Santa Barbara Wine Country keeps its secrets close to its assless chaps vest.
By now, you probably know the tri-tip sandwiches tucked into a Hobbity-hillbilly holler off the 154 at Cold Springs Tavern—fleeting glimpses of flightless avian dinosaurs spurring mirages of the sub-Saharan savanna along the Solvang-Buellton divide. The after-dinner digestifs, renowned wineries are dedicated to on the sly, when breaking from their Châteauneuf-du-Pape-style blends.
But esoteric treasures still remain hidden within these valleys. As long as you know where to look.
At Los Olivos' Brander Vineyard, legendary for introducing Sauvignon Blanc to the region, there's a mind-blowing treasure trove of folk art from all corners of Mexico tucked among the vineyards. Like the sweeping and venerated 50-year-old winery itself, you could easily miss it when blowing past on Refugio Road.
Brander has both a subterranean gallery below the central chateau that houses is tasting room, where the flags of Argentina, Sweden, and the U.S. fly, representing the heritage of winemaker Fred Brander.
Up the hill, there's a jaw-dropping stand-alone museum packed with master artists, the beaded glories of famous Huichol clans, and scenes of nearly Biblical disaster hand-shaped in red clay, highlighting just a handful of the 1,200 folk art pieces collected by 74-year-old Brander over many decades.
Museum tours are only available by reservation, while the tasting room gallery is still yet to publicly debut, despite an ongoing exhibit dedicated to the "Treasures of Jalisco."
You'll find stirring displays of Oaxaca's barro negro pottery and vibrant, Tonala-burnished white clay bowls, ceremonial costumes from Guerrerense processions, beaded Nativity scenes, carved and gilded gourds, ceramic fruit vendors and smiling demons from Ocumicho, and more.
Encountering this cache of culturally vital, breathtaking Mexican and Indigenous craftsmanship in a region best known for its fleets of weekend visitors endlessly circling sleepy, small town blocks in search of the next hit of Sideways nostalgia feels like a stumbling over a cultural wellspring in a baking desert.
Not to mention, there's a chilled Brander Sauv Blanc, or a Cabernet Sauvignon grown in soil from the deadly Montecito mudslides, always at hand.
Here's a brief look at some of the works found within Brander Museum of Folk Art in Los Olivos. For tour reservations next time you're visiting wine country, email the winery here. The winery also has two houses on property, available to rent and similarly festooned with highlights of Brander's collection.
Brander Vineyards ~ 2401 N. Refugio Rd. Santa Ynez, CA 93460
