It’s easy to think of Malibu as nothing but beaches, bikinis and endless summers while celebrities stroll oceanfront properties, dodging the paparazzi and living the good life. And whereas that’s partly true, Malibu is also embracing its agricultural roots. Long before Westerners came to Malibu sporting convertibles and Speedos, the Chumash Indians lived peaceably along the coast and throughout the stunningly beautiful mountains that make up the Santa Monica Mountain range.
Prior to prohibition, L.A. County was a top grape growing region, but that faded away with the urbanization of the land. After a devastating fire in the mid 1980s, Ron Semler purchased 1,000 acres of charred land in the Santa Monica Mountains. Some questioned his sanity, after all, the land was decimated and appeared unusable, but he saw an opportunity. Ron Semler is not a farmer, he’s an entrepreneur and things he touches seem to work right. He bought the land, in part, to provide his daughter Tami a place to ride her horses and to provide land for his nine children. The kids have since grown up and while horses are still boarded on the property, it is grapevines that are taking over.
But before the vines came into being, Semler planted avocado trees, 15,000 trees in fact. At the height Semler’s Saddlerock Ranch operation he was the largest producer of avocados in Los Angeles County. But avocado trees, like any crop, are susceptible to weather, and weather, as any good farmer knows, can be your best friend or your worst enemy. After one particularly bad year, Semler lost over a millions pounds of fruit. Added to that was the increasing expense of water. “I’m done, let’s find another crop,” he told his family. And it could have been most any crop. “The more research we did the more we realized that red wine grapes fit the bill,” explained Tami Semler, vineyard manager for Malibu Family Wines and Semler’s eldest daughter. “In 1992 we started cutting down dead avocado trees and planted 14 acres of cabernet sauvignon and merlot.”
Their first vintage was in 2000 and a few brief years later, production and demand is soaring. Malibu Family Wines includes two labels. Saddlerock are everyday wines which include pinot noir, chardonnay, merlot and cabernet sauvignon from Central Coast vineyards which cost $20 or less. These are exceptional wines at this price, full of varietal specific characteristics. The Semler label comprises higher-end wines using estate fruit from Malibu and include cabernet sauvignon, merlot, sauvignon blanc and syrah, as well as a stunning 2004 Reserve cabernet. All Semler wines contain the Saddle Rock-Malibu AVA, of which Semler wines are the only members at present. Currently the ranch has 60 acres planted to vine with a long term plan to reach a total of 100 acres.
The topography is mountainous and rugged and at first glance it seems odd there are vines here at all. On the ranch itself are three stunning peaks, birthed out of the earth by the violence of evolution. The malformed peaks watch over the ranch, which includes horses, zebras, camels, bison and Scottish Highlanders. Saddle Rock peak, Turtle Rock peak and Castle Rock peak stand like weathered sentinels, the old guard of geography. The newly planted vines race up the steep, south facing hillsides, at the bases of these peaks, planted in symmetrical fashion, carved out of red earth. Off to one side, a non-descript rock formation boasts a National Historic Register plaque. Sitting on the Semler property are authenticated Chumash Indian cave paintings dating to 1769. It’s easy to understand why this parcel, sitting on the ridges above the Pacific Ocean, seems unique and special, even sacred, as some believe.
“We started with some of the best consultants from the central coast and Napa Valley. We conducted soils tests and set up weather stations to track patterns for two years,” Tami said. And the attention to detail doesn’t stop there. Tami prunes the 80 blocks differently. “We trim and prune according to the vine, not by section.” She also believes “there’s no set protocol, we do what’s best for the wine.” The evidence of meticulous attention is in the bottle.
However, is the general public ready to embrace wine from Malibu? ”Malibu is still considered a novelty, an anomaly” Tami explains. “But I’m convinced that within five years Malibu will become a viable wine region.” And true to form, Malibu is home to another well established vineyard, Rosenthal Estate, as well as small producers like Hoytt Family and Rancho Cielo. Malibu wines are increasing in quality and, though there are currently no viable production facilities close by, the end result has not suffered.
At present, Semler and Saddlerock wines are made at Central Coast Wine Services in Santa Maria and Courtside Cellars in San Miguel, just north of Paso Robles. Though Semler and Tami do not make the wines, they are intimately involved in the blending, growing and marketing aspects of the family business. “I don’t have a desire to make wine,” Tami confesses. “I love the dormancy of the vines, from bud break to harvest. There’s a romance in the growing side of it.” She tells me with a wry smile that she’s perfectly happy coming home after a day in the vineyard with dirt under her fingernails and pruning shears in her car. This is after all, farming. She continues to educate herself, taking classes at U.C. Davis and Cal State Fresno. “The vineyards are still an evolution. My dad is convinced we’re a Bordeaux region but I’m convinced we’re Rhone,” she says.
Ultimately, success is a tenuous thing. Few would have believed that Malibu could make great wine. But the Semlers are proving the skeptics wrong. The wines are unexpectedly in 18 states, the Caribbean and the Bahamas. Tami looks at me and grins, a suppressed smile, really. “Be careful what you wish for,” she says as we sit overlooking the ranch, “apparently we’re in the wine business. I’m not sure how that happened.”
