Rosa Fierro Cellars
2017 Rosa Fierro Cellars Primitivo – A Hidden Gem To Be Found!
Photo ©Michael Kelly
The Winery
On the back of each bottle is inscribed the phrase “Big, Bold, Beautiful Wines for Beautiful People”. Nothing could be truer as this woman owned boutique winery specializing in limited small lot production remarkable.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Rosa Fierro opened Rosa Fierro Cellars in 2014 and recently left her full-time job and career as a legal assistant to concentrate 100% on the winery. “Rosie” as she is called, had worked in tasting rooms, made port in her garage and eventually worked with many of Livermore’s better winemakers at a production facility in Livermore. The winery is 100% woman owned. Rosie specializes in handcrafted, small batch production wines. Her grapes come from both Livermore and Napa Valleys. One of the key points of her winemaking is selecting the best grapes in the vineyard. Each varietal is limited to 50-200 cases. Those wines include Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay (both oaked and unoaked versions), Merlot, a Rosé (from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes), Zinfandel, Primitivo, two red blends (LVVC & Casa Red Blend), Petite Sirah and her latest being two distinct Cabernet Franc wines from different vineyards. Her total production is approximately 1,000 cases. She has won many awards in a relatively short time. The tasting room is located at 2245 South Vasco Road, Livermore. The backgrounds on her and her staff on the website are especially creatively done! Rosie’s other passion is photography, and her pictures adorn each unique label.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
In 2025 an article from the Bay Area News Group, Rosie was recognized as one of the top Woman-owned wineries in the United States (https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/1/1/10/livermore-valley-wineries-top-women-owned-wineries./).
Photo ©Michael Kelly
From her website profile:
Rosa Fierro
owner and winemaker
accountant, janitor, tasting room hostess
LOVES: Wine, photography, dogs, music, learning new things
HATES: Mayonnaise, peas, perfume, whispering, telemarketers, gum chewers, missing a good photograph
FAVORITE BANDS: Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Black Eyed Peas, Missy Elliot, Rose Royce, Prince, The Black Keys
FAVORITE WINE: Merlot
EPIC WINE MOMENT: Saving a bottle of 1973 Georges de Latour from flying through the windshield in a near car accident.
The Wine – “Wine is bottled poetry” – Robert Louis Stevenson
Photo ©Michael Kelly
I was looking for a fruity, refreshing medium-body wine to complement the dinner’s richness and spice. The choices were Zinfandel but those in the cellar were “too light” and would be overrun with the meal. Decided on this Primitivo and it was spot on! On the eyes a lush deep brick color and medium body. On the nose aromas of spices and typical earthiness of Primitivo. On the palate, plums, figs and coupled with brown sugar. Blackberry with bramble and pipe tobacco round out the fullness of the ruggedly soft Tempranillo. The finish provided a long and elevated spiciness and a distinct oak flavor. Alcohol level was 15.7% and only 75 cases were produced. This was a Gold Medal Winner at the 2020 San Francisco Chronical Wine Competition. Price was $32 at the time of purchase (2019), I believe this is one of her best production wines thus far!! Today many of her wines are flat out delicious and have won numerous awards.
Her Primitivo today, the 2021 vintage, comes from the Ravenswood Vineyard in Livermore and sells for $42/bottle. Rosie’s 2017 Primitivo will make my annual Best Wines tasted for 2026.
The Food and Wine Pairing – “Food without wine is a corpse; wine without food is a ghost. United and well matched, they are as body and soul: living partners” – Andre Simon
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Paired this evening with another favorite wintertime comfort food, Mongolian Beef. A delicious recipe slicing ribeye roast and various ingredients including canola oil, dry sherry wine, soy sauce, cornstarch, sesame seeds, water, baking soda, brown sugar, minced ginger, scallions and Flatiron Pepper Company’s Dark & Smoky peppers. They included Chipotle, Ancho and Habanero peppers. This provided a tasty sweet and spicy dish. Accompanied by long grain rice and a fresh garden salad including bacon and Reyes Point crumbled Blue cheese. Also sauteed fresh string beans in garlic were prepared.
This recipe is now both of our favorite with the texture and flavors.
The wine was perfectly suited for the meal with its boldness, earthiness and fruit providing a beautiful backdrop to each morsel.
Sláinte,
Michael Kelly
Uncorked! A Celebration of Livermore Grapes and Wines at Murrieta’s Well
Photo from LVWA
This is the culmination of the Uncorked Wine Competition held April 22, 2025. At the competition thirteen individuals comprised of professional judges and writers, assembled to judge wines produced solely from Livermore vineyards. The judges came from the East Coast, Central USA, Texas, Washington and California.
Photo from LVWA
This was Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association (LVWA) inaugural competition taking over for Tri Valley Wine Conservancy. Bringing in judges from around the USA was to garner a broader expertise in evaluating each wine to determine the Best of the Best and also those winning awards and medals at the event.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Outstanding awards were given to Las Positas Vineyards for 2024 Estate Albariño for Best White and to Wente Family Vineyards for their 2021 Limited Release Cabernet Franc for Best Red. Personally having tasted both at the event, they were both excellent , well deserving of their awards.
Additionally, all the Best of Class winners were pouring their wines:
Almost Famous Wine Company-2022 Dog Day Chardonnay
Concannon Vineyard-2020 Nina’s Cuvee
Concannon Vineyard-2021 Reserve Stampmaker’s GSM
Cuda Ridge Wines-2022 Reserve Mélange d’ Amis
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Del Valle Winery-2021 Cabernet Franc
Garre Vineyard & Winery-2021 Sangiovese
Las Positas Vineyards-2021 Estate Tempranillo
McGrail Vineyards & Winery-2021 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
Murrieta’s Well-2021 Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
Wood Family Vineyards-2022 Malbec
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Wood Family Vineyards-2024 Sauvignon Blanc
Also, each of the above wineries brought additional wines to be shared with guests. In addition to the wineries mentioned above, the following also provided their award-winning wines.
3 Steves Winery
Arroyo Cellars
Cellar 13 Winery
Charles R Winery
Darcie Kent Estate Winery
Fenestra Winery
Page Mill Winery
Rosa Fierro Cellars
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Sakura Winery
The Steven Kent Winery
The Uncorked tasting was set up on the grounds of Murrieta’s Well with tables and umbrellas as the day was a bit warm. Each of the wineries kept the wines in coolers to keep the wines at the proper serving temperature.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Just before the tasting event there was another event called The Varietal Seminar upstairs at Murrieta’s Well in the Barrel Room with Karl Wente of Wente Family Vineyards, Mark Clarin of McGrail Vineyards & Winery, Rhonda Wood of Wood Family Vineyards & Winery and Steven Mirassou of The Steven Kent Winery. I did not make the event but heard it was enlightening and provided some insights into the Livermore Valley wine history.
There was a live band playing in the shade of the winery building that filled the area but was not too loud to have engaging conversations.
Inside Murrieta’s Well cellar there was additional seating at a much cooler temperature with a dessert table. Wait staff were constantly strolling both inside and outside, presenting tasty morsels of exotic treats such as shrimp, vegetable ceviche, hamburger sliders, unique deviled eggs and many more items.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Even some of the winemakers were enjoying the cooler inside temperature like Rhonda Wood of Wood Family Vineyards.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
This was an event not to be missed in the future as LVWA went all out to provide the Best Winning Wines of Livermore as well as a venue with great music and exquisite food. Brandi Lombardi and staff are to be complimented. Two of the staff personnel (L to R) were Patty Powers (events) and Jenny O’Leary (marketing) who served as greeters and registered guests with engaging smiles.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Disneyland may have the motto “the happiest place on earth”, but LVWA and the Uncorked event may have surpassed and taken the title as everyone had smiles and laughs all throughout the event.
While attending wine events all over California for many years, this was in the top five and will not be missed in the future!
Sláinte,
Michael Kelly
https://californiawinesandwines.com
https://www.cellar13winery.com
https://darciekentvineyards.com/
https://www.fenestrawinery.com
https://www.laspositasvineyards.com
https://www.pagemillwinery.com/
https://www.rosafierrocellars.com
https://woodfamilyvineyards.com/
see also an Instagram Reel at: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0FVWPkf888MF5kgVzxwDTmsn71PoVG7Q5UMu9W6yoMj6x9U1pkfReeg42ZibrpMxgl&id=100064262820169&mibextid=Nif5oz