Fancy buying a Bel Air vineyard?

The affluent LA neighbourhood might be better known for fresh princes and Mercedes G-wagons, but an unusual property has come on the market that is piquing winemakers’ interest.

Before the likes of Napa and Sonoma shot to fame, Los Angeles was California’s original wine hub. However, urbanisation in the early 1900s drastically reduced wine production there, and while a smattering of wineries have remained in the city such as San Antonio Winery, in operation since 1917, and the Angeleno Wine Co, Los Angeles viticulture has largely spread out to Malibu or the High Desert areas of the Sierra Pelona Valley and Antelope Valley.

So when a rare gem appeared on the market, a luxury property complete with vineyard in one of Los Angeles’s best-known neighbourhoods, ears pricked up.

Dotted with vines

With a suggested sale price of US$12 million, the residential home on Moraga Drive, Bel Air, stands on a 1.89-acre lot that extends up a hillside dotted with vines.

Owners Barry and Donna Goldfarb decided to add a vineyard when they bought the property, initially purely for aesthetic reasons.

“My parents planted it in the mid-90s on a whim because they love to travel to the South of France and love the beauty and aesthetics of a vineyard,” their son, Mike Goldfarb, told Mansion Global. “They thought, ‘Wouldn’t it look really nice to plant some vines on this hillside?’ without having any experience in the wine industry.”

The Goldfarbs eventually ended up becoming prominent figures in the wine business, acquiring several wineries and vineyards around Southern California, including Agua Dulce Winery, a 90-acre boutique winery which makes Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese blends, and the Oreana Winery in Paso Robles.

When Agua Dulce was put on the market a few years ago it came with access to nearly 4,000 wine club subscription members amassed by the Goldbergs, as well as the opportunity to take on the existing business—which had an annual revenue in the low seven figures, according to Robb Report.

As for the Bel Air vineyard, it is planted with Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc, and Mike Goldfarb said there are “many local facilities that the new owners can work with to produce wine from the grapes.”

Storybook wine cellar

According to the property listing the mansion has six bedrooms and 10 bathrooms, a swimming pool, koi carp pond, tennis court and sauna.

But of most interest to vintners, apart from the vineyard, is a “storybook” wine cellar described as having “Game of Thrones vibes”. Featuring a long medieval-style dining table and a ‘wet bar’, the cellar boasts hundreds of bottles enclosed in its walls.

Barry Goldfarb, a businessman who sold his start-up company to fund his wine business, once described the Los Angeles wine scene as “like Napa, only six hours closer” and “an area with the perfect combination of climate and soil to grow exceptional grapes.”

 

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