Doug on The Decanted Podcast

As Director of the Santa Barbara Culinary Experience and writer behind Petite Wine Traveler, I’m thrilled to bring you exclusive interviews with the incredible people shaping SBCE 2025. This series for the Santa Barbara Independent highlights the makers, storytellers, and flavor-chasers whose work defines our region’s vibrant food and wine scene. I recently sat down…

“We feel that opening the tasting room at Hotel Californian and planting the Margerum Estate Vineyard in Los Olivos are the two greatest decisions we’ve made as a company,” explained Doug Margerum, a living legend of local winemaking. “The tasting room has allowed us to essentially have a restaurant again, with the goal of becoming…

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The harvest lunch is a pretty common thing in wine regions everywhere. The midday meal, often prepared by someone on the staff, gives employees across all job titles and demographics some time to rest after long mornings and connect with each other around a shared table, fostering camaraderie while recharging for the afternoon of remaining…

Santa Barbara’s nickname as “The American Riviera” isn’t just marketing speak. This coastal town truly embodies Mediterranean elegance with a decidedly California vibe. The red-tiled roofs of its Spanish Colonial architecture and pristine beaches that stretch along the coastline make for scenes worthy of a postcard, but it’s the world-class wines, innovative farm-to-table cuisine, and quirky…

Santa Barbara, CA – March 26, 2025 – Margerum Wine Company is pleased to bestow the title of Head Winemaker to Robert Daugherty. Robert, who has been leading winemaking at Margerum for the past two years working alongside with Doug Margerum, is uniquely qualified for the position. Under Daugherty’s direction, Margerum has continued its tradition…