“Fighting for fun in a winey world.”

Every once in a while you come across someone in the wine business that gets it right. Roshambo Winery out of Sonoma is just one of those things; a great confluence of a free thinking attitude, responsible winemaking and fantastic wines. Owned and operated by the exceedingly creative (and young) Naomi Brilliant, these are cleverly packaged yet VERY, VERY, VERY well made wines. What we love best about Roshambo is they are striving for the same thing we try to achieve (on our better days) at Cork & Bottle: “A small, intimate and meaningful experience for the people who really appreciate our passionate and free spirited approach. It’s the difference between having to sell wine and wanting to share an experience.”

After MUCH patience (we’ve been waiting for these wines since ‘04) we were finally rewarded with the chance to offer you these truly unique and VERY well made wines from Sonoma. Come on in and pull a cork with us and we’ll tell you the rest of the story about this winery, or, better yet, come on in and we’ll Roshambo you (that’s slang for Rock, Paper, Scissors) for a free bottle. You win best of five; you get a free bottle (not the Pinot). You lose, you have to buy two. Deal?

About the wines:

2006 The Obvious Sauvignon Blanc, $14.99
Crisp and clean, bright and refreshing, hints of citrus and melon. And with its focused acidity, “this is an easy pill to swallow.” A wine you can drink by the gallon once that monster we know as the New Orleans Summer approaches.

2005 “Imago” Chardonnay, $17.99
No Oak, no BS, nothing but Chardonnay. Lively, clean, pure Chardonnay from Sonoma that tastes like Chardonnay but without all the crap you have to put up with in most California Chardonnay.

2006 Frank Pinot Noir, $27.99
(From their website) Cherry, cola and cinnamon, with a layer of cedar and a hint of dried herb. Kind of like a candy apple kept in a humidor. What would a candy apple be doing in a humidor you ask? Mysterious is the temperament of Pinot Noir.

’05 Syrah, $19.99 (introductory sale price: $17.99)
It’s a poorly kept secret that Jon is a Syrah freak so it bears noting that he bogarted our distributor’s sample bottle and drank the whole bottle while watching the Hornets flush the Mavericks. This is one seriously good bottle of wine. Strong dark fruit flavors, full of that white pepper and savory bacon fat you’re supposed to smell in top flight Syrah. We bought our distributor entirely out of this wine; it’s the star of the show. And that’s saying something in a line-up like this.