive these roads in normal traffic, not off a map. They know which tasting rooms are walkable from one another, where a stretch can actually turn around, and how long the run back over the pass takes at five o’clock on a Saturday. Parking, navigation and getting the group moving between stops are ours to handle.
Call (805) 658-6903 or fill out the quote form on this page. Tell us the date, how many people, and roughly which part of the valley you want, and we will come back with the right vehicle and a written quote. For group celebrations, look at our Santa Barbara party buses, and our guide to the best Santa Barbara wine tours covers private, group, scenic and historic options.
Wine tours start at $199 per hour in a stretch limousine. SUV and Hummer limousines start at $229 per hour and party buses at $249 per hour; a corporate sedan or SUV for two to four people starts at $85 per hour. Hourly minimums are 3 hours on weekdays and 3 to 6 hours at weekends depending on the date and time; weddings are usually a 6-hour package and some peak dates carry a longer minimum. Your rate depends on the vehicle, the date and the hours, and every quote is confirmed in writing before you commit.
A full day in the valley is normally six to eight hours door to door, so work from the hourly rate and the number of hours you actually want rather than a headline package price.
