I don’t care how rich you are…you can’t grow decent wine in LA. Besides, there are too many other reasons to not even try. The idea already failed 100 years ago when Southern California was the state’s wine center. Most of the planting was northeast of the city in the high desert. Prohibition shut down the locals and the state’s wine capital moved to north to the Central Valley, Sonoma, and Napa. SoCal never recovered…until now.
There are 150 new acres planted to vinifera in the Santa Monica Mountains representing 50 vineyards. Do the math…these are small plots. Who are these mad vintners? Growing vines and making wine is not like putting in a pool with a slide. Acreage under 5 acres makes it very hard to turn a profit since 1 acre will yield only 75 cases of wine. Undeveloped land in Santa Monica Mountains makes developers drool. Planting vineyards where they see condos or gated McMansion “communities” must drive them nuts. Be serious. (more…)