Sometimes the best remedy on a gloomy Sunday morning in Santa Barbara is to go for a drive… After months of wondering about and hemming and hawing over checking out the wineries in the hills above Malibu, it suddenly seemed like the perfect destination. Even better, as soon as we got to Ventura we found the sun! We obviously made the right decision.

Cornell Winery & Tasting Room, Malibu, California

Just down the road from Malibu Winery is the rustic and charming Cornell Winery & Tasting Room. Cornell Winery’s motto is “Drink Local Wine” and though they don’t make any wine themselves, they pour and sell a wide variety of wines produced right in their backyard. Everything about Cornell Tasting Room was a delight – the host had a wealth of information about every wine that she poured, giving us insight about the location of the wine, the history behind it, and every single last interesting detail. The four wines on the list were outstanding, and we couldn’t resist buying a bottle of a Gioia Dax Ryder red blend that we immediately came home to drink and haven’t stopped talking about since.