Nestled in Hidden Hills is the beautiful Hidden Hills Manor and Vineyard. Home to Wish Vineyards, this estate has recently gone on the market and is available for all winery-hopefuls to finally make their dreams come true.

Perched atop a privately gated 1.5-acre knoll, an impressive motor court welcomes you to this distinctive 8 bedroom, 10 bathroom estate compound.

A grand 2-story foyer & main hall open to an array of dramatic public living areas warmed by numerous fireplaces and adorned with custom millwork & gleaming wood floors. The professional chef's kitchen boasts top-of-the-line appliances, a center island & a sunlit breakfast room. The adjacent great room adorned with rich wood paneling, custom fireplace, beamed ceiling detail & impressive entertainers bar is the heart of this home. Two en-suite guest bedrooms and a handsome library complete the main living floor. The upper level features an elegant primary suite plus 3 additional secondary en-suite bedrooms.

But the crown jewel of the property is, of course, the vineyard that comes with the land. Today, Haute Residence sat down with the current owner and seller of Wish Vineyards and the property to learn more about what goes into owning a vineyard and the lifestyle associated with it.

Photo Credit: Luxury Level

HR: What would you say is the lifestyle associated with owning a vineyard?

Owner: Well, you soon learn the lifestyle is two-fold. First, there’s the idyllic setting, the joy of producing a great vintage, and the fun of sharing it with your friends and family, and then secondly you realize that you are becoming a farmer of sorts. You get in touch with the seasons and nature and the grapes and you develop a feel for your land. The end product is a result of your attention to the flora and fauna surrounding your home.

HR: If you sell the estate is the business side included such as the branding of the Wish vineyard, social media, trademark, etc.?

Owner: Yes, and it's up for discussion because first of all there are two things: the technical side of it is that Wish has the licenses and licenses have to be approved and there's paperwork that goes with that side of it. But more importantly, I think is the idea that the branding is personal to us, each person that owns a vineyard picks their own brand. If they fall in love with the Wish logo and trademark and social media that's great and I'd be happy to sell that along with it, but I would think that whoever buys the vineyard would want to establish their own brand. It’s more of a buyer’s choice. 

HR: How much and what kinds of wine are produced per year.

Owner: The vineyard has a capacity for about 300 cases a year. Sometimes we reduce something or depending on quality we’ll make a different call. We have Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and we primarily do a Meritage blend. And each year we determine what type of wine will be made depending on what the grapes tell us.

Photo Credit: Luxury Level

HR: Who does the vineyard harvesting and maintenance?

Owner: We have a contracted vineyard crew that maintains the vineyard and harvests the grapes.

HR: So the buyer could continue with the contract?

Owner: Yes, they’ve been there several years they know the run of the vineyard it’s not like whoever buys it is going to have to go out there and start trimming vines.

HR: Does it has an AVA (American Viticultural Area) compliant designation

Owner: yes we are actually members of the Malibu AVA and the Meritage society which allows us to use the Meritage marker on our bottle. And Meritage is a trademark that denotes a Bordeaux blend because we have Bordeaux grapes. 

HR: Are there any tax benefits?

Owner: Well yes, Wish Vineyards is an LLC so the expenses are deductible through the LLC you have to make sales to be able to offset expenses

Photo Credit: Luxury Level

HR: Why do you think someone would want to own a vineyard

Owner: Other than the glamour *laughs*, well in addition to the lifestyle answer above, the wine community is an all-encompassing group of people. We've met winemakers on 6 different continents that share similar and some divergent stories to our own. A vineyard becomes a part of your family, like another child you watch it develop from year to year. As the vineyard has matured, we have also grown as grape growers and winemakers; our wines have taken on characteristics of our own makings and preferences. 

HR: What advice would you give for someone who will own it in the future?

Owner: To embrace the vineyard and have it become a part of who you are. You connect yourself to the vineyard, you feel what it needs, it helps drive decisions you make about your life, your travel, your growth, and knowledge. You expand your circles in ways related to wine, educating yourself about wine lifestyles around the world. I would advise new owners to jump in wholeheartedly and look at the vineyard as an old friend who will be there for the long run. 

For more information on the listing, click here.

For more information on Wish Vineyards, please visit their website here.

The post A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes…. At Wish Vineyards! appeared first on Haute Residence by Haute Living.

The creative and engineering teams at wine space designers, CellArt, have decided to challenge space rather than leave space to challenge them. Whether you are looking to show off your collection or keep it hidden from envious eyes, CellArt has found impressive solutions in even the tiniest of places.

Each small wine space project is unique, but perfection is always found at the intersection of aesthetic alignment, capacity and performance. Where a long corridor can be a lost space, CellArt imagines sliding drawers combined with retro-lit niches to hold ancient bottles of whiskey. Where there is the sharp corner of a room, it is replaced with a recessed spirit bar of snowdrop white lacquered wood. Where we see a bare wall, they create an art piece that becomes the central feature of the room and subtly changes as bottles are added or taken away. A revolving door, an Aladdin's Cave, or a hidden panel, each piece is bespoke and completely integrated into its surroundings.

Photo Credit: CellArt

Imagine the elegant symmetry of a living room in a Haussmanian apartment in the heart of Paris. To preserve the beauty of the room, CellArt played with old techniques of hiding precious items behind innocent looking library walls. Slide the bookcase out to reveal your rare vintages perfectly preserved with invisible refrigeration systems and hardware paired with discreet extra clear thermal glass. Remarkable engineering allows this wine shelf to delicately float out of the wall and hover above the floor whilst holding the weight of 196 bottles. We've watched this scene dozens of times in the movies but, until now,  never truly brought to life.

Photo Credit: CellArt

With each project designed to fit seamlessly into its environment, no two wine spaces are the same. Colors can be matched to existing interior decor, a favourite car, or a brick of lego - there are no limits. Here, the British racing green of the client's favorite vintage DB5 convertible combines with pure solid English Oak to create both a modern and classic feel.

Photo Credit: CellArt

A sequence of portrait and landscape armoires for accessories play with the geometry of the herringbone floor and provide depth and perspective to what was once an empty corridor. One drawer for reds, one drawer for whites, one drawer for champagnes. All perfectly sealed with independently cooled zones.

Photo Credit: CellArt

For a true feat of engineering, how about a steel slide-out wall storage cabinet which emerges from a hidden wall compartment on hydraulics carrying up to an incredible 39 chilled magnums?

“Working with small spaces presents us with an opportunity to put our design and engineering skills to the test. They allow us to think outside the box and creatively go where we have previously perceived there to be boundaries.” says Jonathan Primeau, Founder of CellArt, “We are pushed to totally rethink how we protect the wine from influences that hasten its deterioration, whilst preserving and adding to the art and richness of the space.”

Often, the smaller the space the greater its importance and value. Each bespoke CellArt creation is not only a masterpiece in luxury, but a respectful homage to its surroundings and an experience that gradually reveals itself over time. And while many of us may have chosen the buzz of urban life over space, for CellArt, it’s this very lack of space that allows them to grow.

The post Extraordinary Wine Spaces For Urban Living Courtesy Of CellArt appeared first on Haute Residence by Haute Living.

Two very different record-breaking paintings topped the art market and news.

Photo credit: Sotheby’s

Untitled by Jean-Michel Basquiat sold to the Japanese collector Yusaku Maezawa for $110.5 million (Sotheby’s), setting  a new record for an American artist.

Photo credit Christie’s

Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi sold at Christie’s auction for $450 million. Despite the fact that some experts criticized its condition and others doubted its authenticity, it crushed the previous world record set by Picasso’s Women of Algiers in 2015 at $179 million.

Although those are extreme examples, the entire art market proved very strong, driven by post-war and contemporary art.

Wine, the 2016’s top-performing asset class, rose 11% in 2017, compared with  24% in 2016. It is now the second place asset class after art. Much of the demand for wine comes from Asia. Burgundy markets increased the most, at 16.5% though many wine regions were hit hard due to frost damage (some production down as much 70% in volume).

Photo credit: RM Sotheby's

Classic cars, a consistently strong asset class, saw record-breaking sales. The top seller was a 1956 Aston Martin DBR1, raced by legendary Stirling Moss, at a RM Sotheby’s auction for $22.5 million. It was the most expensive British car ever sold. Some other notable sales were a 1995 McLaren F1 sold through Bonhams for $15.6 million and a 1959 Ferrari 250GT California Spider LWB that sold for $18 million.

Photo credit: Sotheby's

In other asset classes, Hong Kong jeweler Chow Tai Fook paid $71.2 million for “the Pink Star,” a 59.6-carat vivid pink diamond. A a 1,000-year-old Ru guanyo ceramic brush-washing bowl sold for $40 million. And a rare set of four 16th- or 17th-century Chinese huanghuali folding chairs, sold for almost $7.5 million.

To read the full report, click here.

The post Report: Art Is The Top Performing Asset Class Of 2017 appeared first on Haute Residence by Haute Living.

Choose the Right Space

A wine cellar doesn't need to be immensely spacious, as bottles are typically stacked vertically in custom cabinetry. However, the space should be located in an area that doesn't see any natural light, as light rays can penetrate the glass of wine bottles, changing the chemical makeup of your wine. This is one of the reasons why basements often make for fantastic wine cellars.

Order a Custom Design

Some people prefer wine cellars to be small and efficient, while others gravitate toward more elaborate designs that include spaces for additional decor. Many homeowners choose to intersperse their wine shelves with granite countertops on which to display bottles, books and art. Since every wine cellar is unique in terms of its square footage and layout, you'll want to collaborate with a designer who has experience creating custom cellars.

The wine cellar at 11222 Chalon Road, Los Angeles, CA 90049 (Image courtesy of Joyce Rey)

Think About Your Door

While glass doors on wine cellars can be impressive (they give you a chance to showcase your collection to guests), think carefully about the door you attach to your cellar. Glass doors should be thick and (at least 10 millimeters) have a quality seal around their frame.

Regulate Temperature and Humidity

A good wine cellar regulator unit will control not only the temperature of your cellar, but also the humidity. The going numbers tend to be 55 degrees with 70 percent humidity. An air conditioner and humidifier will not work, as they only kick in once temperatures and humidity levels drop or rise away from a certain point. A professional-grade wine cellar cooling unit is a must.

Add Lighting

Finally, if it matches your style, add some pizzazz to your cellar with recessed lighting and perhaps a chandelier. Not only do these touches set the space apart, they make it extra pleasant for you to enjoy while selecting your next bottle of vino. Cheers!

Top image of the wine cellar at  357 West 17th Street, Chelsea, Manhattan, NY 10011 (courtesy of Tomer Fridman)

The post What You Need To Know Before Installing A Wine Cellar appeared first on Haute Residence by Haute Living.

Stop making the same mistakes every holiday party and get a wine decanter. This one, from British designer Tom Dixon, is a sleek, modern model that aerates and decants wine to its perfect taste. Not to mention, having a modern looking decanter is a great conversation piece, and looks great with anything in it year round. For the gift set of the decanter, that comes with the two glasses, is only $180. The smoky silhouettes in the design and gradient of color from black to clear glass also give a uniquely organic vibe to such a modern looking design, making it perfect for any home. Not to mention, wine bottles are always hard to pour with the weight unevenly distributed throughout the bottle. With the decanters even handle and wide spout on top, it's perfect to grip at the head and pour without worrying about splattering the rug.

While the holiday season may be filled with cozy sweaters, and organic, warm, traditional design pieces, this decanter can cut through it all and be the conversation piece of the night, while still blending into the holiday spirit.

Check out more at tomdixon.net.

The post Lust Have: This Wine Decanter Makes Every Holiday Party Better appeared first on Haute Residence by Haute Living.