Sniffing out wines in Santa Barbara

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When in Santa Barbara, I always check out the wine selections at Lazy Acres. Now the market’s longtime wine manager and shrewd buyer Bob Wesley has moved on to his own shop called the Winehound on Chapala Street, a short stroll from Hungry Cat.

That means when you have to wait for a table at Suzanne Goin and David Lentz’s popular seafood restaurant, leave your name and head up the street to browse the shelves at the Winehound until your table is ready.

The Winehound is a great-looking shop, with large arched windows dispensing natural light and a terrific selection of worthy wines from around the world. Wesley has a special affection for the wines of Spain and for big, juicy reds from the Central Coast — and wherever else he finds them. He also stocks a fine array of wines priced less than $15. (Look for the dog’s paw sticker.)

As he wittily explains in his newsletter: “At The Winehound, the search for exceptional wines crosses the globe, spans the seas, and sometimes forces us to wander to the back warehouse to see what’s laying around. In our dogged endeavor to find the best vino on the planet, we’ll taste a boatload of the abhorent and undrinkable, and ferret out all those mediocrities to protect you from their barnyardy, acidic, fruitless assault — then we’ll show you our chosen favorites, the good stuff: absolutely no mutts, just the pick of the litter!”

The good news is that February will bring a second shop on Pacific Coast Highway in Redondo Beach.

The Winehound, 1221 Chapala St. (at Victoria), Santa Barbara, (805) 845-5247.

— S. Irene Virbila