Ale, wine trails reveal Oakland’s unique local flavor
Imagine tasting wines in unusual spaces like renovated warehouses, art galleries and on a waterfront on an estuary. When you follow the Oakland Urban Wine Trail, that’s exactly what you’ll discover, with nine wineries set in the city proper, including popular destinations like Jack London Square and the historic Swan’s Market.
As a collaboration between the Visit Oakland tourism organization and winemakers of Oakland, the entire trail can be toured over a relaxing two or three days, including time to eat at area restaurants, visit art galleries, and shop at local boutiques in between tastings.
“We wanted to showcase a wine experience that is truly unique to Oakland,” said Visit Oakland Marketing & Business Development Vice President Natalie Alvanez. “And it’s really a draw. Since launching the trail, our wine tasting room traffic is up 15 to 20 percent.”
Since Oakland’s city core obviously has no vineyards, the grapes are sourced from all over California, Alvanez noted. Still, beyond just tasting rooms, several of the trail locations are working wineries, meaning people can see the actual winemaking process at places like Dashe Cellars (55 4th St.), which also welcomes with a new outdoor wine garden.
Following the success of the Wine Trail, Visit Oakland launched the Oakland Ale Trail this past February. There are currently 13 breweries in Oakland, with 10 having tasting rooms open to the public, and an additional four more tasting rooms are scheduled to open later this year.
“This again is a unique experience, allowing craft beer lovers to explore our thriving beer scene and even get a free gift,” Alvanez said. “The Oakland Ale Trail features a passport program, where if you visit all of the breweries, you get a custom Oakland Ale Trail Growler.”
URBAN LEGEND CELLARS
Marilee and Steve Shaffer are boutique winemakers, crafting about 2,000 cases a year. Some of their archive wines are named in nods to Oakland neighborhoods, such as their 2008 Ironworks Lake County Nebbiolo/Sangiovese, and 2012 Gioia Locale (Joy-uh Lo-cali) Lodi Zinfandel/Petite Sirah.
Today, they feature more than a dozen wines, Above: Pacific Coast Brewing has more than 20 beers on tap, including both their own brews and guest beers. Below: Sophia Fries sits outside with her dog, Jaxson, at Rosenblum Cellars in Oakland.
including varietals not often seen in the East Bay area, such as a 2014 Sierra Foothills Barbera and a 2014 Clarksburg Tempranillo.
“Being outside ‘wine country’ liberates us to source grapes where a particular variety grows the best — not just what grows in our backyard,” Marilee Shaffer said. “We can celebrate the best of California terroir. It also liberates us to do what we do best — find the best fruit and seek great but unusual varieties.”
The sleek, modern tasting room is a bit hidden in a new apartment building development at Jack London Square, but the word is out, and you can often expect crowds. Bonus: the place is dog friendly.
ROSENBLUM CELLARS
Visitors to Jack London Square converge on this trim, contemporary tasting room framed by huge windows overlooking the marina. There’s plenty of seating inside — it’s almost a restaurant space — and room to stretch out on the patio to soak up Oakland’s sunshine, too.
Zinfandels and Rhone style wines are the specialty here, for Syrah, Petite Syrah and such; owner Kent Rosenblum particularly likes single-vineyard grapes sourced from Sonoma and Alexander Valley.
This is also a fun place for activities alongside wine sipping. A robust events calendar offers delightful attractions such as “Hey Girl Bingo!” hosted by Drag Queen Shelix, karaoke, trivia nights, live music and chef demonstrations.
ALE INDUSTRIES
As one of Oakland’s original breweries, this project from co-founder/ brewmaster Morgan Cox and co-founder Stephen Lopas offers a charmingly rustic, stripped down vibe in its warehouse-style tasting room. A rough wood ceiling soars above wood picnic and high-top tables, a concrete floor and a wall of taps.
For the beers, the theme is local, with names like East Bay IPA, Beast Oakland, Fruitvale Grind and Golden State of Mind, a lovely “California Tea Beer” made with California-grown ingredients including oats, barley, wheat, fresh coriander, chamomile and sweet orange peel.
Seasonal beers shine, too, with intriguing flavors and interesting backstories. The chocolate-toned Nine Live Porter, for example, is brewed in celebration of Ale Industries’ newest brewery employees — two friendly cats named Amber and Porter.
Be sure to ask your tasting host about the BioEnergy Beer commitment, too. It refers to the brewery’s pioneering technologies to save energy and reduce waste, including using BioDiesel fuel for powering the facility, forward-osmosis filtering for recycling wastewater and more BioDiesel fuel for running the beer delivery trucks.
PACIFIC COAST BREWERY
An East Bay favorite for three decades, the taproom charms with weathered brick walls, antique carved wood arches above the brass-plated taps and its backyard beer garden set with a fire pit and comfy Adirondack chairs.
Still, it’s the beer that draws folks in droves, done with all-grain brewing systems, barrel aging and new-age souring methods. Brewmaster Paul Wichelman changes the tap line-up frequently, luring us with suds such as a Dove Rider Belgian W, the adorably named Rye Ruv Ru Rye IPA White Ale, and a Leviathan Imperial Stout Russian style beer.
The team also share the love, showcasing guest taps with craft beers primarily from the Pacific Northwest.
This is a terrific place to linger, too, over a full meal drawn from the elevated pub menu. Maple bacon crispy Brussels sprouts rock, as do the Not Yo’ Nachos built of La Finca tortilla chips, Gray Whale Pale Ale roasted carnitas, aged cheddar, housemade frijoles negros, sour cream and pico de gallo.