Rosenblum Open House

So now it's September and I'm still catching up from my July adventures. Thankfully, there was only one wine-related event before August rolled around.

On Sunday, July 26th, I took my friend Michelle with me to the harvest open house at Rosenblum Cellars in Alameda. Having worked at Rosenblum last harvest, I was able to attend the holiday open house last November. The two events were pretty much identical, except this time around I didn't embarrass myself by dropping my glass on the floor.

Rosenblum offers very few white wines, so I sampled a Marsanne (or Roussanne?) while Michelle chose the Viogner. After our brief tryst with the whites, we moved on to the main event: Zinfandels! My plan of action was to taste only Zinfandels this time around, because that is what Rosenblum is known for and because I wanted to get a better idea of how they actually tasted as a varietal. I'd like to say it helped, but I still have a lot to work on in the realm of tasting.

Michelle receiving a pour of Snows Lake Zinfandel

About halfway through our Zinfandel journey, we stopped for some Zinfandel ice cream. Tucker's in Alameda makes this amazing ice cream using actual Rosenblum Zinfandel. This delicious ice cream is speckled with dark chocolate chips and is unique but not weird. It's a perfectly balanced ice cream and I would highly suggest it if you're lucky enough to stop by Tucker's on a day that they have it.

Michelle skipped the rest of the Zinfandels and moved on to a handful of Syrahs and Petite Syrahs which she thought she would like better. She wound up surprising herself by preferring the Zinfandels over the Syrahs. Rosenblum has a convert! Michelle left with a bottle of Snows Lake Zinfandel and Kathy's Cuvee Viogner. I still had a bottle of Lyon's Reserve Zinfandel in my collection, so I decided against a purchase this particular day.

It was a lovely July day in the Bay Area, and I thank Michelle for accompanying me to this open house at my wine "Alma Mater." Check out Rosenblum Cellars at 2900 Main Street, Alameda, CA. Their tasting room is open daily from 11-6 and all tastings are free!