By Charlie Olken

Sometimes you don’t have to go far from home to find a winery to visit. Here in Alameda, in the San Francisco Bay Area’s East Bay, where I live, there are about a dozen wineries, the most famous, of course, is Rosenblum Cellars founded by local veterinarian and then award-winning home winemaker, Kent Rosenblum. The winery was sold to conglomerate Diageo a few years ago but still maintains a tasting room at the facility. Its view of water, bridges and downtown San Francisco has seen the Olkens wandering over a late Saturday afternoon for a glass of red followed by something sweet to wash it all down and send us on our way. And Alameda is not alone in hosting urban wineries. The short swath of land from Oakland’s waterfront up to Emeryville and Berkeley has another dozen producers of note. Most of these small, independent producers belong to the East Bay Vintners Alliance (www.eastbayvintners.com/), and some like Dr. Rosenblum’s new venture, Rock Wall and Jeff Cohn’s JC Cellars have enjoyed great critical success. Most happily welcome visitors though not all are open all the time. Read More.