Musician, Real Estate Developer, Winemaker — Elliott Dolin Has Led Three Lives
Thus far, Malibu winegrower Elliott Dolin has lived three lives — all of them quite different, and all of them successful.
When he and Lynn purchased their current home, Dolin entered the third phase of his life: being a serious wine producer. The mansion was a multi-year fixer-upper project sited on a plateau above the beaches of Malibu, with a spectacular view of the Pacific, about a mile away. It came with an acre of land too steep to be part of the lawn, which sloped downward toward a canyon. As it faced south, Dolin decided it would be a great place to plant grapes. The first vintage of Dolin estate chardonnay was bottled in 2009, and it wasn’t long before his wines were winning awards in statewide competitions.
Eight years later, Dolin’s winery has grown from its initial 105 cases of barrel-fermented chardonnay to about 2,000 cases of chardonnay and pinot noir made from grapes sourced from the estate and other vineyards in the quickly expanding Malibu appellation, as well as from other prime Central Coast properties. Although Dolin is involved in all phases of production, Kirby Anderson is the winemaker of record, working out of a custom crush facility in Paso Robles. The wines have good distribution in California and are expanding into other states. Several prominent restaurants on the coast now have Dolin wines on their lists.
Of course, Dolin is not the first musician to be lured into winemaking; there is a large, illustrious group of former record producers, singers, and pickers who own or are partners in wineries. What’s the attraction? “I’m not sure,” Dolin says, “although musicians are certainly creative, and we seem to have a passion for whatever we do.”
But he hasn’t totally abandoned his previous existences. Dolin still is involved in real estate sales and still occasionally picks up the bass. “I sit in with bands from time to time when I go to clubs,” he says, “and sometimes a few guys and I will get together to play.” Would he be tempted to make one last stand, going on the road again if the right gig came up? “Yeah,” he says, without pausing. “I think I would like to do that.”
