I hate to stereotype (in a good way) but this is just such a Southern California thing to do: Driving around in an open-air safari vehicle watching (and even feeding) some exotic animals…while wine tasting, of course (because it’s California, what else do you do?). Just 30 minutes outside of Los Angeles, I got to partake in the Malibu Wine Safari in the beautiful hills of, you guessed it, Malibu. Just the hills themselves were extremely green and lush because of the rainfall Southern California has gotten this season (I think we are official out of a drought). So, if you don’t go for the wine or the animals, the scenery alone is worth it.
We started our tour with an introduction by our guide Brian and our driver Joseph. It was raining at the time but that didn’t spoil our fun They kindly provided us with rain ponchos which really added to the adventure! We set off to explore the 1100-acre Saddlerock Ranch and Vineyard driving through areas with their grapes (of course, you are tasting wines from grapes grown on the property) and avocados. We did make stops though …….
I need to make a point before I tell you more general things. You might think the wine was the star of the tour, but it was actually a retired actor named Stanley. You see, he is a Reticulated Giraffe found in Northern Kenya and they are actually an endangered species today with only less than 10,000 remaining in the world. Giraffe actors have to retire after reaching 12 feet and since Stanley is 17 feet, he had to retire. He was rescued and now lives here permanently. Stanley eats 70 pounds of food a day. I have to say Stanley was just beautiful and incredibly friendly and of course, he wanted all the lettuce leaves I had. It was such fun feeding him. This was actually our last stop on the tour, as they had to save the highlight for last!
We made our actual first stop in a lovely outside setting. It’s so charming that this area is rented out as an outdoor wedding venue – I could see this being a gorgeous site for nuptials!
We sampled three white wines: Sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, and a dry Riesling. The Riesling was my favorite – crisp and clean – not too sweet like some.
After our first stop, we boarded our vehicle and went on to go visit with and feed more animals like zebras and goats. Before I go any further, I want to point out that all of the exotic animals are rescue animals and not brought here on purpose out of their natural element, which I really appreciated.
Yaks, bison, alpacas, llamas, and donkeys ….
And an animal I fell in love with while traveling in Scotland, the Scottish Highland cow. These animals are enormous but so beautiful and I was only able to see them in Scotland but certainly not feed them like I did on this day! Check out the size of this one’s tongue!
Our next stop was at a cute rustic-looking area that serves as a farm-to-table outdoor restaurant during the late spring and summer months. You can see the heavy mud from the rain in the photo, but it didn’t damper the fun. We snacked on crackers and delicious tapenade spreads. We tasted three red wines here – pinot noir, a light cabernet sauvignon, and a merlot. My favorite was the Kendrick Llama Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 (the name and the label just happen to be fantastic which was a bonus!)
This was such a fun day and I highly recommend doing this! The area scenery is a beautiful setting as you relax while sampling wine and have fun feeding friendly animals – seriously, who gets to feed a giraffe in Southern California?
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