We’ve all seen the adorable social media pics of couples at wine and paint nights, holding up their masterpieces and making cringe-worthy puns in the caption. Pinot’s Palette Alameda reached out to the Bliss and invited us to their one-year anniversary soiree—the perfect opportunity to surprise my boyfriend with a cliché date.

Visiting a new winery is a thrill that never gets old! We were very excited to see that a winery had opened across the street from the Rock Wall Wines tasting room in Alameda. With great anticipation, we had our first tasting experience at the Building 43 Winery.

Memorial Day weekend is full of promise and excitement. Add to that excitement the extra thrill of a wine club pickup, and you have the recipe for a great weekend. Properly enthused, we set off for the Rock Wall Wine Company to kick off summer.

Most people love spending an evening enjoying art, or wine, or live music. Combining any two of these activities and you have scored major good-spouse points. Put all three together? That was exactly what happened when we recently visited Pinot’s Palette in Alameda.

The Rock Wall Wine Company pairs great wine with amazing views of San Francisco. This is amazing on a sunny afternoon, but can this pairing work on a rainy day? It was time to pick up December’s wine club pack and El Niño was in full force, so this question was about to be answered.