LA’s largest wine estate on sale for $12.8m

The biggest “vine to wine” estate in Los Angeles, complete with an animal rescue ranch, 80-acre vineyard and winery, has been put on the market for US$12.8m.

Located 35 miles northeast of the city of LA in Santa Clarita, the Agua Dulce Estate comprises an 80-acre vineyard, five-bed Colonial-style home, winemaking facilities that currently produce 10 different wines, a tasting room, mountain vistas and an animal rescue ranch.

While Napa, Sonoma and Santa Barbara are more typically coveted by Californian winemakers, Agua Dulce is unique due to its size and proximity to the city.

Its owner, businessman Barry Goldfarb, told the Hollywood Reporter that he’s selling the property simply because it was time to move on.

“I am 70 years old, and I have been in the wine business for 25 years,” he said. “I am trying to take it easy and travel more.”

Establishing Agua Dulce in 2001, Goldfarb imported 75 acres of mature two-year-old vines from Italy, oak barrels from Hungary and France and installed a sophisticated irrigation system to battle the region’s desert heat.

It now has the capacity to produce 25,000 cases of wine annually, with grapes planted including Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Chardonnay, Zinfandel and Merlot.