Buttonwood Farm planted its first Cabernet Franc vines in 1983 on eighteen acres that once grazed cattle, and by 1989 the estate had pivoted entirely to sustainable viticulture, retaining the original barn and naming the winery after the California sycamore that anchored the property's northwest corner.
The farm sits at the confluence of the Santa Ynez Valley's two microclimates: cool Pacific fog rolls through Solvang each morning, retreating by noon to expose rows of Sangiovese and Syrah to the valley's signature diurnal swing—a thirty-degree temperature drop that preserves acidity while ripening fruit. By 2003, owner Betty Williams had formalized the estate's equestrian program, opening vineyard trails to guided horseback rides that weave through fifteen planted acres, past the original 1940s farmhouse, and into adjacent oak grasslands where Buttonwood's quarter horses graze between tours.
Today's horseback riding wine tour Santa Barbara experiences center on this working estate, where riders depart from the barn at ten each Friday through Sunday morning, following trails that bisect Merlot blocks and terminate at the outdoor tasting pavilion. The two-hour private rides limit groups to six, with wranglers narrating the valley's transition from cattle ranching to premium viticulture as horses navigate irrigation access roads and perimeter fire breaks. Each Santa Ynez Valley wine tour pauses mid-ride at the estate's highest elevation—a quarter-mile plateau offering sightlines to the San Rafael Mountains—before descending through Chardonnay rows for a reserved tasting of four estate wines, poured under century-old sycamores.
The valley's equestrian wine culture traces to the 1970s, when Firestone Vineyard and Sanford Winery converted horse pasture to vine, but Buttonwood remains the only estate to maintain both a bonded winery and USEF-certified riding program on contiguous land. The farm's quarter horses—descendants of stock used in the valley's last cattle drive in 1981—adapt to novice riders, trained specifically for vineyard terrain where narrow tractor paths and uneven gradients demand calm temperament. Rides depart regardless of group size, ensuring the experience remains private even during peak harvest season in late September, when crush operations occasionally redirect trails around active fermentation tanks visible from the saddle.
7 hr
