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The
original Spanish land grant of the Rancho Topanga Malibu Sequit to Jose Tapia extended from the borders of modern day Santa
Monica for more than 25 miles to north of the current County Line. Ownership passed from the Tapia family, through Leon Prudhomme
to Matthew (Don Mateo)Keller and on to the Rindge family, during which time the property was a vast cattle ranch, but also
included some agriculture and even vineyards, probably in the Malibu and Corral Canyon areas. In the early 1900s the Rindges
successfully deflected Union Pacific from builing a railroad up the coast, that would have linked Los Angeles directly to
Ventura along the ocean, and would have changed forever the character of Malibu. This struggle, and the subsequent failure
to ward off the building of a road ( now Pacific Coast Highway) across the land, effectively exhausted the resources of the
Rancho, and following the death of Fred Rindge his widow May, was forced to sell off parcels of the ranch, leading to the
forming of the 'Colony'. Further subdivisions and sales continue to this day,and Malibu Coastal Vineyard is situated on a
25 acre parcel in the north western reaches of the Malibu Sequit part of the old ranch.
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Malibu
Coastal Vineyard is uniquely situated in Southern California, being so close to the ocean as to experience early morning fogs
almost daily, that serve to cool the vines in the summer and hold the moisture in the soil, yet preclude the occurrence of
even the slightest frost in the winter. The late morning typically clears as the wind direction switches to an offshore flow,
allowing the warm draughts from Nicholas Canyon to disperse any lingering ocean mist. Then, the lower south facing slopes
are ideally terraced to allow full exposure to the afternoon sun, before the onshore breezes of the early evening introduce
a new cooling trend. This unique micro-climate has some similarities to the classic Bourgogne region, where Pinot Noir grapes
produce the great 'Burgundies', leading to the selection of clone 667 Pinot Noir for Malibu Coastal Vineyard, along with a
token planting of Chardonnay.
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