Well, Southern California survived “Car-mageddon”—a weekend-long bridge demolition project that shut down about 10 miles of the 405 freeway.
It wasn’t pretty. Hundreds of thousands of people were inconvenienced to some degree. But it wasn’t nearly as bad as some had predicted, a testament to the benefits of advance planning and heeding advice.
That said, if you were one of the many impacted by the closure—either by spending more time than usual stuck in traffic, or being forced to stay home—then you have earned a wine break.
Fortunately, there’s an amazing wine touring experience that doesn’t require a drive up the coast to Santa Barbara or a plane trip to San Francisco, a.k.a. the gateway to the Napa Valley.
A company called Malibu Grapes offers escorted tours to the wine tasting rooms of Malibu.
Malibu?!?
Yes, Malibu.
In recent years, this ocean-side community has seen quite a wine culture evolve. Believe it or not, it’s now home to more than 40 vintners.
True, many are vanity projects involving people who grow winegrapes—a farming process that ain’t cheap—simply because they can. But there also is a handful of actual wineries with production that’s large enough to justify staffing tasting rooms.
Among the tasting rooms visited by Malibu Grapes are those of Rosenthal Estate, Cielo Estate, Cornell Winery, Malibu Wines and Malibu Café.
And the scenery isn’t bad, either, as the tour winds through the picturesque Santa Monica Mountains and offers ocean vistas along Pacific Coast Highway.
Malibu Grapes will pick up and drop off passengers at hotels in Santa Monica, Agoura, Westlake Village and, of course, Malibu.
To learn more about this unique wine touring adventure, call 310-393-6555, or visit: MalibuGrapes.com.
After “Car-mageddon,” you deserve a break… as opposed to a brake.
And of course, I’d be remiss in not pointing out the excellent shop at Cornell Winery in Cornell off Kanan at Troutdale where you can buy most of these wines and some local exclusives. http://www.cornellwinery.com/Be sure also to stop by Sip Malibu where many of these wines can be, well, sipped at leisure on the wonderful olive-tree and fireplace patio into the evening. Sip Malibu is directly on Kanan. http://sipmalibu.com/Of course, for reasons maybe not totally unrelated, one is WISE to have a designated driver as Kanan is heavily patrolled by the CA troopers and is often the location of DUI checkpoints.PS–> Carmageddon was bliss by most local assessments. We want it once a month now.