‘American Idol’ producers spent years building a vineyard. Now, they want to sell

Ken Warwick and Nigel Lythgoe have been exhausted.

The 2 “American Idol” producers had simply wrapped up a stint in San Francisco, the final cease of a nationwide tour for the present’s second season that noticed them audition greater than 40,000 hopeful singers. Fairly than flying again to Los Angeles, they opted for the scenic route and drove down Pacific Coast Freeway, stopping in Paso Robles alongside the way in which.

There, they hatched an thought with the present’s different massive names — host Ryan Seacrest, choose Simon Cowell and creator Simon Fuller — to purchase a winery. The opposite three finally dropped out, however after a couple of years of scouting, Warwick and Lythgoe purchased a 164-acre unfold for $5 million in 2005.

The duo spent the subsequent 5 years making a Tuscan-style winery referred to as Villa San-Juliette. Now, they’re trying to promote the fruits of their labor for $22 million.

“Our information of the wine-making course of at the moment was actually not what it wanted to be,” Warwick mentioned. “However with our prolonged expertise of aesthetics and set design from our 50 years within the TV enterprise, we have been very adamant concerning the type of the buildings and the ambiance we needed to create.”

Bringing a slice of Italy to the Central Coast, they razed the prevailing dwelling on the property and constructed Tuscan-inspired buildings for internet hosting wine-tasting guests and staging occasions surrounded by sprawling lawns and gardens. Warwick and Lythgoe additionally added a pair of three-bedroom villas that mirror one another on every finish of the property.

“I instantly felt like I used to be transported to Italy after I first arrived,” mentioned Rodeo Realty agent Brianna Deutsch, declaring highlights equivalent to a centerpiece fountain and California Oak tree that anchor the compound.

For the wine, the producers changed 80% of the vines and grew smaller batches of grapes that age in French and American barrels.

Though challenges included water provide, the various market worth of grapes and being on the every day mercy of the climate, the winery has grown to provide 12 varietals and as much as 30,000 circumstances of wine a 12 months, Warwick mentioned .

Among the many occasions the place has hosted this 12 months are 41 weddings, Warwick mentioned. The homeowners are promoting as a result of they’re getting older and need to journey extra.

“Coming from a small cobblestoned yard with an outdoor bathroom in Liverpool’s Merseyside, the romance of proudly owning a winery in California is a dream come true,” Lythgoe mentioned.

“We’ll depart with a heavy coronary heart however a fantastic reminiscence,” Warwick mentioned.

It’s uncommon {that a} wine operation of this magnitude surfaces on the market, however in California’s luxurious market, a winery can typically come as a bonus amenity — similar as a swimming pool or basketball court docket. Celebrities equivalent to Robert Redford and Emilio Estevez have owned properties with vineyards, and final 12 months, hotelier George Rosenthal provided an 180-acre unfold with a ten,000-vine winery on the market at $38 million in Malibu.

Along with “American Idol,” Warwick has produced a number of actuality competitors exhibits equivalent to “Pop Idol,”’ “Gladiators” and “America’s Received Expertise.”

Lythgoe additionally produced “Pop Idol” earlier than creating and judging the competitors present “So You Suppose You Can Dance,” which just lately wrapped up its seventeenth season on Fox.

Deutsch and Paul Margolis of Rodeo Realty maintain the itemizing.