WTN: Two Rosenblums (the Yin and Yang thing)

Rosenblum Cellars Syrah Lodi Abba Vineyards 2006
$13.00

My brother in law was carrying this at his joint and I got really jazzed by it. Inky black color. How much more black could it be? None. None more black. Fruit all over the place in the nose. I get a bit of plum. In the taste too. There's some tobacco & leather. I'm sure an old volume of forgotten lore was in the taste somewhere too. This wine actually tastes very old and very fresh at the same time. It is some intense stuff. I'm willing to be it's not as refined as an actual Rhone wine, I can see the accusation of "jammy" being tossed at, but it simply a wonderful drinker. I've now had this on several different occasions, with food (charcuterie & fromage, mushroom dish, etc.) and without. It's stood up to all environments and tests. Getting it at this sale price just sweetens the deal. Two thumbs up. Way up.

Rosenblum Cellars Santa Barbara Roussane 2008
$10.00

This was a car wreck. From the first whiff I knew something was amiss. I don't think it was corked as none of the usual descriptors of TCA were in play. There was a very bit of nasty green pepper and low funk. Not funk as in brett but as in, hell I don't know what but it was not pleasant. Once I was able to get a swallow down it wasn't quite as bad, with some sort of fruit making itself known, but then I'd catch another whiff and it was game over. Tried it again the next day and no joy. This is the first varietal Rousanne I've had. It's been in some blends, mostly notably with Msr. Viognier and I've liked all of those fine. I'm of the opinion that something with this bottle or production run went awry. It was on the sale rack at the place I got it from, which I trust in general. I do note that this wine did not have the normal "Fess Parker" attached to the Roussane name and there's not mention of a generic SB Roussane on the Rosenblum website. Two thumbs down. Way down.

[David M. Bueker]

I've not been a fan of the recent, low-priced Rosenblum wines. Years ago I regularly purchased nd drank their Zinfandel Cuvee that was about $12, but that turned rather hot and goopy, and I have never gone back since. Most of the upper tier wines have also gone over the top, and with so many more reasonably priced options out there it's not hard to avoid looking back.

I should note that the cork advertised their Zins, which seems like a strange thing to do if you're selling Syrah. This was one of my first moves to Syrah/Shiraz after poking around the Australian's for a while, which obviously have a certain profile. That said I've liked many of those, notably the 2 Up and the D'arenberg Footbolt. I have a couple of proper Northern Rhone wines that I've yet to pop but I can see an image forming in my mind already about how those tastes might play out. We'll see.

I will say that I genuinely like the Rosenblum Syrah, though it probably is more in the fruit bomb category than many may like.