Newport Beach Vineyards & Winery

This is not your white-tablecloth winery. It is a stubborn little estate tucked into Newport Beach that smells of sage, sunbaked earth and fermenting grapes. The wine cave is low, cool and mildly theatrical; people drift in with a glass and a grin. Expect hand-thrown hospitality, garden produce plated without pretense and a roasted vegetable plate that tastes like a verb. Staff trade jokes with visitors, and corporate suits quickly learn to laugh or leave. The property is cluttered with eclectic objects, playful curios and the occasional oddity that makes you squint and then smile. Nights carry the soft clink of glasses and the distant hush of the bay. Go for the picture of a working vineyard inside a beach town, stay for the wine served on paper plates, and pay attention to the sports car bolted to the owner's wall.