Winery Tasting: Rosenblum

The above picture has nothing to do with the below post, although it's good to be back in the metro area. I took it last night with the better half at a fundraiser for the local art museum. I just wanted to post a picture.

I was on the West Coast this week for business, something I've been doing on a more regular basis lately. When in the Bay Area, I try to squeeze in a winery tour, tasting or at least a nice dinner with a good bottle of wine. It is always an opportunity to try wines I will never see in New York City or the surrounding area and a nice diversion to being on the road.

This trip, with my meetings wrapping up unexpectedly early, I headed over to the Alameda winery of Rosenblum Cellars.

A little background, I've been a fan of these wines for a couple of years, but never really tasted their top-end wines until a trip to their Healdsburg tasting room. Other than realizing that my wife and I wanted to spend a lot more time in Healdsburg, we knew we were absolutely in love with Rosenblum's wines. During that trip we bought a case of wine and signed up for their Red Rangers Club. Neither has disappointed. The case contained a mixture of Annette's Reserve Zinfandel Redwood Valley and Fran's Vineyard Reserve Syrah Rockpile. The first October shipment of the Red Rangers club did not let us down and we are eagerly awaiting our next shipment.

Back to my visit. So, I decided that seeing I had to drive through the Alameda area anyway, I should stop by and see where all of the magic happens. I was not disappointed.

First, I was greeted by someone that seemed familiar and had a familiar name. It was Farley, from Wine Outlook, an amazing wine blogger and occasional poster on this site. Do yourself a favor check out her writing; intuitive and intelligent, she affords us on the outside an exclusive view of the industry. Farley and her coworker Kenny G poured me some delicious wines from their tasting menu and I was quickly reminded of why I love these wines so much. As a special Halloween treat, for almost guessing her costume (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) I was able to try the special secret pour in honor of All Saints Day - the St. Peter's Church Zinfandel. All of the wines from tasting menu were delicious.

During my tasting, Ken Rosenblum, part of the husband and wife team that founded the winery walked into the tasting area. I was stoked. For me, Ken Rosenblum is an inspiration, a person who was able to change careers and make a run at his dream - ending up wildly successful. We talked for a few minutes about his wines and his recent trip to New York and New Jersey. Very nice, down-to-earth person.

After all this, I had to buy some wine. I picked up a few bottles of the Desire chocolate port (Which I will be sharing with my older brother and a few cigars) for the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday and I was lucky enough to pick up two of the last bottles of the 2005 Rominger Syrah Yolo County. There was a bit of a run on the Rominger as Wine Spectator Advance had rated it a 91 points. Having tasted it that day, I would have to agree with that rating.

I have to say that I highly recommend visiting the Alameda location. If you live in the bay area, you really have NO excuse. The staff is extremely friendly and knowledgeable about their wines. Plus, who knows, maybe you'll run into Farley, Kenny G, or Ken.

Cheers,
GrapeNut

Reader Assignment: Go out and buy a bottle of Rosenblum and post our review in the comments section. On the other hand, just go buy a bottle and enjoy it. I'll be posting reviews of my Rosenblum bottles as I open them up - prehaps one this weekend.