Roshambo – A New Jewel

Recently memories of the game of Jan Ken Pon that we played when I was in grammar school were brought to the surface by, of all things, the opening of a grand, new winery on Westside Road. It is called Roshambo, which is another name for our old paper, rock and scissors game. Roshambo Winery, at 3000 Westside Road, Healdsburg, is a family affair, owned and operated by Naomi Brilliant, granddaughter of the late Frank Johnson whose Dry Creek Valley vineyards provide the excellent fruit for most of the Roshambo wines.

Architect Jacques Ullman and the family worked together closely to assure that Roshambo would be totally unlike any other winery in the world. Spacious as it is, with its three buildings dedicated to the business and art of winemaking, it decorates rather than intrudes on the landscape.

Starting from the western end, the first building speaks of production activities, with its all aluminum siding. The middle building, with a transitional finish of aluminum and stucco, contains the winemaker’s office, the laboratory and two separate, individually temperature controlled barrel rooms. The third building, the hospitality and art center, blends a soft stucco exterior, with a smooth interior of Plexi-glass, rubber and steel.

The name Roshambo came about when the family was preparing to build its winery. Roshambo, the game, was a thread stretching across three generations, linking the Japanese heritage of Tom Johnson’s wife, with his PhD studies of children’s culture and children’s games, and to his children, Naomi and Morgan, who played Roshambo in their schoolyard in Tokyo where Tom was teaching at Waseda University.

Roshambo’s focus will be on Syrah, Zinfandel, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. Everything except the Zinfandel is available now for tasting, at no charge, in the hospitality and art center at the winery.