Matters of Taste - Los Angeles Times

The new stars of Malibu: winemakers
Three pioneering vintners are already making a name for themselves -- and for the region.

One day, a few harvests from now, there may be a real Malibu Wine Trail. It will never be as grand or productive as the Silverado Trail in the Napa Valley or the Russian River in Sonoma. But it will be even more beautiful, and it will have an allure all its own.

In this ruggedly beautiful region long known for surfer dudes and celebrities-in-hiding, on the very cusp of Los Angeles, there are vintners who, without fanfare, are already producing quality grapes and sending them off to wineries to be processed. These folks are not dilettantes, and in at least one case, their wines have already begun getting favorable reviews and are showing up on serious wine lists, including those at Spago, Valentino, Melisse, Vincenti and La Cachette.

The stories behind the Malibu vineyards are as varied and as intriguing as the grapes they yield.

One is owned by an enormously wealthy developer more accustomed to playing host to rock stars than to selling wine. Another is run by a man who didn't even drink wine until he and the former Playboy Playmate of the Month he married after they met on a blind date decided it would be more profitable to grow grapes than avocados. A third is essentially a one-man operation run by a Canadian-born money manager whose tiny vineyard is in his backyard.

I recently visited these three vineyards one is actually more Topanga than Malibu ã and then had dinner at Saddle Peak Lodge, in near-to-Malibu Calabasas, where chef Warren Schwartz prepared a seven-course meal designed around the wines.

The wines are too varied to have a discernible "Malibu style," but they do have at least this much in common: While many California wines over-oaked Chardonnays, over-extracted Pinot Noirs, overpowering Cabernets and Zinfandels overwhelm the food they're intended to accompany, the Malibu wines complemented the food instead of dominating it.

The Malibu wines are on the Saddle Peak wine list which is one reason the restaurant decided to host the dinner ã and at other restaurants in and around Malibu. They're also available, at mostly reasonable prices, in other restaurants and wine shops in the greater Los Angeles area. Wines from Rosenthal: the Malibu Estate, for example, are sold at Wally's, the Duke of Bourbon, Gelson's and Topline as well as at many of the city's best restaurants.

That's not surprising since proprietor George Rosenthal is the most experienced and wine-savvy of the vintners who participated in the Saddle Peak dinner. But he's not exactly Bob Mondavi, having planted his first grapes in 1987 and marketed his first vintage in 1991.

Before that, he was a hugely successful developer, building modest "starter" homes in Orange County and apartment units in West Hollywood, then stepping into the big time by putting up the Playboy Building, Raleigh Studios and the Westwood Marquis and Sunset Marquis hotels, where his frequent guests have included the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Jennifer Lopez and Christina Aguilera.

Rosenthal, who turns 72 Thursday, met the owner of what is now the Malibu Estate in 1975. Two years later he started buying the land 25 acres at first just off Kanan Dume Road, amid the hilly, tree-lined splendor west of Malibu Canyon. He initially thought of the land as the perfect spot for a bucolic weekend home, away from the beach in Santa Monica where he'd lived for 30 years. He continued to buy the land, mostly in 20- and 25-acre chunks, and now has 240 acres on which he's built a beautiful, Mexican-style hacienda.

"I got the wine idea serendipitously," he says. "I was having lunch at Michael's in Santa Monica one day, and Michael [McCarty] said he was thinking of putting in a vineyard in Malibu, where he lived. I had developed a great love for wine while traveling the world with a very close friend who has a great wine cellar, Emilio Azcarraga, [the late Mexican media baron].

"I thought having my own vineyard sounded like a great idea." But he'd never put his own name on any business venture. "I got good reviews on my first Cab, though," he says, "and I decided, well, why not. I thought it would be nice to have my grandchildren or great-grandchildren see it and know their name stands for quality."

Rosenthal's wines, like others from Malibu, are actually made elsewhere. He ships his grapes to the Baileyana Winery, just south of San Luis Obispo, "but I'm planning to have my own winery and my own caves here," he says, "maybe by late next year”.

Rosenthal's vineyards now yield about 700 cases of Chardonnay (which retail for $22 a bottle), 1,400 cases of Merlot ($30), 1,500 cases of Cabernet ($36) and 100 cases of a Founder's Reserve Cabernet ($65) that he added to the line in 1997.

The current, '98 vintage of the Founder's Reserve is a big, rich wine, with wild berry overtones that made it an ideal companion to the roasted caribou chop, crispy potato confit, onion marmalade and dried cherry reduction at the Saddle Peak Lodge dinner.

I also liked the combination of Rosenthal's Burgundian-style 2001 Newton Canyon Chardonnay and chef Schwartz's butter-braised lobster with an English pea risotto and morel mushrooms.

Who knows? By 2006, maybe there really will be a Malibu Wine Trail, complete with caves, tours, and tasting rooms. The vineyards and the surrounding countryside are certainly stunning enough to lure visitors and where else could you drink good wine, see a zebra and talk with a man who can say, "Mick Jagger slept at my place"?

By David Shaw
Los Angeles Times, July 16, 2003

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