Tag: horses

With a passion for the countryside and a rancher’s way of life, Thomas J. Barrack Jr. acquired Piocho Ranch in Happy Canyon in 1992. Today, Piocho Ranch is home to the Barrack family, a vineyard, with two regulation-sized polo fields, and many powerful ponies.

The Barrack family has always taken great pride in their ranch and consider themselves to be stewards of the land where they blend a passion for polo with a commitment to producing the highest quality wines. Their estate vineyard, nestled into the undulating hills, is one of the reasons the new Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara AVA is getting so much attention.

A passion for horses is evident the moment visitors turn onto the lane that leads to the Tamber Bey tasting room and winery at Sundance Ranch. The 22-acre ranch is home to champion performance quarter horses and Arabians that graze in the white-fenced paddocks lining the lane. The focal point of the property is the barn and clubhouse, which was designed by famed Napa Valley Architect Howard Backen. Here, wine country and horse country unite.