Cellar As Art Lab

During her studies, she took a class called “Clay and Glaze Technology” that changed her life. “I made a base glaze from scratch, distributed it into 20 cups, and was making chemical additions to each to make different color glazes when I had a lightbulb moment,” Shauna remembers. “‘This is the exact same process as blending wine! Whoa…winemaking is art.”

This realization happened to coincide with her parents’ sale of Rosenblum Cellars. She was game, then, to join them in building Rock Wall Wine Company in 2008. She’s since considered the cellar her art lab, experimenting with yeasts, tank styles, and even fermenting white and red wines together.

“I find so much joy in the whole process of winemaking,” Shauna says with a smile. “In art school, I think the biggest takeaway is that there are 1,000 solutions to any given problem. I totally apply that perspective and approach to my winemaking philosophy.”

“I love experimenting with blends,” she affirms, “but during the fermentation process, I’m an overprotective Jewish mother to my baby tanks of grapes.” As an actual Jewish mother to daughter Skylar, Rosenblum claims this status with authority.

“I feel very tuned in with my fermentations, monitoring their daily progress and talking to each one of them every day,” Shauna continues. “I know if they’re hungry for nutrients, grouchy from taking a long ferm run and need a big pump over to stretch out and eat some air, or if they’re getting towards the end of fermentation and just need some encouraging vibes—or even a day alone without me hovering.”

“I wish my wines a ‘happy birthday’ on the day they’re bottled, and wish for the rest of the world to engage in how amazing I already know they are.”

Facing the city across San Francisco Bay, Rock Wall is set in a former naval air station in urban Alameda, California—surroundings which Shauna prefers to wine country. “We have the best view in the world. Plus, we’re centrally located between all my vineyard sites, we’re surrounded by 10 million smart and curious wine drinkers, and the Bay Area is my home.”

She’s just as drawn to her wine industry community. “I’ve met some of the kindest, smartest, most impressive people in the wine industry,” she says. “These fine folks feel like family, and I’m grateful for all the information I’ve absorbed from them.” Rosenblum has found inspiration in winemakers like Carol Shelton, Heidi Barrett, and Amelia Ceja, as well as her own mother, Kathy, and San Francisco Chronicle wine critic Esther Mobley.

Her feelings about the wine industry aren’t all floral notes, however. Turning serious, Shauna says, “I’d like to see the bad people of the wine industry f*&# off. That list includes the folks perpetuating toxic masculinity and condescension to women; that general disrespect can all go… somewhere. It’s a strange industry in that alcohol is almost always present, so drawing a line in that blurry gray area of what’s appropriate and what’s wildly inappropriate has been difficult for this industry to grapple with.”

She still finds fulfillment in the challenges of her chosen profession, though. “I like to keep it moving,” she says with a glint in her eye. “I’m a wildly curious person by nature, and I think winemaking has been a good outlet for that because I can never know everything about wine.”

This curiosity prompts her to make an impressively wide array of wines, from Syrah to sparkling to little-known Italian varieties. For example, she says, “When I found Ciliegiiolo growing in a far-flung corner of the Tracy Hills, I had to make it. But not only did I have to make it, I had to call and email around until I found the foremost California expert on the variety who referred me to the foremost expert in the world, stationed in Italy.

“These guys were so excited that I was so excited to find out anything I could about this variety. Then I share all the info I’ve gleaned with my customers, and all of a sudden, we have a fascinating dialogue happening on so many levels. I just adore that type of conversation.”

Even an enthusiastic winemaker who loves to discuss her craft needs a rest—and a glass of wine. For Rosenblum, that wine is a classic. “Call me a basic bitch,” she chuckles, “but at the end of most days, I love a glass of my Russian River Chardonnay.”