When it comes to wine-tasting, many wine drinkers' knee-jerk reactions are to visit Napa Valley, Sonoma, or somewhere on the Central Coast. While these are highly worthy spots, some southern California residents might not be aware of closer options. A bit of a newcomer on the block is Malibu. Yes, that's right, as in PCH, the beach, Bay Watch, locations of many of Hollywood's films and TV -- yes, that Malibu.

The first vineyard planted post-prohibition was from George Rosenthal in 1987. Rosenthal later went on to be the first to establish an AVA within Malibu called Newton Canyon ...