Experience the growing trend of urban East Bay wineries at upcoming April 2nd event.

Courtesy of Two Mile Wines/Tim O’Meara

Planning a wine-tasting trip usually conjures images of rolling hills and twisted vines—not abandoned aircraft hangars. But with a growing urban wine movement rooted in the 510 area code, a wine-tasting trip is now as easy as hopping on an Oakland-bound BART train.

“Grapes don’t care where they’re crushed,” says Kevin Brown, the winemaker at R&B Cellars in Alameda. “They only care where they’re grown.”

R&B is part of the East Bay Vintner’s Alliance, a group of 23 wineries that is winning awards and appearing on wine lists across the state, even in Napa.

Taste for yourself at Passport to the East Bay Wine Trail on April 2, where 21 wineries will pair their samples with food. Go to eastbayvintners.com for more info, and look for these Diablo favorites.

Serenade in Blanc
Sauvignon Blanc
R & B Cellars

Wine: Smooth and subtle, not too fruity, this white tastes more like a French Sancerre.
Winemakers: Kevin and Barbara Brown are jazz musicians, thus their wines’ musical names.

Baby Doll
Rosé
Prospect 772

Wine: Crisp and dry, this Rhône-style rosé is almost manly.
Winemakers: Ron Pieretti and Wendy Sanda named their line of wines after personality types such as the Brat and the Instigator.

The Breadwinner
Red Rhone Blend
Stage Left Cellars

Wine: Structured and complex, this blend of four wines was intentional, not a brew of leftovers.
Winemakers: Rich Williams and Melinda Doty’s wines are named after their journey leaving unsatisfying corporate jobs.

ALSO LISTEN TO: iWine Radio – Wine & Dine

Interview with EBVA President: Bill Galarneau (Adams Point Winery)

By: Jennifer Kaplan
Jennifer Kaplan is author of Greening Your Small Business, site director of Ecopreneurist and founder of VineCrowd.com.

If you happen to live near Sonoma County, California or Walla Walla Valley, Washington, finding awesome local wine really isn’t a problem.  But, what if you don’t happen to live in a world-class wine region?

For some of us, the thought of buying wine shipped in heavy glass bottles over several thousand miles in temperature controlled transport seems a bit, well, unsustainable.  What’s a wine loving locavore to do?

As I reported not long ago in my blog post, Are Urban Wineries Taking Over The Industry?, According to Nation’s Restaurant News’ top 20 restaurant trends for 2011 there are at least three trends that prove that wine loving locavore’s want more options (sustainability, hyper local and locally produced wine and beer). If you wondering how to tap into the sustainable, hyper-locally produced wine and beer trend here are four ways.

Urban Wineries. Whether you like to drink red wine or white, these days if you live in a major metropolitan area you probably don’t have to go far to find to find high quality, local producers right in your own city. The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times are have taken note of urban winery ‘revolution’ and according to a blog post in Eater.com, there are notable urban wineries in the Bay Area, New York City, Seattle, Portland, San Diego, Sacramento and Cincinnati (yes, Cincinnati…). Several of these metro regions even have their own urban winery trade groups, like the East Bay Vinters Alliance and South Seattle Artisan Wineries.

Wine and Dine Locally or The Locavore Wine Hipocracy…No More. Back in July 2010, the food critic Todd Kliman posted an article that ‘exposed the ridiculous double standard of the locavore movement and how they ignore great American wines.’ The good news is that chefs across American have begun to agree with Kilman and are spending more time developing wine programs that keep things local. Take flour+water in San Francisco. They have an upcoming winemaker’s dinner with Two Mile Wines and a large reason they took notice of the Oakland, CA winery is because they are just across the bay bridge. Read More.

Piedmont Patch  By Rena Ragimova

Before you head north to wine country, grab your bike, join a tour and get a taste for what the East Bay scene has to offer.

2011 Barbera Festival

June 11th, 2011 11 AM – 4 PM
Cooper Ranch, Plymouth

Shenandoah Valley, Amador County

In case you haven’t noticed, at Urban Legend we’re big fans of Barbera. It was, after all, the first grape we selected on turning pro in 2008. When we caught rumor of this festival, we had to be among the first to sign up. We’ll be there with both our Cooper Ranch (Amador County) and Holland Landing (Clarksburg) Barbera. Join us and more than 80 other wineries in celebrating this versatile, delicious, but under-sung variety.

More information at:The 2011 Barbera Festival
Tickets online at: Barbera Festival

Urban Legend Millennium Restaurant Winemaker’s Dinner

A Gluten-Free Vegetarian Winemaker’s Dinner

Millennium Restaurant, San Francisco, Tuesday March 29, 2011 6:30 PM

As anyone who’s had a bottle of ironworks knows, we’re not fans of buzzword bingo. Ignore the “gluten-free”, “sustainable”, “organic”, “vegan”, and “vegetarian” monikers if you like; this will just be an exquisite meal with great wines.

$85/person (before tax/gratuity)
5 course prix fixe menu (gluten-free!)
Tuesday March 29, 2011, 6:00-9:30 pm (ish)
6:00 pm reception
Dinner served promptly at 6:30 pm

Millennium Restaurant
580 Geary Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
Tel: 415-345-3900
Fax: 415-345-3941
The dinner will take place in Millennium’s Private “Wineroom”.
Space is limited and reservations must be made through Alison: 415.345.3900 x13

THE EAST BAY VINTNER’S ALLIANCE WELCOMES ITS 23RD MEMBER, STOMPING GIRL WINES
Berkeley-Based Urban Winery Brings Exceptionally Crafted Pinot Noir to the EBVA

(Berkeley, CA) March 1, 2011—The East Bay Vintner’s Alliance (EBVA,) the premiere urban wine group headquartered in Oakland, California, has welcomed its 23rd member, Stomping Girl Wines, www.stompinggirlwines.com. This Berkeley, California, winery is known for producing artisanal Pinot Noir inspired by three generations of family winemaking.

“We love Pinot because we believe it is the most delicate and elegant of all wine varietals. When a Pinot Noir is done well, it has a distinct, luxurious taste that pairs well with almost any food,” says winemaker and Co-Owner of Stomping Girl Wines, Kathryn Cohen. “Any grower or winemaker will tell you that Pinot is definitely not the easiest grape to work with, but we  love the challenge of creating a great wine and hence, our inspiration for creating Stomping Girl Wines.”

Stomping Girl Pinot Noirs can be found at stores and restaurants around the Bay Area including Coco500, Zut! On Fourth, Revival Bar and Kitchen, Weimax Wine & Spirits..

Stomping Girl wines will also be participating in the EBVA’s upcoming “Passport to the East Bay” on April 2, 2011 and will pour at Urban Legend Cellars in Oakland, California. Tickets for “Passport to the East Bay” can be purchased at www.eastbayvintners.com.

For more information on Stomping Girl Wines, please visit www.stompinggirlwines.com.

ABOUT STOMPING GIRL WINES

Stomping Girl Wines is a family-owned and operated winery that produces small lots of artisan Pinot Noir, inspired from three generations of family winemaking. Stomping Girl Wines sources grapes from top vineyard sites in Northern California and uses traditional, low intervention winemaking practices to guide the expression of Pinot Noir’s true flavors. Kathryn and Uzi Cohen began their practice of winemaking in 2003, creating wine in their own garage, and then in 2008, started their commercial label, Stomping Girl Wines. Stomping Girl Wines is named in honor of Esther, Uzi Cohen’s winemaker grandmother, and the modern “stomping girls” in the family who also work in the cellar. For more information on Stomping Girl Wines, please call 707.317.6617 or visit www.stompinggirlwines.com.

ABOUT EAST BAY VINTNER’S ALLIANCE

The East Bay Vintner’s Alliance (EBVA) is a collection of 23 innovative, urban wineries spanning from Alameda to North Berkeley, and produces some of the highest quality wine around by sourcing the best fruit possible. Founded in 2005 and officially headquartered in Oakland, CA, the EBVA prides itself in being the “earliest group of modern age winemakers,” sourcing fruit from Oregon to Southern California, and as far away as the Rhone Valley in France. The EBVA uses both cutting-edge and traditional methods to create destination-worthy wines in an undiscovered, urban wine country.

Twenty-three wineries and seven tasting rooms produce over a hundred diverse award wining wines including Whites, Roses, Reds, Ports and fruit desert wines, using varietals from Barbera to Zinfandel, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Syrah, and Pinot Noir among others.