Scenic Wine Tours Return To Malibu

MALIBU, CA — It’s been a rough year, but a glass of wine and some Malibu mountain and ocean views may be just what the doctor ordered.

Breweries, distilleries, and wineries were cleared to reopen in Los Angeles County on March 22, and some of Malibu’s famed vineyards are starting up their tours again.

One hidden gem that’s open for business is Malibu Wine Hikes, which takes visitors on guided tours of their roughly thousand-acre vineyard off Mulholland Highway while they partake in its bounty.

Malibu native Shane Semler got the idea to start the tours after observing his mother enjoying long walks around the vineyard with their dogs. “I thought that would be a great thing to allow people to come and do as well and enjoy the vineyards,” Semler told NBC4 News.

The company offers a few different types of “wine hikes,” all capped off by a bottle of home-grown wine: there’s the actual guided two-mile hike for $49 a person, which loops around the vineyard and shows visitors an organic farm, real Native American cave paintings, and picture-perfect views of the Santa Monica Mountains.

Visitors who want to let a 4x4 Jeep do all the hiking can rent one for a two-hour, $375-per vehicle tour that also takes visitors around the vineyard grounds and into the cave and farm. Starting in June, visitors will be able to tour SoCal style in an old VW van that will travel around the property and to three other local wineries, for $325. For the musically inclined, a $60 tour will conclude with an acoustic concert by Flight of the Voices, a musical collective devoted to providing music in magical spaces.

Tours usually include wine tastings, but those have been postponed due to COVID, and visitors are instead given a bottle to take home. Other COVID restrictions include mandatory mask wearing and six feet of distance.

For those who prefer wine tastings, Malibu Discovery also offers a number of wine tours around Malibu. The signature Malibu Wine Trail Tour is a six-hour, $199-per-person tour that travels to three wine tasting rooms, offers lunch with wine, goody bags with snacks and water, and scenic tours of Malibu’s coast and mountains.

The “Wine and Sightseeing Tour” is a 5.5-hour, $169-per-person tour that visits SIP Malibu Grapes Tasting Room, lunch and wine on the ocean, a goody bag, and a tour of Malibu that includes Point Dume and Paramount Ranch.

To enjoy time with that special someone, the “Twilight Wine and Dine” is a 4-hour, $199-tour that includes a three-course dinner with wine at either Duke’s Malibu or Sunset Restaurant, a tasting room visit, and a scenic drive.

For $179, the 5.5-hour Brunch and Wine Tour offers brunch with champagne, mimosa, or wine at Kristy’s Village Cafe, two tasting room visits, and a scenic, guided tour.

Art pairs well with wine on the $239 Getty Wine Tour, which includes a visit to the Getty Villa, lunch at Sunset Restaurant, a wine tasting at Rosenthal Wine Bar & Patio, and a ride along PCH.

To quote the famous Persian poet Rumi: “Either give me more wine, or leave me alone.”