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Northern California
Our Story and Mission- Ever since we were old enough to drink wine, we have been frequenting winery tasting rooms throughout California. Our trips in the late 70’s involved stops at 6-8 wineries (or maybe more) in a day. My first date with my wife was a day of wine tasting in Sonoma 31 years ago. So we are experienced with this stuff. I think there are several ingredients to a satisfying Tasting Room experience. The wine has to be good for starters and generally the known wineries all put out pretty decent wine. But there are other key factors in making the experience memorable. Sometimes a classy tasting room works for us, but sometimes standing around a barrel outside does the trick. At other times it is just good service that pleases us. Certainly one of the keys is the person serving the wine. So there are a whole bunch of things that make visiting a Tasting Room a positive experience. The point of this blog is to talk about and recommend Winery Tasting Rooms where we have had good experiences.The blog was conceived after spending a weekend with my sisters who normally do not frequent wineries and running into a couple of disappointing stops.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012


Rock Wall and Rosenblum
Alameda, CA

Almost everyone has become familiar with Rosenblum wines over the years.  They have been known as one of the premier Zinfandel producers in the state.  Kent Rosenblum sold the winery a few years back and it is now owned by Diageo, the same owner as Acacia, Sterling and other big name wineries.  The Rosenblum family has started a new winery in Alameda called Rock Wall.  We visited both wineries the other day.  Both are located on the now closed Alameda Naval Air Base in mammoth buildings which formerly housed naval airplanes and facilities.

We started at Rock Wall.  We have gotten to know Rock Wall pretty well over the last couple of years.  Shauna, Kent’s daughter, is the winemaker and the face of the winery and has a very vibrant personality.  We have seen her at the winery or various events frequently.  Originally the tasting room of the winery was inside the main winemaking facility which is an old airplane hangar.  The hangar has massive doors that open out to a spectacular unobstructed view of San Francisco, the Bay Bridge and the bay.  More recently the tasting room has moved to a separate building built along side of the hangar and built to take in these same views.  Although most of the tasting is inside there is also a large deck right outside the tasting room that can be used for special tastings picnics, and enjoying the view.


The Hangar at Rock Wall

 Since the Rock Wall facility is also home to five other smaller wineries that share the winemaking space the tasting opportunities are numerous.  There were three different flights available the day we visited.  The A La Carte flight included both Rock Wall wines as well as a variety of wines from the other wineries sharing the facility (Blacksmith, Carica, Ehrenberg, Joseph Gary, and JRE).  This flight includes six wines and runs $10.00.  There is also a Rock Wall Reserve Red flight at $20.00 and a A La Carte Rock Wall (only) flight at $15.00.  We opted for the $15.00 flight and picked a Viognier, Grenache Rose, a couple of Zins and a Petite Sirah and a Tannat.  Our favorite was a 2010 Alexander Valley (Harris Kratka) Zinfandel that also happened to be the special of the day at $28.00.

Our host was Jared, a UC Santa Barbara college student, that has seemed to caught on with the whole Tasting Room duties pretty well.  Rock Wall in general has a pretty young vibe to it and there are always lots of events happening at the winery.  There was a birthday party going on in one corner of the tasting room and there are small food plates available for eating both inside and out.  Wine is also available by the glass.  Hangar One Vodka has a facility with tours and tastings within walking distance of Rock Wall.
Rosenblum Cellars was also hopping that day.  On the first Sunday each month they have added activities.  They are also in a large facility and on this day there was a band playing outside.  Since the winery was bought by Diageo, the actual winemaking no longer takes place in Alameda.  The wine is now produced at Beaulieu Vineyards in Napa. The tasting room has expanded into the facility and it is quite an event center.  The room expands and contracts as needed and includes the typical tasting bar as well as several cozy sitting areas.  On the day we were there the Olympics were also being shown on a big screen. 


Rosenblum stays close to its roots as a Zinfandel maker first but there are several other varieties available.  The tasting includes two complimentary tastes, on this day a Viognier and a Zinfandel, and an expanded, mostly Zin tasting, for $10.00.  Rosenblum and Rock Wall appears to still source from some of the same areas and actual vineyards with Paso Robles, Contra Costa and Sonoma county sources being heavily represented.  I think I counted about 25 different bottling of Zinfandel being on the ‘for sale’ list. 

The tasting room was very busy the day we were there so we really did not get to know our host.  Kenny G is a host extraordinaire and he was manning the cash register this day.  We are wine club members because we think the wine is good and it is close to home but also because of the complimentary tastings that can be occasionally available at sister wineries. 

For a close by afternoon of wine tasting Alameda is a good spot to go. There are definitely quality wines being made outside what is not normally considered wine country.  There are also quite a few other ‘urban’ wineries in the East Bay which we will visit and review on another day.
What we liked-
Rock Wall- The views are great and the place has a good vibe
Rosenblum- Legendary Zins
What we bought-
Rock Wall- The Alexander Valley (Kratka) Zin
Rosenblum- We picked up our shipment of two Zins
Vitals-
Rock Wall
2301 Monarch Street
Alameda, CA 94501
(510) 522-5700
www.rockwallwines.com
Rosenblum
2900 Main Street
Alameda, CA  94501
(800) 559-8069
www.rosenblumcellars.com






                                                                                  
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1 comment:

  1. AnonymousAugust 28, 2012 at 6:50 AM

    Very nice blog - looking forward to the updates! Doug and Barbara Brooker Danville CA

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