The Tasting Panel magazine

December 2012

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HOT PROPERTY Haus STONEHAUS AT THE WESTLAKE VILLAGE INN IS AN IDEA THAT���S COME TO LIFE by Anthony Head / photos by Jeremy Ball G rapevines are nothing unique for California. From north of Napa to south of San Diego, the state just keeps on developing myriad stretches of wine country. But in Westlake Village, located about a half hour north of Los Angeles���gateway to California���s wine country���there is a rather unique vineyard growing at the corner of Agoura Road and Lakeview Canyon. For several years this urban vineyard has marked the edge of the Westlake Village Inn���s picturesque 17-acre property; but now they���re helping create the appropriate atmosphere for the Inn���s newest feature, Stonehaus. More than a Wine Bar Resembling a Tuscan farmhouse, Stonehaus is a 3300-squarefoot gourmet coffee and wine bar that opened in mid-October. In the mornings, fresh-roasted coffees are served along with housemade-baked breads, pastries and other breakfast items. Each afternoon, as Stonehaus begins its transition into an enoteca, there are salads, sandwiches, cheese plates and charcuterie prepared by Chef Lisa Biondi, from the Inn���s ine-dining restaurant, Mediterraneo, located next door. But there can be no doubt���from the walls of wine bottles and the stacks of barrels to those vines right outside���that Stonehaus was built especially for wine lovers. Hotel owner John Notter lived among grapes and wines, growing up in Zurich. ���My parents owned vineyards in Switzerland, and my family consisted of bakers and chefs. That was my life. I even put myself through college by waiting tables.��� The irst harvest of the vineyards on the property at The Westlake Village Inn are bottled for Stonehaus private label wines. december 2012 / the tasting panel / 71

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