Inside SoCal: Vines in the City (3/10)

Hi, I'm Erica Olson, and welcome to Inside SoCal. 200 years ago, Los Angeles looked a lot different. In fact, it looked a lot like this. Before all of the cement, there were vineyards everywhere. And while that's no longer the case, there is one that still exists right under our noses here in the city. Los Angeles is full of hidden gems that are so often steeped in history, like this residential home in Bel Air. Once owned by Victor Fleming, director of Gone with the Wind and Wizard of Oz, it was purchased by businessman Tom Jones, who, inspired by his travels to Bordeaux, decided to plant grapevines. And so then we made wine. The first commercial vintage was in 1990, and then the first white wine was released in 2000. And so that began a new, a revitalization in the agricultural history in LA. Now owned by Rupert Murdoch, who is committed to continuing Jones' vision of creating exceptional wine. What I find fascinating is that Moraga Bel Air Winery is right under our noses here in the city, and so many people don't know about it. Why is that? Moraga Vineyards, from its inception, it was more something for the neighbors and for friends of Tom Jones and his hope of being the coolest guy on the block. Sounds like he probably was. Vineyards weren't always so rare in Los Angeles. In fact, LA was the original wine country of California, according to author Judith Gerber, who co-wrote the book, From Cows to Concrete. So all those areas along the LA River, there was at least maybe at one point, 20 to some wineries and wine growers there. Now Alvera Street originally was called Wine Street. So you would go to that area in downtown LA and there would be nothing there except wine and citrus, and maybe a few other crops. Wine grapes were so important to the city of Los Angeles that one of the first city seal that they used to sign documents with was just a cluster of wine grapes. What does it take to sustain a property like this when you're contending with a residential neighbor? Being a good neighbor. I decided to bring sheep in to clear our cover crop. So Paul tapped Ventura Brush Goats to bring in a herd of sheep to clear the cover crop happily and quietly. I couldn't philosophically allow my workers to spend six weeks clearing the cover crop with a weed whacker. It's noise pollution. No one wants to hear that. I don't like to hear it in my own neighborhood. So how many sheep are actually on the property and how long have they been here? We have 300 sheep on the property and they've been here, today is 11 days, and they'll be leaving tomorrow. And how much have they cleared? Nearly nine acres. I like your office. Oh my goodness, this is so cool. So we're gonna take some wine, sample some wine if that's okay. Yes. Now that I've seen it growing out in this beautiful property, I wanna see what you're producing. So while this wine is 100% Sauvignon Blanc, we call it a white wine here at Merlaga because we were originally modeled after a Bordeaux house. And so we have a single white wine and a single red wine. I love the simplicity of that. Yes, the aromatics of it are just incredible. This might be the best smelling white wine. This is really something. Was there anything that you learned through your research that you put into the book that surprised you about vineyards or winemaking in Los Angeles? I was surprised at how respected the quality of the wine was at the time and how they're still producing and being a native Angelina, which is also another rarity here, it's really kind of a source of pride, right? I had read a quote that when Rupert Murdoch bought the property from Mr. Jones, one of his statements was that whether you build it or you buy it, it's up to you to preserve it and be a good steward of it. How is Moraga being a good steward to the land? We are preserving the history and commitment to making some of the best wine in California that we can. We're trying to improve upon it in some ways, like bringing the sheep in and continuing it for future generations. Well, that's a wrap for us. I'm Erica Olson for Inside SoCal. Have a great Sunday. Cheers. Inside SoCal is presented by Dignity Health. Hello, human kindness.