Rosenblum Cellars Characters
Monday, March 31st, 2008
In addition to some good wine on Saturday, we also had a visit from a couple of regulars: Walter and Rita. Formerly investors, they’re now lined up to be club members, if I recall correctly. Anyway, Walter is very, er, enthusiastic and boisterous, and the whole room knows when he arrives. Usually because we call out “Walter alert!” This Saturday was no exception, as he came in wearing a crazier hat than normal (with all kinds of attachments such as balloons and flowers) and a shirt that read WILL WORK FOR WINE. Hmm. He never would dry any glasses like we asked and would often say “Honey, I don’t care what it is, just put it in my glass. We’re still trying to teach him how to taste.
But cheers to Walter and all the other crazy characters that come to Rosenblum!
And one of them needs your vote! Twisted Oak Winery is holding a contest to see whose chicken reigns supreme. Please show your loyalty to the words and birds of this Rosenblum themed blog.
Sometime Wednesday afternoon, an RV pulled into Rosenblum’s parking lot with a trailer behind it. And on that trailer was a giant armadillo. Now, I’m from Mississippi, and I have never seen an armadillo that big. Turns out, it’s from Texas (hence, the lone star on its tail) and as you’ve probably heard, everything is bigger in Texas…. This one is actually a grill and smoker, made by Ray—who drives up and over every year about this time. He barbeques ribs for the Good Eats portion of the ZAP extravaganza, and he’s well known around these parts. (Perhaps due, in part, to the armadillo’s giant cojones.) Good BBQ—and this is really good BBQ–and fruity Zinfandel is an amazing combination, you have to try.
Kent allows him to park his RV at the winery while he’s in town, and Ray returns the favor by cooking up some good eats for us lucky employees. I got a sneak preview on Wednesday when I took these pictures, which was fortunate, since it was pouring buckets all day Friday when we had the real shindig. Over the past few days, Ray and I had some quality chats about potato salad (find my recipe 
…in the Rosenblum Cellars tasting room. Last week we met the funniest little lady. When calling to find out how to get to the winery, she said to Samantha, who answered the phone, “Are you the one from Sex and the City?” And after getting the instructions, she said, “With all those directions this better be some damn good wine.” Luckily, she decided it was. What spunk, that one. And she and Kenny G became fast friends, sharing stories about New York. Sadly, I didn’t get her name. Or the gentleman next to her, who himself was a bit of a dancer. But when I told her quickly before they left that I might post the picture on my blog, she gave a little cackle and comment about adult sites.
While the Vinturi wine aerator has been flying out the door at Rosenblum Cellars, I had something else in mind for a Christmas gift for Kenny G. He’s actually the reason we even have the Vinturi for sale (at $45, 10% off for club members) as he brought one to work after getting it in at 
Monday evening we had our holiday party at Foreign Cinema in San Francisco. Quite a charming place to which I’ll have to return and actually watch a film. A few of us girls took the ferry over and therefore got there a little early. That meant having to check out the bar downstairs, while waiting for our room to be ready. We had some tasty cocktails, though the wine list looked rather promising. Then it was onwards and upwards, in our balcony overlooking the rest of the dining area and bar. 
Last Saturday and Sunday we had our quarterly Rosenblum Cellars Open House. Even though I was working, I could see how much fun everyone was having. How could they not?? With about 50 wines to taste, good music, and tasty treats from Angela’s Restaurant, including a carving station with peppered tri-tip (a great companion to Zinfandel)….My favorite new release, though I didn’t taste them all, was the 2005 Holbrook Mitchell Syrah.
Another great thing is that in addition to new wines, we usually have 2 or 3 barrel samples available for tasting, which can be purchased as futures, at a discount. Then when the wine is bottled and released, those customers can pick them up. You only have to be a little imaginative, thinking ahead to what the wine will taste like. This time we sampled the 2006 Lyons Vineyard Reserve Zinfandel from Napa Valley and the 2006 Pato Vineyard Petite Sirah from Contra Costa County. Both growers–Cap Lyons and Richard Pato–have been into the tasting room in the past couple weeks to taste and buy wines, which is always fun. 
There were ghoulish decorations and bowls of candy everywhere– some of them talking. We poured good wine as usual, including the 2005 Rosenblum Rominger Syrah from Yolo County that recently got 91 points from Wine Spectator. It was from the Advance sneak peak, but I had already put it on this week’s 
I’m not sure who or what Kenny G was, other than amusing, as he wore the wig and hat combo I got at Walgreen’s that morning. My plans to make him dress as the ‘real Kenny G’ didn’t exactly come to fruition. But we all laughed all day, and I think everyone who came in had an especially good time. And some people even got a secret pour (St. Peter’s Church Zinfandel, in honor of it being the eve of All Saints’ Day) if they could guess who I or Meg was. I was surprised at how many people figured out I was Buffy.
When my best wine friend was in town, I knew I had to take her to Domaine Carneros. Not only do they make great sparkling wine (and KB and I love sparkling wine as much as the Rosenblum staff), but she would get to meet Kenny G. Now, you may know or may have read that Kenny G works four days at Rosenblum and the other three at 
Wines can be purchased by the taste, flight, glass, or bottle. We did the sampler, which included the brut, the brut rose’, and the ever-delicious Le Reve. They serve food, and as it’s not good to drink on an empty stomach, we shared a cheese plate and the smoked salmon plate (ok, if you insist….). Sitting in the sun, sipping bubbly, snacking on dried fruit and cheese. I could get used to that pretty easily. 
Kenny G always has lunch at the same place when he works at Rosenblum Cellars. It’s called Dragon Village and it’s a little place on Lincoln Avenue that you might just pass by if you weren’t looking too hard. He often brings those of us in the tasting room samples of their food. The funny thing is, he doesn’t even pay for it because he trades leftover wine for food. The funnier thing is that he’s become their marketing director of sorts, coming up with ideas for promoting business and even his own special dish: Kenny G Style tofu, white chicken, green beans, black bean sauce, and garlic. The owner, Jacky, took a bunch of pictures of the KG with his signature dish, putting them under the glass table tops and resulting in the sale of over 20 orders that first day to advertise it.
Chinese food isn’t just for lunch anymore. Kenny G has taken to going there some evenings, as they love him over there. The atmosphere improves dramatically when he’s roaming the restaurant, talking to customers, and sharing Rosenblum wine. If you see him, ask for the Kathy’s Cuvee Viognier which goes great with the spicy cuisine. 
