Dierberg Star Lane Vineyards

Do your homework before you go. Dierburg has one of the highest tasting fees in the area. Twenty dollars a person. A little further west is great pinots and less to taste. Friendlier environment and not mass crowds. Trust me, I live and have been tasting in the area for over 35 years. Some of Dierburgs 2014 vintage varietals fall short compared to their 2013 vintage varietals. They didn’t pour their 2014 pinots at a recent pick-​up party so can’t comment to much on pinots but the Sarah in particular was lacking in bouquet and on back palette. Their ²⁰¹²⁄₂₀₁₃ pinots were some of the best in the area, which is why I joined their club. But things have changed and I dropped my membership. With so many wineries in the area, wineries need to exceed members and guests expectations.
Cheers!
P. S. please read Sara W review. Spot on how we feel. Use to be a place where we would meet friends and family. Buy wine and picnic. Guess they don’t want that environment any more. Catering to a different crowd. Hope it works for them.

We visited Dierberg and Star Lane the other week as we decided to give it another shot having visited in spring ’15. I did not review after our last visit, as I was not comfortable with the party scene (wine tasting should be relaxing). However, we did enjoy the wines that were compelling enough to give it another shot this year.
I am thrilled we came back this year! Corey and Zack (spelling?) were both awesome and extremely knowledgeable about the wines. The setting is serene and the wines continue to get better and better. Dierberg wines are delicious Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays from Santa Rita Hills and Santa Maria Valley. However, they also have a Cab from the warmer portion of Santa Barbara wine country. I feel like this one stop offers a great array of what SB wine country has to offer.
I was surprised by the recent reviews, however I think some people are looking for a party (what we experienced last time), the Funk zone in SB is perfect for partiers. However, if you are looking for a wine country gem with good service, amazing location and great wines — Dierberg/​Star Lane is a great tasting room to visit. So happy we came back.

Still a great stop and good wines.
Their policies have changed where they no longer accept groups larger than 20 people. They also informed me that pricing for large groups is now $ 20 per person and there is a minimum of 2 bottles that need to be purchased for every person that attends. Almost feels like they are trying to keep the big groups away. Makes no sense since they have a huge and beautiful property where large tastings can totally work.
Per the Unilocal Rating, they are still A-​OK :-)

I came here with a group of 12 girls as part of a wine tour and the service was unacceptable. Zach poured our tasting and was rude to us from the first minute, solely because we were a large group. He claimed their winery does not want clientele in big groups, even though I came here one year ago with a larger group of girls and had the best experience. No one else was at the winery and for good reason. Dierberg’s wine has always been mediocre, and now that their atmosphere and service is awful, I do not recommend it to anyone. If you do go to Dierberg, make sure Zach is not pouring for you.

We usually come here once every 3 months and it’s near our families ranch. It’s got a nice open grass field and other places for the kids to explore, plus we really liked the staff as they were very friendly and personable, I wish I could remember the women’s names. We went Saturday and didn’t have a great experience. It’s interesting reading some of the recent reviews as it seems it wasn’t just our perception. First, it seemed very under-​staffed. In the past they would come out to the tables for our samples, but for the most part we had to go inside and even then we had to wait a long time usually. I’ll also echo the other reviews about the lack of welcoming and friendliness. Finally, we were amazed that they would not allow our out of town guests to purchase wines with our wine club discounts with their credit card. Every other winery we belong to allows this including Foxen. It just didn’t seem like a fun, easy, go with the flow winery visit we have come to expect. Can anyone verify a change in staffing and/​or policy?

Went here last weekend with a small group (6) for our first stop of the day. Best way to explain it is that there was no «welcome» feeling from the staff. Servers did not engage us or explain any of the wines they were pouring (that is when we could find them to get a taste). We are all in the industry and expecting to receive our discount we found that only 4 of us could use it. Obviously this place does not recognize industry standards.
Regarding the wines — Like I said I would have loved to hear anything about them, but just going on our tasting observations… they are all good (with exception of the 2010 Cab which was not), but just a bit overpriced and unfortunately when you are made to feel unwelcome you don’t buy wine or recommend.

Really? Unilocal reviewers you are letting us Unilocalers down. It use to be you could gain a good idea if the wines are poor, good or very good. It appears to becoming nothing more than a popularity contest for fun times. I should have guessed it when I saw very few that truly commented on the quality of the wine. But 4.5 stars!!!
Dieberg is one of the biggest disappointment I have had in vineyards in the 10 plus years of visiting vineyards on the central coast.
1. Associate never shared the cost of a tasting and I almost choked when I saw the fine print on the menu say $ 20. My bust for not verifying, but very unprofessional. Used to be wine tasting was free… then $ 5, then a few $ 10, and have even paid $ 15 at some awesome places. Have never paid $ 20 here. Napa yes, but that’s why I will never go back to Napa.
2. That’s $ 20 for 5 one ounce pours. That’s $ 4 per ounce for me to decide if I like their wine to buy.
3. The other fine print at the bottom says tasting fee waived with 3 bottle purchase. That means it would be somewhere between $ 132-​$ 312 to comp the 10 ounces of mediocre wine my wife and I had between us if I purchased a variety of the 5 wines tasted. Most places will comp with one or two bottle purchases.
4. Almost every piece of info about where the grapes were grown, the differences in wine making and what to expect on the palette I had to ask the associate.
5. Sauvignon Blanc was tart and grapefruity. Everything I disliked about SB until I tasted some decent SB. $ 22? Try Buttonwood vineyard for a smooth and flavorful SB.
6. Chardonnay $ 32 reminded me of a $ 7 Clos Dubois you can get at CVS or VONS. Tart, acidic, with some hint of oak.
7. SRH Pinot $ 52 had little bouquet but was smooth. Unfortunately Other than a hint of cherry I am grasping for a description. Not complex and no finish. If you want to pay $ 50 for a truly good Pinot… go down the street to Foley vineyards.
8. SMV Pinot $ 44, at last a bouquet! Drier, a bit young and a decent finish. Only wine I would take home… but not at this price.
9. Cabernet. $ 46 musty, jammy… no complexity or smooth finish that you would expect to get for $ 46.
Bottom line… over rated, way over priced, and I will never go back. $ 20 for wine tasting… Dierberg should be ashamed.

I was expecting so much after all the great reviews but it wasn’t my favorite from our trip. The wines were very good and we bought some Pinot but again not my favorite. We brought food and sat outside on the patio where there was a grassy area and a few tables. Only wish we would have picnicked at one of the other places that had live music.

Dierberg was by far our favorite winery for many years (since moving to California), but I feel something is changing, and not for the better. The wine is still good, the grounds are still beautiful, the truck is one of my favorite picture spots of all time, but the staff is really what has made Dierberg shine above all others, and recently the staff turnover has been huge. We considered Dierberg our Santa Ynez family, but each time we visited we would find another «family member» gone. And for that reason we have come to the hard decision to end our membership with Dierberg.
We loved that our kids were always welcomed. They staff knew them by name, and as soon as we arrived, my 6 year old would find one of her friends to ask to use the Kinetic Sand. We would also bring many friends with us on our visits, and will miss it dearly.

Good wine and really nice place. Staff is super friendly and knowledgeable. Bring food and relax outside and enjoy the view.

PROS: kid friendly!!! Great wines both white and red, friendly and helpful service, beautiful and serene venue
CONS: (no cons)
overall: we love coming here for the wines and most of all because it is kid friendly and we have 3 little ones who can be loud and need to run around. They have a great outdoor area that kids can explore and that bean bag game. We even brought the kids scooters and football on a quiet weekday for the use. The staff was very friendly and reassured us that the kids were ok and welcome

The place is wonderful for photo ops and there’s free wine tasting. I love how there’s corn hole here. This is a wonderful place for enjoying yourself in the sun and you even get discounts here if you’re a member.

Went as a recommendation from Savior Faire Wine Tours, and was hands down the best recommendation ever! Loved our host, Miss A, loved every wine, even a red (I’m a white drinker) so much, we joined the club! Great place, great atmosphere, great wine!

Great wines and friendly service, though a bit slow, made this an excellent stop on our wine tour. The farmhouse made for great ambience and they even had a food truck. I will definitely be returning here and highly suggest it for others exploring the Lompoc Valley.

Likely the nicest group of people in the whole county.
The grounds are beautiful, the barn is fantastic, and the people and service are unmatched.
The wines are pretty good too! The pinots were great, but they had a Cabernet that was delicious.

Great wines here! And quite the happening spot.
I enjoyed the pinots very much. And PS., in reference to Stephanie’s review, -«The pours are pretty minuscule». they were actually the same pours you get at any wine tasting.
Picnic tables were filled with people noshing and sipping wine on a lovely Monday afternoon (aug 3^rd).
I played corn hole, laid on the lush grass, and enjoyed my tastings.
Friendly people working here and a great crowd of people hanging out.
Definitely a destination to hit while wine tasting. I’ll surely be back!

Such a beautiful winery! Dierberg Star is located down a secluded road off the 246. There is zero cell reception out there and it is so peaceful and quiet. The tasting room is simplistic and classy. The surrounding garden is very pretty and there is a nice outdoor area for sitting outside to drink.
The server we had was great, she had a wonderful personality and was very passionate about the wines.
Our favorites were the Cab Franc and their Santa Maria Valley Syrah. Their wines are definitely on the pricey side, I purchased the Cab Franc for $ 55, and the Syrah was $ 65. We were given cards for free tasting next time. I will hang on to them in hopes that someday soon we will make it back up there!

Beautiful vineyard, wonderful staff and great wine! We really enjoyed the pinots!
This was our fourth winery of the day and understandably, everyone was a little giggly. The staff didn’t seem to mind and went about pouring our tastes and giving explanations and descriptions as they went. I asked to revisit one of the pinots and they had no problem with that either.
We loved their little cactus garden and the gorgeous views AND the convenient out door seating too. What a great way to end our day!

My wife and I love this place — great wine and Lindsey is always very pleasant and accommodating.
Love the whites — the pinots and cab franc especially!

Came here on a beautiful afternoon a couple of weeks ago. Enjoyed doing a wine tasting outside with the pups.
Lots of people brought food and snacks to enjoy — the table next to us had a particularly delicious-​looking spread of french bread, several cheeses, and several meats. Will have to remember to do that next time!
The person serving us our tastings was friendly and knowledgeable enough. The pours are pretty miniscule, though. I don’t know how anybody would be able to decide to purchase a bottle based on the two sips in each pour.
There should also be a «doggy cleanup» station. We brought bags and our pups didn’t relieve themselves anyway, but there were several doggy chocolates on the grass. Since some people also brought their children to play in the grass, this could be a potentially unsanitary situation.
Definitely a beautiful place to come hang out, but as far as tasting rooms go, is just a-​ok.