Sunstone Winery will open the Sunstone Wine Lounge Thursday at 1294 Coast Village Road, marking the winery’s first location outside its Santa Ynez Valley estate and expanding its presence on the South Coast.
The lounge sits along one of Montecito’s busiest stretches of Coast Village Road, in the space previously occupied by Folded Hills’ tasting room, which closed last November.
For Sunstone President Teddy Cabugos, the location is a strategic move to better serve the winery’s membership base in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles.
“Our members have asked for years for something closer to home,” Cabugos said. “A lot of them live in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles, so this gives them a place to come in and stay connected to what we’re doing at the vineyard.”
The tasting room will offer flights and wines by the glass drawn from Sunstone’s portfolio of Rhône and Bordeaux varietals grown at its estate vineyard.
The lounge will also serve Solis by Sunstone, a nonalcoholic beverage introduced in 2025. It will be incorporated into a developing menu of house mocktails, with plans to expand seasonal offerings over time.
“We want to create a mocktail program that really stands on its own, something you don’t typically see in a wine tasting room,” Cabugos said.
The expanded beverage offerings reflect broader shifts across the wine industry, where consumption patterns, particularly among younger consumers, continue to evolve.
“We’re in a cultural shift,” he said. “People are looking for different options, and we want to be able to offer something for every beverage consumer.”
Light fare will also be available, including cheese and charcuterie selections, chocolate offerings, and other small bites designed to pair with the wines.
While the Montecito space is more compact than Sunstone’s Santa Ynez Valley property, Cabugos said the focus remains on maintaining the same hospitality standards.
“When someone walks in, we want them to feel welcomed immediately,” he said. “Even if it’s busy, the goal is to acknowledge every guest and make sure they feel taken care of.”
Sunstone CEO Djamila Cabugos said the space is intended to shift throughout the day, moving from a traditional tasting room environment in the afternoon to a more relaxed lounge setting in the evening.
“We want the space to evolve over the course of the day,” she said. “In the afternoon it will feel like a tasting room, and in the evening it transitions into more of a lounge atmosphere.”
The Montecito opening also comes as Sunstone begins a multiyear replanting of its estate vineyard, gradually replacing sections of aging vines while continuing to focus on the Rhône and Bordeaux varietals that define its portfolio.
“It’s a transformative time for us,” Djamila Cabugos said. “We’re redesigning the vineyard while continuing to focus on the varietals Sunstone is known for.”
Under its current license, Sunstone is permitted to operate up to two off-site locations, with Montecito serving as the first step.
“This is the starting point for us,” she said. “Once we get this established, we’ll begin looking at where the next location might make sense.”
For Teddy Cabugos, the goal of the new lounge ultimately extends beyond wine.
“At the end of the day, wine is part of it,” he said. “It’s really about creating a place where people want to spend time.”
