A Day in Malibu

Last Thursday was field trip day at work. As such, my entire office headed out to the Santa Monica Mountains in Malibu to visit the oft forgotten, if not ignored Malibu estates. Wines? Malibu? The Malibu that is home to movie stars, Bay Watch and gorgeous beaches? Yes, the very same Malibu. In fact, unbeknownst to me, Malibu is home to not 1 but 2 AVAs- Malibu Newton Canyon and and Saddle Rock.

Planned by the good people over at Malibu Family Wines, we spent the day tasting some fabulous wines and better still, got to meet the wonderful people behind the wines. It was such a treat to see the camaraderie between the small community of Malibu vintners, and I want to thank each and every one of them for making our office outing so enjoyable.

Left to Right: Allison, my immediate boss lady; Andy, Big Boss Man; Neil, Director of Rosenthal; Moi and Emily, our lovely office manager.

To begin the day, we were picked up from our office in a black fancy SUV Escalade, (yup, we received the rock star treatment). Our first stop was the Rosenthal Tasting Room situated right along the Pacific Coast Highway. There we met with Neil McNally, director of the company, and tasted some of their estate wines as well as their surfrider red. Despite the fact that I spat, it was wa-ay too early in the morning for my poor system to have any alcohol come near it.

From the Rosenthal Tasting Room, we headed to Church Estate Vineyards. Initially a substance abuse center, owner Bob Church Haggstrom completely transformed this property to look like something straight out of a Monet or Renoir painting. From the 500-foot-long running stream with waterfalls that culminate in a lake system, to the rustic boathouse that sits idyllically by the lake, to the imported sycamores and pepper trees that line winding stone pathways; the breath-taking estate has played host to some very beautiful weddings (including Fergie and Josh Duhamel).

Bridge under which sits the stream


The Lake-- Check out the Imported Black and White Swans!


The Lake side boathouse that houses it's own fireplace, plush lounging area, and patio seating with a romantic view of the lake.


Duckies!

The main house on the estate is a Normandy-style French Chateau that comes complete with a gorgeous 4,000 bottle cherry wood wine cellar with 2,000 year old flooring from 1st Century Cypress; a custom designed envy-evoking kitchen with a wood fire pizza oven, La Cornue rotisserie and La Cornue range; and a beautiful deck that overlooks the enchanting gardens and lake. While I appreciated the grandeur of the house, the whole French Chateau thing has a touch too much pomp for me and thus, you get no interior pictures. However, below are more pictures of the vines- the whole reason we where there in the first place.

About 9 acres of the estate are under vine, offering both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes.

Pinot Noir Vines


Chardonnay Vines


Horses, horse stables and a romantic carriage house retreat add to the charm of the property.

While at Church Estate, we also tasted their 2007 Pinot Noir, one of my favorite wines we tasted that day.

Up next, we headed to the Malibu Wines Tasting Room to meet, lunch and taste with the Semler Family, owners of Malibu Family Wines, and their winemaking team. The Malibu Wines Tasting Room is a beautiful outdoor facility located off of Mullholland Highway. With a gorgeous manicured lawn, picnic tables and the added bonus of live music during summer months, I can see myself packing a picnic basket and heading up there to enjoy some tunes and some Malibu wines one summer evening.

Malibu Wines Tasting Room




Chefs Kristine & Chris Bocchino of Cal-Fresco Food Truck.

A recent addition to the Tasting Room is the presence of the Cal-Fresco Food Truck, featuring chefs Chris and Kristine Bocchino's delicate but oh so delicious offerings. For lunch, we were served a roasted beet salad with honey goat cheese and candied walnuts, salmon topped with avocado puree, 3 cheese truffle mac and cheese and short rib tacos. The salmon, while simple, was seriously perfectly cooked and the flavors were clean and spot on. Meanwhile, that mac and cheese... oh that mac and cheese. I'm actually not a fan of mac and cheese but Cal-Fresco's version of the dish was just the perfect blend of cheeses and had the most beautiful crust on top... I went back for seconds. The short rib taco was just okay- a little dry and in need of some flavor.

Over lunch, we also tasted/drank some beautiful Semler and Saddlerock wines (part of the Malibu Family Wines), some of which were still barrel samples. Such a treat!

Turtle Rock- One of the many unusual rock formations found on the ranch.

After lunch, Ron Semler, head of the Semler household, took us around the 1,000 acre Saddlerock Ranch-- home to Malibu Family Wines. With planting starting in 1997, the vineyards at Saddlerock Ranch have grown from a mere 14 acres to about 65 acres and counting. Besides the vineyards, Saddlerock Ranch is also home to many unique animals, including zebras, camels, buffalo and emus; a fully restored 1950s themed trailer park; a buggy and car barn full of exotic antique buggies and cars; and the Semler family themselves. What I loved most about the Ranch is the balance between the Ranch being a place of "business" and a family residence. Peppered with life sized bronze statues of the Semler kids, sightings of a Semler kid or grandkid running around in all odd corners of the property is a daily occurrence.

A 1905 Darracq- There are only 3 in existence, the other two are in museums in Paris & Geneva.
If I knew cars, I guess this would be cool?

Buggy used in filming of the TV series Little House on the Prairie aka my favorite childhood book series of all time!


The original buggy used in Gone with the Wind- Best movie ever!!!


Ron's key collection wall inside the car barn


One of the trailers in the 1950s trailer park


Tami Semler with the 2 hr old baby Camel that was born while we were visiting the Ranch

From Saddlerock Ranch, we moved onto SIP Cielo Malibu Wine Bar to taste some of the Cielo wines with Bill Hirsh, director of Cielo wines. There, we did a vertical tasting of Cielo's Syrahs from 2005 to the current 2009 vintage. While I've set up many vertical tastings in my time, I've never really had the opportunity to sit down and actually taste through an entire flight. It was definitely interesting to see (well taste) how a wine changes from vintage to vintage. My favorite was the 2006.

From Left to Right: Jim Palmer, Malibu Vineyards; Bob Haggestrom, Church Estate Vineyards; Emilio Estevez, Casa Dumetz; Sonja Magdevski, Casa Dumetz; Don Schmitz, Malibu Solstice Vineyards; Kathryn Hagopian, Stillpoint Vineyard; Anthony Dias Blue, Tasting Panel Magazine; Charles Schetter, Sanity Wines; Carol Hoyt, Hoyt Family Vineyards; Kevin Bening, Malibu Family Wines; Michael Barnes, Republic of Malibu; and Tim Skogstrom, Cornell Tasting Room.

And finally, already 2 hours behind schedule, we headed to the Cornell Tasting Room where we met with more Malibu vintners who do not have their own tasting rooms. Each vintner brought a bottle of their best for Andy to taste (ala Bottle Shock scene in Sonoma) and it was interesting to hear the stories behind each individual vintner and their respective vineyard.

After the formal tasting, it was time from some good grub and socializing. A beautiful way to end the day! And yes, your eyes do not deceive, that is Emilio Estevez. "QUACK!"