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- ROSENBLUM CELLARS
 You can call
him "Doctor" Rosenblum if you like since Kent is also a
veterinarian. I don't think he prescribes Zinfandel for his patients,
but probably for their owners.
Kent Rosenblum was deported from Minnesota around 1970. He has managed
to lose most of the accent, having lived in the Bay Area for so long.
After embracing the California lifestyle, he decided he wanted to explore
making wine, not only drinking it. So he and a neighbor started
producing some homemade wines. Encouraged by the results, he decided
to see about making wine professionally. Rosenblum was able to
convince a banker to lend him enough cash to start a winery. The poor banker
didn't know what a monster he was unleashing! That was in
1977.
Now things have gotten seriously out of hand. Rosenblum cellars
produces about 90,000 cases of wine annually. They make something like
18 Zinfandels, not to mention really curious things like Vanilla and
Chocolate-flavored "Port" wines. Some of the
Zinfandels approach the style of Port, so perhaps it's not much of a stretch
to produce something that is "port-styled."
The wines of Rosenblum have been getting good reviews from The Critics. Partly
because some of the wines are good, but they are really "wines for
wine-tastings." At one time, Rosenblum made some nice, drinkable
wines. Of late, they seem to be catering to the cocktail crowd.
Many of the wines show deep, saturated colors, extremely ripe fruit, very
high levels of alcohol and, often, residual sugar. For many wine
drinkers, the range of Rosenblum wines is "over the top" as
they're "pushing the envelope" and then some. The
labels don't inform consumers that the Zinfandel inside the bottle may
contain a substantial amount of residual sugar.
From a marketing standpoint, having relatively small lots of wines makes
selling some of them an easier task. You can more comfortably scale a
series of small hills, perhaps, than a high mountain. The character of
the particular region, though, seems to be muted or masked by the current
style of winemaking here. Virtually everything tastes more of
"Rosenblum" winemaking than it does of
"terroir."
"Rockpile" is one of the Rosenblum's top Zins. It's a very
big, deep, dark Zin teeming with fruit. The aromas are of sweet, ripe
fruit and it shows similarly on the palate. Full throttle red
wine. The raw material of Rockpile Zinfandel seems to us to carry
the Rosenblum style of winemaking the best.
I bought a bottle of the 2005 Monte Rosso Zinfandel...it was, for me,
impossible to identify the wine as coming from this special site in the
Sonoma Valley, as the high alcohol and slight sweetness obscure everything
about the vineyard. I'm sure some people will be thrilled with this
wine. We, on the other hand, were disappointed.
Rosenblum wines are typically high in alcohol. That may explain why
one label, years ago, told about the vineyards in Contra Costa, "40
miles west of San Francisco." I called legendary San
Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen who loved making fun of people for
this sort of thing. Kent got some publicity for his wine, as a
result. I hope he doesn't hold a grudge!
- Currently in stock:
2005 "Rockpile Road" ZINFANDEL 750ml ($35 List)
Sold Out
2005 "Richard Sauret Vineyard"
ZINFANDEL $22.99
ROMBAUER
 The
Rombauer wines have what seems to be a loyal following. Zinfandel has
often had a bit of sweetness and now they're really catering to those
consumers who prefer noticeable amounts of sugar in their "dry"
wines. Chardonnay, too, has plenty of sweetness and has never been
more popular.
The Rombauer wines are a textbook example of "consumers talk
'dry' but drink 'sweet.'"
Zinfandel comes from Amador, El Dorado and Lake Counties. The wine
displays sweet berry fragrances with notes of chocolate. The wine is
sort of like a dryish Port...too sweet for the dinner table but not really
sweet enough for dessert. It's a kind of 'cocktail' wine for some
consumers, being full-bodied and rich on the palate. In a
blind-tasting, I also detected a note which reminded me a bit of
pineapple. Curious. Anyway, it's a Zinfandel which really
excites some consumers. Your mileage, as they say, may vary.
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- Currently in stock: 2006 Rom-Baby Zinfandel $24.99 (750ml
bottles)
CHATEAU MONTELENA
 The
Montelena winery is so famous for its Cabernets, probably not many wine
geeks know they've been making Zinfandel since the early days.
One of the most memorable Zinfandels I tasted in the 1970s, aside from some
stellar Ridge bottlings, was a curious wine Montelena produced in
1973. Winemaker Mike Grgich inhibited the secondary malolactic
fermentation. The wine was remarkably bright and fruity...tons of
raspberry-like notes. We couldn't keep our hands of such a delicious
wine, so I never did get a chance to see how this aged and matured.
They still produce a nice Zinfandel, but it's not the sort of wine which
attracts the attention of many wine critics. Instead of making the
hugely alcoholic, over-ripe, monster style of wine, Montelena's Zin remains
a rather refined, claret-styled red wine. Bo Barrett knows the
difference between Port and table wine and there's clearly no confusion here
as to which style of wine he's trying to make. Unlike some of the
wines listed above on this page, Montelena's is made for "adult"
wine drinkers.
The 2004 comes from Calistoga area vineyards, one portion about 32 years old
and the other segment coming from ten year old vines. In this day in
age when vintners want huge, intense wines, Barrett used only free run juice
for this bottling. It's got a lovely berryish tone on the nose and
palate. Mildly tannic, it's nice and dry. We like it served at
cool cellar temp. It's very attractive now and it should cellar nicely
for a few more years.
Currently in stock: 2004 CHATEAU MONTELENA Napa ZINFANDEL (list
$28) SALE $23.99-
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NEYERS
 Bruce Neyers has been in the Napa Valley for several decades. Our
paths first crossed when he was the sales manager for a little enterprise which was called
"Stonebridge." (or was it Bridgestone?) The label for this winery was (and
remains) "Joseph Phelps Vineyards."
Eventually Bruce moved on from Phelps, taking a job with a notorious importer and being in
charge of selling French and Italian wines. In the mean time he started his own
label, which he said he could do "...thanks to Mr. Phelps."
Years ago we'd taste Bruce's Chardonnays and would consistently find we weren't quite on
the same page.
Perhaps a change took place when Neyers enlisted the services of a young fellow who's also
the winemaker for Turley Wine Cellars. Ehren Jordan seems to have beefed up the
Chardonnays of the Neyers label and is also making some showy Zinfandel and Syrah.
Tofanelli Zin comes from an old vineyard in Napa, having been planted in the 1930s. It's in
Calistoga, not far from Clos Pegase. The 2001 fared very well in one of
our blind-tastings of Zinfandels. It's a deep, rich, berryish, mildly
spicy red.
- Currently in stock: 2004 Tofanelli Zinfandel
$35.99 (last bottles)
SCHUETZ-OLES
 This small
Napa winery has periodically produced a pretty good Zinfandel. Their
"SO ZIN," we're happy to note, is "So
Zin-like." It is not a "SO-SO" Zin, either!
Some fruit comes from their flagship Zin source, the Korte Ranch just north
of St. Helena. This is blended with Zin from Mendocino. There's
a bit of Petite Sirah in this vintage, too, along with some Syrah. Lots of sweet,
berry notes and a hint of jam. Though it's young, we find it smooth
enough to drink now. Good value, too.
The "Oles" in the partnership has said "Adios" and so
Rick Schuetz is moving from Napa over to Healdsburg in Sonoma.
"Just Schuetz Me" is our suggestion for the new winery slogan.
- Currently in stock: 2003 "SO ZIN" (reg. $14) SALE
$9.99 (currently out of stock)
SURH LUCHTEL
 A couple
of old college buddies found they both liked wine and pooled their resources
as home winemakers before "going pro."
Don Surh and Gary Luchtel are the partners in this endeavor and we have
found they seem to have a pretty good 'touch' with Cabernet, Syrah and, now,
Zinfandel.
Their 2006 Zinfandel comes from Napa fruit. It reminds us, a bit, of
some nice bottlings of Zin from Dry Creek's Rockpile area. Deep in
color, the wine exhibits loads of ripe berries on the nose and it's framed
by a touch of sweet oak. More berry fruit than spice, this is probably
best in its youth, so drinking this year or next is ideal.
The wine is a bit potent, so we like to chill it slightly to 55-60
degrees. -
- Currently in stock: 2006 SURH LUCHTEL Napa ZINFANDEL SALE
$29.99
MARKEY FAMILY (now Sale
Priced)
 Ken
Markey is a local fellow whose family had orchards in the Napa Valley once
upon a time. A guy named Robert Mondavi convinced them to uproot the
fruit trees and replace them with grapevines. They followed Mr.
Mondavi's advice and sold grapes to that fledgling winery way back when.
Markey has long remembered the family "connection" to the wine biz
and he and Mrs. Markey have, from time to time, had some wine made for
them...their 2003 Zinfandel from the Dry Creek Valley is terrific.
The wine spent nearly a year and a half in oak, as Markey used both French
and American cooperage. We like the brambly, spicy notes of this
wine. It's delightful now, especially with Mediterranean-styled
foods. Lamb, rosemary, garlic, tapenade, etc., are all prospective
partners with this brawny Zin.-
- Currently in stock: 2003 MARKEY FAMILY Dry Creek
Valley ZINFANDEL $26.99
SALE $15.99
Ken's been too busy recently
with his baby-sitting chores and the follow-up wine to this Zin was sold in
bulk...so he's offered us the remaining few cases at a ridiculous
price. Enjoy this while it's here!
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