From its very first note, R&B Cellars has delivered premium wines infused with the musical passion of its owners, Barbara and Kevin Brown.
Barbara, a jazz singer, and Kevin, a jazz pianist, had no idea that Kevin was launching a winery back in 1997, when he bottled 230 cases of a luscious Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. At the time, Kevin was the National Sales Manager for Rosenblum Cellers, and he thought it would be fun to make a high-end reserve Cabernet as a side project. This first release was an immediate hit—winning critical acclaim and the Vinalies d’Argent in Paris in 2000.
From there, things just got better. Today, R&B Cellars creates a terrific, diversified portfolio of 12 high-quality wines that are value-oriented. Each wine sports a different catchy jazz-related name like, Saxy Syrah, Swingsville Zinfandel, and Pizzicato Petite Sirah. The wine bottles are graced with lovely labels presenting intricate paintings of musical notes and treble clefs by accomplished artist Mimi Stuart.
Although the Browns still consider the Cabernet Sauvignon to be the winery’s flagship varietal, all of their wines receive many accolades. In fact, every R&B Cellars wine has earned at least one score of 90 points or more in major wine competitions across the country. The wines of R&B Cellars are enjoyed at a number of restaurants and retail shops across the United States, in several countries in Africa and Central America, and in Hong Kong.
R&B Cellars pours its wines in a cooperative tasting room, Alameda Point Vintners at Rock Wall Wine Company, located on an old naval airbase in the heart of the blossoming East Bay urban wine scene. The gorgeous space was created from two old airplane hangars, and the giant doors remain, revealing fantastic views of the San Francisco Bay.
For Barbara and Kevin, whose goal is simply to make wonderful music and wines that swing, life couldn’t get better than this.