After enjoying a stroll along the boardwalk and soaking up the rays in downtown Santa Cruz, take a venture a bit farther north to a quaint commercial center where you can enjoy the wines of the Pelican Ranch Winery. The winery is small, family owned and operated and specializes in Rhone and Burgundy style wines produced from grapes purchased from various vineyards throughout the state of California. 

The tasting room is quaint and welcoming and a small wooden tasting bar and the friendly staff draw you in to enjoy all that Pelican Ranch Winery has to offer. When visiting the winery, you just might run into Phil, the winemaker and proprietor of the winery. 

Phil is a professor of chemistry at the University of California at Santa Cruz's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and has a skill for explaining the chemistry behind the making of wine. He clearly enjoys making wine, and delights in showing you the tools he uses to create each of the wines that Pelican Ranch Winery has to offer. All of the tools of his trade are directly behind the tasting bar, and the winery staff happily offers informal tours of the facility, all you have to do is ask!