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mostly wine stuff

mdf

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Ok, now I revert to type...
The quintessential "Mike wine".
Petite Syrah, Syrah, Barbera. Big and juicy and tannic. A new favorite. ..
20190713_204431.jpg
 
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Tony S

Tony S

I have a confusion to make ...
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Rosé season at my house. Made some seared salmon with a big dollop of bloody Mary chive butter. Also some lightly grilled zucchini with a bit of curry powder on it. Came out good.

20190713_200758-01.jpeg
 

Tony

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Not sure if this Cab has been spotted and posted, but I saw it at Grocery Outlet in Marina, CA for $16.99. 8081PugCab.JPG I didn't buy any and later saw review (have to search page for pug) that didn't think it was worth the price when compared to other Cab available at GO.
I bought a Rock Wall Dry Creek Valley Zin for $12.99 that was excellent.
 

skibob

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Not sure if this Cab has been spotted and posted, but I saw it at Grocery Outlet in Marina, CA for $16.99. View attachment 78642 I didn't buy any and later saw review (have to search page for pug) that didn't think it was worth the price when compared to other Cab available at GO.
I bought a Rock Wall Dry Creek Valley Zin for $12.99 that was excellent.
You should post this to the Funnies thread.

But I'll take cheap Dry Creek Zin over cheap Cab from anywhere.

Especially when its made by a Rosenblum. Rosenblum and Ravenswood were the standards for Zinfandel (and Dry Creek is one of the best places in the world to grow it, IMHO).

Constellation bought Ravenswood. Diageo bought Rosenblum. Ravenswood turned the name into volume. Diageo ran Rosenblum into oblivion. Rock Wall is Kent Rosenblum's daughter. I don't know her, but if her dad taught her to make Zin, its a good bet.
 

skibob

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+1 ...but for the sake of pedantics I'll note that anywhere is a big place and some of the far eastern Cabs are an order of magnitude cheaper than Dry Creek.
Fair enough. Even Argentina probably creeps into consideration here too if I ditch the hyperbole.
 
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Tony

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But I'll take cheap Dry Creek Zin over cheap Cab from anywhere.

Especially when its made by a Rosenblum. Rosenblum and Ravenswood were the standards for Zinfandel (and Dry Creek is one of the best places in the world to grow it, IMHO).

Constellation bought Ravenswood. Diageo bought Rosenblum. Ravenswood turned the name into volume. Diageo ran Rosenblum into oblivion. Rock Wall is Kent Rosenblum's daughter. I don't know her, but if her dad taught her to make Zin, its a good bet.
Cheap? $12.99 is a lot for a wine at Grocery Outlet. I think they said it was $42 value although I see it elsewhere for $30. But not exactly cheap, unless you are buying Napa Cabs.

My wife joined Rosenblum wine club just before they moved tasting room from warehouse in Alameda, where they also made their wines, to Ferry Dock at Jack London Square, Oakland. While new locationwas a nice place to visit, traffic between San Jose and Oakland (<50 miles) is bad enough, even on weekends, that we only made it to one wine club event, a great dinner that may have been free. We did a couple of pickups on way home from Tahoe. When they moved to Diageo, they moved their wine making to BV and wine club members got free tastings at Acacia, BV and Provenance.

Rosenblum still made good wines after sale. We have about 15 bottles left; going back to 2012, all big Zins except for a couple of Petite Sirahs, if my spreadsheet is correct. Rosenblum was also sold to Treasury, then to Bronco (Charles Shaw/2 Buck Chuck, Robert Hall, where my wife is now a member, and many, many other brands). Bronco is owned by Joe Franzia who went to my high school and I met at an alumni donor event. Kent Rosenblum returned to his original winery for a couple of years before his 2018 death (from complication from knee replacement) and was CEO at Rock Wall. My wife and I went to a very nice Rock Wall Valentine's event that was held where they make wine in a hangar for at Alameda NAS. That event and an upgrade on the diamond on her engagement ring for our 25th anniversary was (part of?ogsmile) the price I paid for getting away my first Canadian snowcat skiing trip.
 
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pete

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Tony S

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You should post this to the Funnies thread.

But I'll take cheap Dry Creek Zin over cheap Cab from anywhere.

Especially when its made by a Rosenblum. Rosenblum and Ravenswood were the standards for Zinfandel (and Dry Creek is one of the best places in the world to grow it, IMHO).

Constellation bought Ravenswood. Diageo bought Rosenblum. Ravenswood turned the name into volume. Diageo ran Rosenblum into oblivion. Rock Wall is Kent Rosenblum's daughter. I don't know her, but if her dad taught her to make Zin, its a good bet.

@skibob, did you ever get some Rafanelli Dry Creek before they went all restauranty? Like, early 80s? Loved that stuff. Anyway, yes. Dry Creek zin. :thumb:
 

skibob

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Cheap? $12.99 is a lot for a wine at Grocery Outlet. I think they said it was $42 value although I see it elsewhere for $30. But not exactly cheap, unless you are buying Napa Cabs.

My wife joined Rosenblum wine club just before they moved tasting room from warehouse in Alameda, where they also made their wines, to Ferry Dock at Jack London Square, Oakland. While new locationwas a nice place to visit, traffic between San Jose and Oakland (<50 miles) is bad enough, even on weekends, that we only made it to one wine club event, a great dinner that may have been free. We did a couple of pickups on way home from Tahoe. When they moved to Diageo, they moved their wine making to BV and wine club members got free tastings at Acacia, BV and Provenance.

Rosenblum still made good wines after sale. We have about 15 bottles left; going back to 2012, all big Zins except for a couple of Petite Sirahs, if my spreadsheet is correct. Rosenblum was also sold to Treasury, then to Bronco (Charles Shaw/2 Buck Chuck, Robert Hall, where my wife is now a member, and many, many other brands). Bronco is owned by Joe Franzia who went to my high school and I met at an alumni donor event. Kent Rosenblum returned to his original winery for a couple of years before his 2018 death (from complication from knee replacement) and was CEO at Rock Wall. My wife and I went to a very nice Rock Wall Valentine's event that was held where they make wine in a hangar for at Alameda NAS. That event and an upgrade on the diamond on her engagement ring for our 25th anniversary was (part of?ogsmile) the price I paid for getting away my first Canadian snowcat skiing trip.
Yeah, when I say they killed the brand, I don't necessarily mean quality (although it was never the same). They tried to turn it into a mass market brand with every varietal and no brand identity/core. It never did well as that because its just a name of some guy, unlike Ravenswood which had visual and conceptual possibilities. Again, I am talking about branding now more than wine.

BTW, Joe's brother Fred is often called "the owner of Bronco Wine Co" but Joseph is a partner. Have no idea what the ownership mix is, but Fred usually gets all the attention. Joseph ran the company while Fred was in prison even . . .
 

skibob

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I see no reason to think it's anything other than the Bandol from the immediately previous post; the faded dusky rose shade is consistent with this.



I have a similar instinct for Russian River. :huh:
RR is and has long been considered a "premium wine growing region" (but if you like pinot, my $$ is on Willamette Valley). Lodi was part of the central valley plonk parade until Robert Mondavi recognized it for what it really is: A notch above the rest of the central valley due to its alluvial soils and climatic influence of the bay. He created Woodbridge from Lodi fruit. Made him magnitudes more $$$ than the Mondavi brand ever did. If you had Woodbridge in the 90's you'll know why. It was like$4 a bottle and quite decent. A totally different beast now. Anyway, Lodi is known as a place for less expensive big reds now.
 

skibob

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@skibob, did you ever get some Rafanelli Dry Creek before they went all restauranty? Like, early 80s? Loved that stuff. Anyway, yes. Dry Creek zin. :thumb:
I have had some with age on them. An 87 if I recall correctly that I had maybe 5 years ago. Zinfandel can age, and age beautifully, if its treated like burgundy instead of bordeaux. Not a lot of people making them like that anymore. Closest thing off the top of my head is Dry Creek Vineyard. Their entry level carries a little RS but is still a good value. But their upmarket zins can be sublime and elegant. Their winemaker is a great guy and is the one who returned Freemark Abbey to its original glory in the 90s. Oh, and they make the best Chenin Blanc in North America. And its cheap!
 

cantunamunch

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Talking of Dry Creek, the shop had a Quivira Sauvignon Blanc open for tasting. I have to admit that is a style I just don't get. Sure it's smoky and sure it has cat pee aroma, but there's no citrus and barely any acid :huh::huh:
 

Tony

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A couple of corrections and additions.

I think the Pug Cab was really $19.99.

BTW, Joe's brother Fred is often called "the owner of Bronco Wine Co" but Joseph is a partner. Have no idea what the ownership mix is, but Fred usually gets all the attention. Joseph ran the company while Fred was in prison even . . .
Not sure that Fred went to prison. According to story I found, he was too big to jail.

There is also some discrepancy on how Bronco was named. LA Times in 1994 said it comes from BROthers and COusins, while link above says it's because Fred and Joe, besides being nephews of Ernest Gallo, that both went to Santa Clara University where their sports teams are the Broncos.

Kent Rosenblum, according to SF Chronicle story I linked above had his knee replaced to be able to continue skiing.
 
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skibob

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A couple of corrections and additions.

I think the Pug Cab was really $19.99.

Not sure that Fred went to prison. According to story I found, he was too big to jail.

There is also some discrepancy on how Bronco was named. LA Times in 1994 said it comes from BROthers and COusins, while link above says it's because Fred and Joe, besides being nephews of Ernest Gallo, that both went to Santa Clara University where their sports teams are the Broncos.

Kent Rosenblum, according to SF Chronicle story I link above had his knee replaced to be able to continue skiing.
Ah yes, its that Fred was barred from running his company for several years (so Joseph did).

Did not know that about Kent Rosenblum. Sad, but also cool he was a skier.
 

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