Bright strawberry/red watermelon color; watermelon, strawberry on the nose; big watermelon, strawberry, cran-apple, cherry, lemon, pink grapefruit on the palate.
Full fruity flavors (not sugar), dry, good acidity (3.28 pH), crisp, fresh fun wine that makes you long for a summer day by the pool; 89% pinot noir, 11 viognier.
Made by 3 Badge Beverage Corporation, formerly named The Other Guys. 3 Badge/Other Guys president August Sebastiani is a fourth generation California winemaker (you likely recognize the last name). The company is a negotiant operation—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 with the firefighters. His grandfather (also named August Sebastiani) worked in the firehouse as a volunteer fire fighter. 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 Hey Mambo, Plungerhead, Lesse-Fitch, Pennywise, The White Knight, Moobuzz, and Gehricke. $10-12
3 Badge website
Second photo: 3 Badge Beverage headquarters
