How do you show Mom the perfect Mothers’ Day experience? At least in our family, the day should include wine tasting. Following a great lunch just off Jack London Square, we walked a few more blocks to Urban Legend. Mom felt the love!
The Oakland Urban Wine Trail is home to a number of wineries and tasting rooms. Right on the water in Jack London Square is one of our favorites, Rosenblum Cellars. For this very special Mothers’ Day, though, we were ready to experience something new. A brief walk from the water is the tasting room for Urban Legend, our destination for the day.
The tasting room is entirely glass on the front face. We entered through the double glass doors with imposing “U” graphics to find a tasting room decorated with polished woods, slate chalk boards, and wine bottles galore. In addition to a tasting bar there were scattered tables and chairs, which made a big hit with our group. Even the brief walk had us a bit tired, given the enormous BBQ lunch we had just enjoyed.
Urban Legend has an impressive list of wines. To keep their tasting flights fresh, they use one of several large chalk boards to list the flight of the day. From anywhere in the room it is easy to see what taste is coming next. Convenient and environmentally friendly! There are additional flights offered that don’t change weekly if visitors have a specific style of wine in mind.
We met wine guide Molly, who welcomed us and gave us a brief orientation to the winery and this tasting room. Molly warned us not to fall in love with the tasting room because it was soon to move to their production facility. Imagine our joy to learn that the new tasting room would be immediately adjacent to Rock Wall! Alameda is becoming a wine and spirit lover’s paradise!
Molly led us through the tasting flight, adding informational and fun tidbits as we went along. Their 2017 Grenache Blanc was a hit with all of us. Made from Bokisch Vineyards grapes, we loved the notes of pink grapefruit and mangoes. Another favorite was their 2013 Pinot Noir. A classic Russian River Pinot, this wine had smoke and chocolate on the nose and fantastic explosions of plum and cherry on the tongue.
Before we were ready, we completed the tasting flight and promised Molly that we would be waiting expectantly for their new tasting room in Alameda. See you then!
About the Author: John grills a mean steak and is always in the market for another wine fridge. Believes that if a winery has more than 10 employees, it's probably too big. Buys wine faster than he drinks it, but who cares?
