The setting could not be more idyllic had it been designed by Universal Studios: lemony sunshine, the Santa Monica mountains beyond, a lonesome wisp of cloud making only a cameo in cerulean California skies. Cached on a quiet palm-and-manor-trimmed street in Bel Air -- the luxe L.A. neighbourhood -- Moraga Vineyards (so named because it is in the Moraga canyon) stretches improbably over 16 acres of steep hillsides, claiming some of the world's priciest real estate.
Moraga Vineyard's well-pampered residents (grapes) loll about in more SoCal sunshine than the bathing beauties at Hollywood's Roosevelt Hotel. But as proprietor Tom Jones notes: "A grape doesn't know its address: It's about the way the breeze comes in and the sun shines." What's most startling about this secret garden is precisely that: its secrecy. (This city and its people are not generally known for their discretion.) And Moraga remains unknown even to native Los Angelenos. Jones protects the privacy of his grapes like a bodyguard does a starlet.
Now 87, Jones is a retired aeronautical engineer and the former CEO of Northrop Corp. He's tall and trim, wears well-pressed chinos and a button-down, and has the tidy elegance and gentlemanly dash of an old-Hollywood screen idol.
"This is the way California used to be," he says of this lush sweep of Bel Air bacchanalia, populated with wild roses, sycamores, a family of golden eagles, and animated only by the sound of soft, leaf-ruffling winds. Jones bought the property in the late '50s when it was a horse ranch owned by Victor Fleming, who directed Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz. (Fleming's wooden stables are still intact, and now house Moraga's offices.) The place still beguiles with the mystique of a more rugged, long-gone, horse-trammelled California of agriculture and big skies. "I was born and raised in Pomona, and [my wife and I] bought this property because it reminded us of an old California."
Jones later realized that the soil in the canyon was identical to the soil in Bordeaux: Underfoot there is calcareous sandstone, a layer of marine fossils (the Los Angeles Basin was once submerged under the Pacific) and 40-foot-deep gravel beds ideal for sauvignon blanc.
Moraga also boasts a microclimate (more rain, chillier nights) that is distinct from the surrounding city and perfectly vine-friendly. Jones resolved to plant grapes in 1978: "It was just an experiment. The cost of farming on these hills is so steep. We had no intention of being commercial," he says. But his wine was fast praised for its depth and complexity, said to resemble a top-flight Bordeaux, and made its way to the world's finest tables (Alain Ducasse's three-starred Paris restaurant). When Jacques Chirac dined at Ducasse, he reportedly sampled Moraga, asking the waiter after an enchanted sip: "Is this Bordeaux?" (Today, Moraga vintages also star on wine lists at such decadent dining rooms as Hotel Bel-Air's restaurant and New York City's The Modern.)
It wasn't until 2005 that Jones determined to build a winery. He acquired the approval (and signatures) of 106 Bel Air neighbours before approaching the authorities. "We're very good neighbours," he says. "The grapes are quiet." Hiring 20 miners from Nevada to dig up the wine cave, Jones's winery is now the first in Los Angeles since Prohibition in 1920.
Walking through Moraga, steeped in sunshine and silence, you can spot the white silhouette of the Getty Museum perched high across the canyon -- the only reminder that you're in the midst of a smog-cloaked mega-city. Rodeo Drive is 15 minutes away. "If you're a bird, the Hotel Bel-Air is a mile away," says Jones, preferring to consider the distance for a sparrow, than for, say, an SUV. (For the non-winged: The hotel is a 10-minute drive down lush, coiling roads.)
There are no formal tours but if you drop around for a tasting -- even better if you buy a bottle or two -- Jones or a staff member will be happy to show you around.
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IF YOU GO
Hotel Bel-Air, like Moraga, is redolent of a grander old-world Hollywood. An oval-shaped pool (once an equestrian arena) is well-ornamented with visiting starlets; petal-drizzled pathways ribbon their way through gardens so fragrant that Jo Malone crafted a scent (Orange Blossom) after them; guest rooms (each one of a kind) cosset with wood-burning fireplaces, Spanish marble and languor-inducing Italian linens. 701 Stone Canyon Rd.; 310-472-5234, hotelbelair.com - For more information on Moraga Vineyards, visit moragavineyards.com
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service
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