California Part 2: Malibu

Last week, I posted the first installment of our trip to California, and today I'll be sharing the second part of this "series."

On our second day in California, we drove north up the Pacific Coast Highway to Malibu. I have to say that Malibu was my favorite place of all of the locations we saw. It was quintessential California: bright sun, rocky coast, crystal blue beaches, and surfers. 

We stopped at a national state preserve called Point Dume on the Malibu coast. In addition to being a beautiful landscape, this is actually the physical location of Tony Stark's house in the Iron Man films. The inside of his house were filmed elsewhere, while a 3D model was built and digitally imposed onto the cliff in post-production. It was pretty cool to see. Other fun facts? The 1968 Planet of the Apes had important beach scenes filmed on the beach in the picture above, and Vincent Price's ashes were put here... (thank you Wikipedia!). 

Luis and I walked out to one of the cliffs and listened to the mixture of surf and laughter coming from the beaches below. The only thing missing in that moment was that I didn't have a book with me! 

We finished the day by driving up into the Malibu hills and visiting a vineyard called Malibu Wines for a wine tasting. The vineyard had a lounge area situated in a courtyard with tables and places for you to settle in, sample some wine, and be with family and friends. 

Malibu Wines sold their own brands of wine, and the brand we decided to sample was called Semler Wines. Let me just tell you: this place changed my opinion about California wine... The types of California wine I've tasted back home were no where near as flavorful and robust as these.

So, we sampled their 2010 Sauvignon Blanc which had notes of pineapple, grapefruit, honeydew, and orange. It was incredibly smooth and the flavors mingled perfectly. (We definitely left with a bottle of this stuff!) Next up was a 2009 Malbec that featured blackberry, violet, vanilla bean, and boysenberry. This was more aromatic that the previous wine we tasted. The third wine was a 2009 Syrah made of 100% estate grown grapes. It also had a hint of cherries. Honestly, this was my least favorite of the four we tasted. It had too much of a bold finish for me. The last wine was a real showstopper. At $70 a bottle, their 2007 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon was full of vanilla, licorice, dark chocolate, currants, and spice. Despite being a more heavy wine, it had an surprisingly smooth finish. It was altogether a lovely experience!

Vacation is such a fresh-start. For a short time, the rush and stress and to-do's of your everyday life stop and make way for the completely new. Everyone needs those moments. 

Stay tuned for more!