Bus Trip To Malibu Wine Country

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Today a large group of us met at Delius Restaurant for the annual bus trip to "wine country". This year the Malibu area was chosen. The small bus was full so 3 of us volunteered to ride with Dave in the Delius van that they use for catering. So after a great breakfast with Champagne we loaded ourselves into the van.

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride again. No AC in the van so we had to keep the windows down.  This was not bad because it had not warmed up yet.  But the van has front end problems so that became an interesting aspect to the ride. Dave did get better at the handling as the way wore on. Louise usually drives this van because she does all the catering.

Headed up 101 and got off at Kannan Road. (I'm thinking this is not the Malibu that I know). First stop was a tiny area called Cornell. I saw 3 buildings. The restaurant was loaded with bikers and the smell from the fire pits & smokers was heaven.  Might be worth the trip just to eat there. Next door  there was a building that used to be a storage building. This housed the wine store. Pressed tin ceiling tiles, open beams. A really beautiful, rustic place. We sat in the back on long wood tables that were varnished and stained to a real high gloss.  Gorgeous chandeliers hung over the tables  We had six wines. 5 from other areas that the owner sold in the store and one wine that he made himself. It was a red blend and quite good. No label on the bottle but he sold them anyway. 

After walking around the store, I found that he had quite a selection of central coast wines and prices were very good. Others must have through  the same as a lot of wine was bought from this establishment. I would consider stopping here on the way back from the central coast if I was early enough in the day. Or even a "road trip"

Next stop was a winery named Ciello. Outstanding view from the property but the wines sucked.

After negotiating the stop sign at the highway,  it took forever to turn because of the parade of cars and motorcycles. We headed down Kannan Dume Road to PCH and made our way towards the end of Malibu where the tasting room for Rosenthal Winery was. Small building but a nice outdoor area with tables and umbrellas. We set up for lunch. They had a serving area set up for us and a staff member that took care of our party himself. As we ate lunch he came around and poured the wine for us. 

Lunch this year had the same sandwiches we have had for years on this trip, Subs with either ham. turkey, beef or vegetarian. But we did have some different salads. A nice, spicy rice salad,  green beans in a curry dressing, ,macaroni salad, individual quiches, homemade potato ships. Dessert was two types of brownies. We had snacks during the trip so we were not a bit deprived of food.

My disappointment was not being able to go to the Rosenthal Estate. I do know they have events and wine tastings there all the time.  

I did well by not purchasing any wines. My goal this year is to drink more than I buy and reduce my cellar to a manageable size.

We got back to Signal Hill about 6:00 in the evening. Much shorter day than when we go to Santa Barbara area.  A  nice change.  Dave is already planning next years trip, Probably to Santa Barbara proper  There is an area called the "Funk Zone" which houses a lot of tasting rooms . There also are several wineries that have their barrel room facilities in that close proximity. The drive would be an hour shorter both ways if we did not go all the way into the Santa Ynez area.