One or two of my friends are aware of my nostalgic soft spot for anything from RH Phillips. The winery is located in Yolo County, and we used to drive through/past Esparto to get to Vanessa's parents' house up in Lake County. Some Aggies have their Sudwerks, I have my RH Phillips. We would buy their down brand (with the picture of the woman carrying a bag of grapes on her back) at Albertson's for $4.00. For that price, and considering that we got Merlot of which I'm not generally a fan, it was delicious. After college I upgraded to the Toasted Head. Their Giguiere Ranch Red whose front label didn't say a damn thing about the wine, but was just a larger version of the bear-breathing-fire logo was one of my dinner party staples, even if I could only find it at World Market. It was a crowd pleaser, and plenty yummy.
Now it appears that RH Phillips is undergoing a bit of a brand revamp. I don't necessarily care enough to research this fully, and the brands' websites appear to be under construction, but I think that my two products have both been phased out. I just can't seem to find them in the store or online. This brings up two questions for me. First, what's to become of cork amnesty? Since it was largely the RH Phillips brand whites rather than any of the Toasted Head that practiced it, I'm left to wonder if the company's abandoning the concept. Second, will they offer a suitable replacement for my beloved table red? Their new Night Harvest line should be fun to explore, and I appreciate that they've stayed within their familiar aesthetic for the graphics, but I don't like having to replace old favorites.