Plungerhead Lodi Zinfandel 2013: Dark purple with slight hint of translucence; cherry, blackberry, vanilla on the nose; cherry, strawberry, sweet berries, blackberry, pepper, mocha, oak on the palate;
party-pleasing very easy drinker; casual wine fans will enjoy its fruity attack, lack of tannins, smoothness; starts to flirt with candy-jammy but wisely pulls back and delivers some layers of flavors; short finish with blueberry hints. The Monty Python-esque label reflects attitude of the wine. The wine is made by 3 Badge Beverage Corporation, which until November 2015 was known as The Other Guys. 3 Badge/Other Guys president August Sebastiani is a fourth generation California winemaker (you likely recognized the last name). The company is a negotiant operation, meaning they buy grapes or juice, then produce wine (rather than having vineyards of their own). 3 Badge Beverage purchased the old Sonoma Firehouse in June 2015 to convert to company offices. Researching the old building, Sebastiani found a number of documents revealing his family’s involvement in the building. His grandfather (also named August Sebastiani) was a volunteer fire fighter who worked in the fire house. The family discovered three services badges from his grandfather’s time as a fire fighter—active, retired, honorary—and thus the 3 Badge Beverage Corporation name. The wine division of the enterprise is 3 Badge Enology, while a spirits division is 3 Badge Mixology. Wine brands include Plungerhead, Lesse-Fitch, Pennywise, The White Knight, Hey Mambo, Moobuzz, and Gehricke. The Plungerhead effort is good value for price party-time Lodi zin. $12-13
Plungerhead website
Second photo: August Sebastian
