Judging by Sunday’s front page headline in the Chico Enterprise Record, it’s big news when Naomi Brilliant returns to her hometown. Granted, this isn’t exactly Newsweek or anything, BUT it’s pretty cool to wake up in another town and find your arrival to be a lead story (Not that I would know… outside of the occassional police blotter, I’ve never actually been in any local newspaper). In any event, this past weekend Naomi and I took the Roshambus on a little promotional adventure. On Saturday we joined forces with Alex Gaxiola of Vintage Wine Bar and Cafe in downtown Redding, CA to host a Rock, Paper Scissors Tournament. Forty-eight people signed up for the best-of-three throwdown which… wasn’t exactly the ideal number. 16, 32, 64 seem to work much, much better as they result in 2 finalists (kind of key for a tournament like this). But you know what they say, if God gives you lemonade you’ve gotta make lemons! Anyways, we worked it out so that there were 3 brackets of 16 that whittled down to 3 finalists who would then compete in a round robin. As I stood there explaining the first-competitor-with-two-wins format, I feared confusion followed by almost immediately by mutiny. BUT, it went off without a hitch and the tourney was won by Julie Bory - a bubbly woman who suggested her victory was “100% luck.” (We think she was fibbing because as any true RPS master knows, luck doesn’t have a hand in the sport of RPS.)

After the Redding RPS Championship we hightailed it to Chico for a night of, well, drinking. There is no shortage of great watering holes in this college party town (though I’d have been better off reading in a library since I ended up, ahem… wetting the bed. Sorry Naomi!) Once the bed was stripped and the mattress flipped, we ambled to the Taste of Chico event. Essentially, the town ropes off a handful of blocks and various vendors offer tastes of this or that. We had a table set up in the “Beer Garden,” right alongside 50 other vendors like Coors Light and Mike’s Hard Lemonade. (I’m not sure exactly what their affiliation is with Chico other than the targeted dearth of college students with suspect tastes). Fortunately, the event had a team of volunteers to pour wines. We definitely took advantage of this detail and spent most of the scorching hot afternoon partying on the air-conditioned Roshambus with our Party Army Wine Club Members, local retailers and restauranteurs, and our Chico wine rep, Dusty Taylor. We even smoked the Hookah.

Meet Brandy Paulson. She’s been a member of our Party Army for a year and when she heard we were coming to her town, she volunteered to help out. We figured that she’d spend the afternoon pouring wine at our booth, talking up the brand, spreading her good cheer to everyone with ears, however another plan quickly materialized - The Hookah. Brandy went home to fetch her prized possession and she taught us how to blow smoke rings. The girl is a certifiable pro. She even worked at a Hookah Lounge in Vegas. In any event, she was so damned fun to hang around that we didn’t want to send her off to sweat it out in the Beer Garden. We HEART our wine club members!

Click to see a few more photos from the weekend.

I think most people, at one time or another, have probably fantasized about being in a rock band, touring in a tricked out bus, living that dream. And for those of you who haven’t, well, let’s just say that I’ve personally spent enough time in this dreamscape to make up for the realists. Fortunately, however, I had my chance to actually live this dream last month on our first Roshambus Tour. I flew to Phoenix, Arizona to meet up with ADAM SAVIN (our “Road Warrior” and National Sales Guru) and Daniel Ricciato (our “Lead Vocalist” and my partner in PR/Marketing Strategy). They had already braved the 18 hour trek to the desert for our Arizona distributor’s annual trade show and were bouncing between Tucson and Phoenix. Oddly, one of the highlights of the trip unfolded in the first few days in a Target parking lot of all places, when some people started beating on the door. “Oh my God! We looooooooooove Roshambo!” they exclaimed. Being so far from home and yet seeing how enthusiastic these people were to see us is what it’s all about. (It’s not quite the same as being on a Coldplay tour bus, of course, but it was definitely a rock star moment just the same!)

The reaction from strangers on the road was equally encouraging. Por ejemplo… Megan Baker, a hip and hot young clothing designer/president of Aysha Pahal, who we met at Rock ‘n Fish in Manhattan Beach, seemed genuinely blown away. “I just can’t believe this brand exists,” she excitedly announced over a glass of our Imago Chardonnay. “It seems like if you are under 40 nobody in the wine industry gives a shit about you.” Her excitement level spiked to 11 on the dial when we gave she and her fiance’ a tour of the Roshambus. As we sat on the bus, sipping vino, she made it quite clear that she was 100% behind this brand, and that she couldn’t wait to tell everyone she knows about us. I knew she was serious (though, Megan, if you haven’t yet… hint, hint, wink, wink, get on it!!!). Connections like this are the reason we hit the road in the first place. To take the message to the people. It’s one thing to rumble down the road like a moving billboard, but it’s another to share a real, personal experience with someone. Someone young, fun and passionate who will run out and tell ten other people. I always felt like Naomi’s concept and intentions behind her Roshambo Winery were something that would catch fire and burn a big hole in the wine industry’s traditional paradigm - especially after reading Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference.” It’s just a matter of finding the fans like Megan Baker - the Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen - who can help take Naomi’s Fine Wine/Art Adventure over the edge.

As for other notes from the road, we threw a kick ass party in Scottsdale at SIX Lounge and Restaurant. We flew our friends Chris Clouse and DJ Zaldie to perform their innovative mash-up of acoustic guitar singing and turntable wizadry. In case you’ve missed him during his weekly residencies at the Hard Rock Hotel in Vegas, or at Slide in San Francisco, or any of the other number of cities and hot clubs he frequently plays, Chris Clouse is one of the best and original artists bubbling up from underground. He employs an absurd number of effects and looping pedals in which he loops sounds and with each tap of his foot he adds layers upon layers before finally, he’s running tight circles around your imagination. His feet move like Mozart’s fingers and as you watch them tapping one pedal after the next, you’re never quite sure how the hell he just created that infectious multi-dimensional beat. And you might scratch your head - if only you weren’t dancing your ass off. We feel lucky to have teamed up with Chris Clouse and Zaldie for an unforgettable night. What’s funny is when we booked this event with Natalie Mier of SIX, she asked me how many people I thought we could bring into the place. She warned that Tuesdays in Scottsdale were usually dead in the summer and was afraid the place might be empty. Well, with Chris Clouse and the Roshambus in town, I’m happy to say that the place was going off. I’m sure we’ll be back for Round 2 in the coming months.

That’s all for now… I’ll have more reflections from the road soon!
Oh, maybe just one more thing… a photo to pique your interest. It’s just another night on our rock ‘n roll tour bus.

(Note: Daniel, button your shirt! I think you are scaring Natalie). Click here for MORE PHOTOS from the Roshambus Tour.

In mid-August, we’re taking the Roshambus on the road! While all the details haven’t been mapped out, we’ll definitely be blanketing Arizona (Scottsdale, Phoenix and Tucson) before heading up the coast of California (San Diego, Manhattan Beach and San Francisco). We’ll be sure to let you know the 5 W’s (Who, What, When, Where and Why) just as soon as everything is confirmed. Just one more reason to STAY TUNED to the Roshamblog! (Photo credit: Ed Aiona Photography).