I know… I know. I haven’t updated the Roshamblog in a while. Mil disculpas! Pero, estoy in Suramerica! I’ve been wandering around Ecuador for the past couple of weeks. In fact, last week Naomi and I rang in my 31st birthday in style… in the Galapagos. But unfortunately for me, Naomi returned to California a few days ago… citing something about running a business and being a mom. You know, r-e-s-p-o-n-s-i-b-l-i-t-i-e-s. An art I haven’t quite mastered, aparently. Well, since she left I’ve gotta say that I’ve been a bit LONELY.

However, yesterday a gift landed in my inbox in the form of a “roshambo winery” google alert. Some months ago some folks from WineTaste TV - a wine-related video blog - interviewed our wine hero and just this week posted it on their site. And ever since I got the google alert about it, I’ve been spending an obscene amount of time in internet cafes watching the interview. Especially the first 9 seconds in which she introduces herself while losing a round of Ms. Pacman. I think she looks totally, unfathomably adorable. (I miss you Naomi!) See for yourself… Don’t miss this clip featuring Naomi in our new tasting room!

And I promise, when I return to the states you’ll be hearing much much more from me. Especially in regards to our 6th Annual Rock, Paper, Scissors Championship - to be held at Cornerstone Place on June 7th.

Stay tuned and salud!

“Hey Scott! You sure haven’t blogged in a while.”

“Scott! What’s going on with the RoshamBLOG?”

“Hey Scott! Writer’s block?”

“Scott! Cat got your tongue?”

“Is everything okay with you and Naomi??”

“Do you still get paid to write the blog even when you don’t?”

“Scott! Scott! Scott!” BLOG, BLOG, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, AHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I am sorry people! Sorry to the Roshambuddies who I’m sure, hang on my every Blog post. So, so sorry. Sometimes, life just catches up with me. Or sometimes… (wink, wink, to the people *upstairs* holding a gun to my head)… there are more pressing issues to address than the blog… like our snappy new PRESS KIT or the smoking hot new PRESS RELEASE. It’s not like I’m twiddling my thumbs!

In any event, life has been BUSY here in the world of Roshambo. For one, we just got back from our ROSHAMBUS TOUR. Here’s a few Flickr photos from the road. (A lively account of the Tour and reflections from the road are soon to follow, but I just wanted to get something on the site so that Naomi, and the other people upstairs might point that barrel in a different direction.) And the Roshambus has made some other key appearances recently. One that comes to mind is our friend Malisia Petropoulos’s First Annual Lingerie Party. This wasn’t open to the public, or to our Roshambuddies (sorry), but it was something that I’m sure as hell glad I didn’t miss. If it is some small consolation, here’s a photo of our Wine Hero Naomi Brilliant on the red carpet with famed Playboy Bunny Malisia. Enjoy!

That’s Hot.

Okay, gotta run. I’m working on a post about our Roshambus Tour.

The North Bay Business Journal recently announced their “40 Under 40,” which means the paper set out to find “40 young leaders under the age of 40 who are having an impact on business and communities in the region.”  We’d like to congratulate Naomi Brilliant for her inclusion on this list.  Though we have an amazing staff here, she is our visionary and linchpin.  Simply put, without Naomi Brilliant, there is no Roshambo Winery.

NAOMI BRILLIANT, 34, Owner and President

Since starting the winery in 1999, Naomi Brilliant has been fueled by the desire to “make wine culture fun and bring it to every lifestyle.” Every element of the winery is infused with Ms. Brilliant’s personality and the irreverent attitude that has become the brand’s trademark. But the winery isn’t all image, garnering awards and distribution in more than 25 states. As president, creative and marketing director, Ms. Brilliant said she has a hard time describing what she does at Roshambo “because it covers pretty much everything including taking out the garbage.” Most-admired businesspeople: “Ruth Reichl, editor in chief of Gourmet magazine and author, because she makes it all personal and fun. Robert Mondavi, when I’m told I can’t do it, I think of him and how he did it.”

In case you missed it on Saturday, the Press Democrat brought news of the demise of edgy Wine X magazine. After ten years, hipster publisher (and friend of Roshambo Winery) Daryl Roberts has finally called it quits. Our pirate hats go off to Daryl for his decade of dedication to briging wine to a younger crowd. And for all of you who missed out on the fun, here’s a story he wrote a few years back about our Wine Hero.

This morning Naomi woke up to a pleasant surprise when the Press Democrat landed on her lap. On the front page of the Food & Wine section was an incredibly well written and in depth feature about her plans for Roshambo 2.0. It wasn’t a surprise that the story came out, only that it was soooo overwhelmingly positive, that the writer got it right. “Reports of Roshambo’s death have been greatly exaggerated,” reads opening line. And as Naomi’s eyes scanned the rest of Virginie Boone’s piece, her face was lit with a smile that was bright enough to power all of Sonoma County. It’s one of the best stories she’s ever read about herself or the winery. And if you click here (and sign in, anoooooying) you can see why.

It’s hard to imagine that you haven’t heard of Michelle Wie by now. Even if you aren’t too keen on televised golf or anything having to do with penalties and handicaps and sand traps and the kind of infuriating frustration that makes you wing your $375 Big Bertha driver into the pond, you probably know her face. At the very least, thanks to a cool $10 million in endorsements last year, the teeny Wie-ny golf sensation is wedged somewhere in the double helix of our collective buy-now! gene. Even though I love golf and yelling “Fore!” and the donuts that the cart make on steep wet fairways, I don’t follow the PGA let alone the LPGA. So I haven’t thought much about Michelle Wie one way or another over the past several years that she’s spent competing in men’s tournaments. Until yesterday, that is, when I was trolling ESPN.com to avoid the boredom of my blank screen. I caught an interesting verbal volley about Wie and other related columns that got me turning about the similarities between her narrative arc and ours.

Our Wine and Golf Heroes seem to have some things in common. Not just because “they are both brazen Asians!” (in the words of one tactless friend of mine with a rhyming disorder), but because they are young female mavericks who are fist-fighting convention. Both fearlessly dove into worlds in which they stuck out like, well, like teenage girls on the professional men’s circuit. But most importantly, both Michelle and Naomi are poised to make and embrace a major gearshift in dreams. Wie will likely enroll in Stanford in the fall and Naomi is creating the curriculum for Roshambo 2.0. Ultimately, their stories are worth following because as Gonzo noted, “Weird heroes and mould-breaking champions exist as living proof to those who need it that the tyranny of ‘the rate race’ is not yet final.”

In 1970, my late grandfather, Frank Johnson retired to Healdsburg with dreams of the good life. He purchased apple and prune orchards and soon replanted those 55 acres with vines just off of Westside Road. His labor of love was well received and before long, he became one of the first vineyard-designated growers of California, most notably selling grapes to Chateau St. Jean. Most of my childhood summers were spent on the vineyard, running around playing hide and seek and riding four-wheelers with my cousins and younger brother, Morgan. I simply fell in love with the wine and vines. So after my grandparents both passed away, I felt an impulse to leave Portland, OR and my photography career behind to fulfill Frank Johnson’s dream of building a family winery on his land.

Of course, if I were going to pick up and go, to throw my heart and soul into this vast undertaking, I knew that the winery would have to reflect a certain playful and irreverent spirit. It had to be a living, breathing artistic endeavor. My goal was to cultivate a snob-free culture that would appeal to people like my friends who had always assumed wine was too esoteric and exclusive. I just wanted to demystify it - and I believe we succeeded. With our quirky events like our Pirate Proms and Drag Brunch and our annual Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament, we have always tried to be true to our mantra, “Fighting for Fun in a Winey World.”

Many of you may already know that Roshambo Winery is moving out of its current facility at 3000 Westside Road in mid-January. I assure you we are not gone forever. For a year or so, during the construction of our new tasting room, we will temporarily reside in a custom RV that reflects our creative, unconventional spirit. This Roshambus will be parked just down the road on the site of our future home - 2450 Westside Road. And yes, the new tasting room will be just as stylish and daring as the old one, in design as well as content. Among the art to be permanently on display will be “junk art” by Sebastopol artist Patrick Amiot and ceramic work by Todd Barricklow of Santa Rosa. The new incarnation of Roshambo will be the same in many ways, just smaller and more manageable.

I’ll be the first to admit that we were overzealous in the sheer scope of the last facility. It put immediate pressure on us to become a 50,000+ case winery. And to be quite honest, with the birth of my beautiful baby boy Justice four years ago, I’ve reconsidered my drive to build an immediate national brand. I’d much rather create 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. And unlike a certain political philosophy recently popularized, I knew I didn’t want to just “stay the course.”

I’m happy to report that Roshambo Winery is still very much alive and kicking. Despite a few swirling rumors, our brand has never been on the block or bankrupt. We will continue our commitment to making excellent wines and creating an accessible wine country atmosphere. And while we will surely face some challenges during this evolution, that same irreverent soul that won the hearts of our Party Army Wine Club members and many others, is coming along for the ride. After all, Roshambo was never about the facility itself. Roshambo is all about a brazen spirit, a sea change, a new wine culture, and most importantly… You!

Thanks for your continuing support of the brand throughout the transition. I promise it will be better than ever before.

Sincerely,

Naomi Brilliant

Wine Hero

Funny, huh? Unfortunately, The Onion doesn’t report the “real news.” And therefore, Naomi’s snip scissors didn’t work so well at the World Rock Paper Scissors Championship in Toronto last month. After soundly defeating some chooch on a team called “The Shockers” in the first round with a strong rock…

Naomi had to face another Shocker in the second match. Poor Naomi was up against a wall of loud, overly adrenalized guys waving their foam fingers in her face. And unfortunately, that kind of frat homefield advantage was insurmountable and her scissors were crushed.  But don’t worry, Naomi didn’t walk away from the tournament empty handed.  She proved herself to be one of the top 256 RPS players in the world.  And as World RPS founder Doug Walker says, “That’s a resume stuffer.”  So good work Naomi!

Me on the other hand, that’s a different story.  For the third major tournament in a row, I have been whipped in the first round.  I consider myself one of the top 500 players in the world, but I have a lot of work to do to join the elite competitors.

We’ve always kind of feared that if we set foot in a church our skin would immediately bubble and fall off in sheets, but this morning, our worst fears were confirmed. At 9:14 a.m. we received an email from one of our fire-and-brimstone Wine Club members. Perhaps he has read Sinners at the Hands of an Angry God a few too many times, but after seeing the Tattoo Art Show on our walls he flat out canceled his membership to our Party Army Wine Club.

“I was fairly disgusted by the art on your walls,” he said. “It was as if hell had advanced to Westside Road.” Oh God. How did he know! But everyone, calm down. Don’t worry. Stan is gonna pray for us. Yup. We are in Stan the Man’s prayers. “I pray that God will show you the truth in your lost pursuit of zeal in 2006.” Phew! Anyways, I’m not sure why our irreverent approach to wine would have appealed to a guy like this in the first place, but Stan, thanks for showing us the light. You will be missed!

I can only wonder what he would have done if he saw our Naomi Brilliant’s series of twisted food photographs.

(Yes, before our Wine Hero created Roshambo from her grandfather’s vineyards and her own warped sensibilities, she was a budding photographer and artist in Portland. Perhaps this “Hamster Hoagie” is what led DETAILS magazine to say that “With a feather tattoo on the back of her left leg and a dragonfly on the back of her right, Naomi Brilliant is blessed with the graceful kind of morbidity of a Tim Burton movie princess.”)

In case you missed it, the South Bay’s Contra Costa Times recently ran a story titled, “WINE FUTURES: Movers and Shakers Aging to Perfection.” The piece featured “the next generation of winemakers… on a journey to take wine from the snobs and give it back to the people.” And while we love the attention, we’re not exactly sure why they picked her for the front page photo - especially since she’s not a winemaker. Naomi suspects that it’s because she’s lying on a bed of Pinot grapes. “Everyone always poses with a wine glass,” she says. “I wanted to do something different.”

To read the entire piece, click here.