Virtual wine heads, unite!

There was a time in the wine world where a wine without a winery had no identity. Enter the age of the virtual winery. In the UK, the virtual wine has had a life for some time now. Buyers own brands or ‘BOB’s rule the day for the major supermarket chains in the UK. The US always seem to be around five years behind the UK in anything wine related and in this case it might be even longer. This phenomenon is changing as today anyone in the US with a cool label and some good juice has a chance to make it in the marketplace. All it takes is for a wine to show value for money and for the winery to have the proper connections to take the wine to market. The two wine labels that we will look at today have all of the above. Toasted Head is a brand that has been around for a little over a decade. The other wine that we will look at is Plungerhead. This label is the new hot brands of Don Sebastiani and his new company. Don had previously run his family's Sebastiani Winery.

Toasted Head was the brainchild of the innovative marketing team at the RH Phillips Winery. The ‘toasted head’ is a wine reference to toasting the heads of the barrel to give more intense smoky characters to the wine that will be kept in the barrel. Typically only the side staves are toasted in a barrel as this is the process to give the wood the ability to bend and form a barrel. Toasting the heads gives even more smoky character to the wine. Before the ‘Toasted Head’ brand was formed I knew a group of guys in Napa who called their rock band the ‘Toasted Heads.’ As the world’s largest wine company Constellation now owns the Toasted Head brand, it may have been financially advantageous for the Toasted Heads to have registered the name. Toasted Head is now in the stable of wine giant Constellation. Constellation is the largest wine company on the planet and gobble up brands like it is nothing. Toasted Head was sold by RH Phillips to Vincor of Canada before it was then consumed by Constellation.



The Chardonnay was the initial wine under the Toasted Head label. Bright fruit flavors with toasty oak components are its hallmark. Aromas and flavors include tangerine and pear fruit aromas highlighted by clove and nutmeg in this mouth-watering. This medium-bodied wine is aged in French and American oak, has a crisp acidity, a creamy texture and a long finish, with pear and toasty butterscotch oak flavors.

Toasted Head Chardonnay California, Retail $13.99 Warehouse $9.79

The Toasted Head Merlot is a worthy companion to the Chardonnay. Toasted Head Merlot’s multi-dimensional aromas of toast, anise, red berries, and leather lead to a bright raspberry and rich black cherry flavors on the palate that linger on the finish. A spicy mid-palate and a toasty vanilla finish complete the experience.

Toasted Head Merlot California, Retail $13.99 Warehouse $10.99

Plungerhead

There is ‘traditional’ and then there are ‘The Other Guys.’ Plungerhead was made by The Other Guys, a division of Don Sebastiani & Sons. Don and his sons Donny and August, third and fourth generations negociants, are recognized for delivering quality, value and doing things differently. Richard Bruno, Director of Winemaking, and his team select small lots of grapes from choice appellations to create balanced, expressive wines and creative blends. Plungerhead makes Zinfandel from selected prime vineyards in California. Plungerhead is one of a number of successful wines in the Don Sebastiani and Sons umbrella who now sell an impressive two million cases a year. Serious stuff!

Don Sebastiani & Sons mantra is to strive to produce quality wine at an approachable price, regardless of the outcome of a particular growing season.
Don Sebastiani states his philosophy: “When my great-grandfather, Samuele, first started in the wine industry more than 100 years ago, he made bulk wines and concentrate. My grandfather, August, focused on wholesale bulk wines and generic retail jug wines, and my father emphasized varietal wines. As fourth-generation Sebastianis, my brother and I want to direct our attention to making appellation-specific wines. Plungerhead is a perfect example.” Don Sebastiani continues to be at the top of his game. Other successful brands of his that we are working with are Talus, Smoking Loon, Aquinas and Hey Mambo.

Not only do the folks at ‘The Other Guys’ marketing make fun wines, but they believe in packaging innovations as well. Plungerhead is stoppered by a revolutionary wine bottle closure that combines the convenience and safety of a screw cap and the celebration of cork. ZORK is, easy to remove by hand, simple to reseal and is completely recyclable. To open the ZORK, one simply pulls the tear tab, unwinds it and removes it. As the ZORK is pulled out, you'll hear it pop. To reseal the bottle, the ZORK is pushed back in. No corkscrew. No crumbling. No cork taint. No worries. The ZORK covered Plungerhead is built for speed and convenience. Brilliant!

The Plungerhead ‘old vine’ Lodi Zinfandel has deep purple color with cocoa, vanilla, clove, and cherry pie aromas. Rich and sappy in the mouth with flavors of boysenberry preserves, cedar, dried raspberry, and coconut spice finishing with great depth from barrel oak aging. This is a Zin that has beautiful depth and richness and unlike many others, has a fine balance of fruit flavor and strength.

Plungerhead ‘old vine’ Lodi Zinfandel, Retail $16.99 Warehouse $12.99


Virtually signing off………….or am I?