May's Featured Corks & Caps
2008 SEMLER KING OF THE MOUNTAINS CUVEE
Malibu Family Wines has produced a limited release wine bearing the official 2010 Amgen Tour of California mark from grapes grown along the Amgen Tour of California route next to the King of the Mountains line. This proprietary red is an exquisite blend of Bordeaux and Rhone varietals representing the finest of the Semler Estate 2008 vintage. If you are extremely luck you could of had your bottles signed by Levi and Big George and had a great collector piece. We on the other hand just get to drink ours. Lucky us! Proceeds for this wine go to benefit stage 8 of the tour.
RACE DAY AT THE RANCH | Sunday, May 23. Time: 11am - 5pm
Not only are they the official wine of the AToC but are offering fans great place to hang out. Witness the battle for the beloved King of the Mountains Jersey and a deciding stage in the AToC in style with Malibu Family Wines. With the race passing through four exciting times you can spend the afternoon viewing the riders making their way up the famous Rock Store climb on our Jumbo-Tron and then walk out on Mulholland to experience the peloton live in front of your eyes. Where else could you be enjoying the race while sitting under the oaks sipping the King of the Mountains Cuvee? Food and wine available for purchase.
"We're in the backyard of Amgen," said Kevin Bening of Malibu Family Wines. "As the helicopters are floating above, you'll see our vineyards. It's really an amazing stage. They'll be doing four laps with 10,000 feet of vertical climbing."
The Wine
The KOM Cuvee red is a blend of Bordeaux and Rhone varietals grown on their Semler Estate and harvested in 2008. The KOM Cuvee is 65 percent cabernet sauvignon, 20 percent syrah, 10 percent grenache and 5 percent mourvedre. We actually tasted the Cuvee with some pizza out of all things and even though it was pizza, this wine is meant to go with food.
About The Vineyard
Nestled deep in Malibu's Santa Monica Mountains is the sprawling 1,000-acre Saddlerock Ranch, home to Malibu Family Wines. Visitors may recognize the vineyard and unusual rock formations from over 100 movies, commercials and television shows filmed here. The estate is also home to dozens of horses and exotic animals and a popular weekend setting for weddings and special events.
Today, our vineyards consist of approximately 60,000 vines on 65 acres, with expansion plans to reach 100,000 vines. With the high altitude and separation from the coast, along with an ideal blend of weather conditions and rich, rocky soil, it's the perfect environment for growing premium wine grapes.
The rich, fascinating history of Saddlerock Ranch began more than three centuries ago when the vast expanse of land surrounding the Santa Monica Mountains was part of the original Spanish Land Grant. The area of more than 200,000 acres was a perfect site for sheep and cattle, and up until the 1930's, was known as El Malibu. Local caves are filled with ancient pictographs painted by the Chumash Indians, dating back to the Portola Expedition of 1769. The beautiful pictographs of this culture have become very rare due to erosion and weathering, but some of the most well preserved examples remain on the ranch and have been studied by archeologists and photographed for books on the subject.
