USS Angeles explores Chateau Picard

By Fleet Capt. Dave Mason

SANTA YNEZ, Calif. — Jean-Luc Picard lives in La Barre, France, but it’s not too far if you have a transporter.

And a knowledge of California.

Santa Ynez, a town north of Los Angeles, served as the home for retired Adm. Jean-Luc Picard in “Star Trek: Picard.” The chateau scenes for the CBS All Access series, which will have its season finale Thursday, was filmed at the Sunstone Vineyards & Winery.

The USS Angeles beamed down to the Santa Barbara County site on Feb. 22, long before the tasting room’s temporary closure during the COVID-19 pandemic. (The winery is continuing to do home deliveries. For details, see sunstonewinery.com.)

Participating in the February mission were Janice Willcocks, Jon Lane, Jeremy Kranz, Lisa Sobien, Paul Szymborski, Jenny Taylor and I.

Besides tasting the winery’s delicious red and white wines, we listened to a singer-guitarist and posed for photo ops around the tasting room and vineyards. And Lisa and Paul played several games of Connect Four, in which the object is to connect four circles of the same color within a grid

Afterward, we enjoyed a buffet at the nearby Chumash Casino Resort. (That site is also now temporarily closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.)

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