sit n' spin, sip n' spit

Dad loved the Rosenblum Heritage Clone Petite Syrah my sister and brother-in-law served at their wedding so much we all went to Rosenblum to try a few more. I think they turned quite a few people into wine drinkers.

In between sips I demonstrated to the BIL the technique of sipping then spitting, which really does let you really taste the wine as opposed to swallowing. But beginner spitters might want to wear black and watch for the backsplash. The BIL decided to practice at home first before sidling to the spittoon in public.

The Heritage Clone Petite Syrah 2005 is the best of fruit and body. A fruit filled jammy beginning that mellows in a bold body. I'd say you could even sit on this one for a few years.

Nice part about Rosenblum is that tasting is free and they don't skimp on what they're serving in the free five either. $5 gets you a taste of 3 of their higher end bottles, again a very reasonable price.

I don't recall the Chardonnay they served, which probably means it wasn't too memorable. It was probably decent and drinkable.

Three standouts and one boner (sorry for the pun!)

Annette's Reserve Zin, Rockpile Road Petite Syrah, Monte Rossa Vineyard Reserve Zin (which we had at a party the night before, but I'll include here anyway), and Kathy's Cuvee Reserve Viogner.

The three reds above were just delightful. The Rockpile Road is not as bold as the Heritage Clone, like the medium younger brother, but just as wonderful from tip to swallow.

If you like dessert wines, the Viogner (which they do have as a dessert wine), is like a lighter dessert wine, sweet fruity and crisp. Perfect wine for a hot summer afternoon!

While generally Rosenblum puts out some great wines at very reasonable prices, the dog of the day was the dog of the barrel, Chateau La Paws Cote du Bone Roan. Bad puns aside. Drinking this one was as if your tongue was the chew toy. It literally holds the tip of your tongue and doesn't let go! And while there were other aspects of the wine, that tip of the tongue thing irked me. The aroma was buttery, the kind I'd expect in a Chardonnay. Just a strange strange tasting wine overall. I wanted to like it, but eh, you can't like 'em all.