Malibu Coast AVA

The history of wine in the Malibu Coast, California dates back to the early 1800s with the first documented vineyard planted by Jose Bartolome Tapia in 1824.  By the mid 1800’s Matthew Keller had purchased the Rancho Topanga Malibu Sequit and planted hundreds of acres of wine grapes in Solstice Canyon which he named the Rising Sun Vineyard.  The Malibu Coast AVA was established in 2014, encompassing the Saddle Rock-Malibu AVA and Malibu-Newton Canyon AVA.  The Malibu Coast soil conditions and climate are excellent for growing premium wine grapes.  Today there are more than fifty vineyards along the Malibu Coast.

The climate of the Malibu Coast AVA is a unique transition zone, influenced by the proximity of the Pacific Ocean and the Santa Monica Mountains, placing it under occasional ocean influence and occasional hilltop influence. The Santa Monica Mountains are adjacent to the Pacific coastal strip which is a climate made up of cold air and hilltops and includes a thermal belt. In this transitional area, weather is influenced by both marine and interior air. In these transitional areas, climate boundaries often move 20 miles in 24 hours with the movement of air masses.  The coastal strip has an ocean influence about 85% of the time, interior air rules only 15% of the time. The North side of the AVA has a 12-month frost free growing season.

The close proximity to the ocean dramatically influences the grape growing conditions in the AVA in two very notable ways: reflected light and increased humidity. The inland valleys, north of the Santa Monica Mountains (coastal hills) are very dry, especially during the afternoon in summer, when the relative humidity typically drops to 20% or 30% or lower, while the coastal areas are often affected by coastal fog and typically higher humidity 50% to 70% even on summer afternoons. The inland areas by distance and intervening mountains do not receive the additional reflected light. The heat summations, for the Malibu Coast American Viticultural Area, place it in a high Category II to low Category IV of Amerine and Winkler’s California Climatic Zones for wine-grape growing. Precipitation in the area is 12” to 16” near the coast and increases with elevation to 30” per year on some of the Santa Monica Mountain peaks.