November 12th: Mossback Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 2013 November 8th: Mossback Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2014 November 5th: A Brief History of Matchbook Wine Company November 1st: Matchbook Dunnigan Hills Tinto Rey Red Blend 2012 I'll be reviewing a total of seven of their wines, so everybody get cooled down because it's about to get real hot up in here. This entire month on is dedicated to Matchbook Wine Company. Oh, and theВ GiguieresВ also make olive oil. He was busted and tied to a stake on MountВ Kaukasos where, in a constant loop, an eagle ripped him open and ate his liver.В Herakles (Hercules to the Romans) eventually freed him. Seeing how terrible the humans lived made his paternal instincts kick in, so he stole fire from Zeus and hooked them up. Prometheus was the Titan god of forethought, and he was given the job of creating mortal mankind out of clay. Keeping with the theme of fire, it features Prometheus from Greek mythology on its label. There's a Chardonnay and the company's first Bordeaux-style red blend. The Arsonist is a subset of the Matchbook label. Today they're constantly expanding their Tempranillo vineyards with the clones from Ribera del Duero, Tinta de Toro and Rioja. Their original plantings of Tempranillo from 1988 were the meh-whateverВ Valdepenas clone. This label is about the varietals that do the best in the warm climate of Dunnigan Hills: Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvigon, Syrah, and most awesomely. This label focuses on Sauvignon Blanc, and has one from Marlborough, New Zealand and one from Russian River Valley, California. Chasing Venus is named after Captain Cook's personal mission to study Venus while he explored the oceans of the Southern Hemisphere, discovering New Zealand and Australia. It has a Cabernet Sauvignon, a Chardonnay and a Malbec. Sawbuck (remember Lane and John's last $10 bill?) is their non-AVA-specific California label. They're sourced from Russian River Valley, Chalk Hill and their surrounding Central Coast. Matchbook Wine Company makes four different lines: Mossback is an old nickname for a farmer, and their Mossback label features Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon. He worked at Stag's Leap Wine Cellars and Deloach Winery before coming to Matchbook in 2005. He graduated from the University of California, Davis for viticulture in 1987. Phillips items except Toasted Head and put it under the watch of Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi.)Дan Cederquist is the Matchbook winemaker. In 2009 Constellation actually closed up shop of all R.H. (It was quite popular in restaurants back in the day but was driven off of a cliff under Constellation. Phillips, the whole theme being that picking at night was the best time to do so. You may remember the line titled Night Harvest by R.H. He was the first to start harvesting at night in Dunnigan Hills. John's brother Karl Giguiere runs the farming side of things. Today the entire company goes by Matchbook Wine Company. In 2008 the Giguieres broke ground for the construction of a new winery they called Crew Wine Company, named so because they were able to bring back a big chunk of their old crew from R.H. Vincor was sold to Constellation in June of 2006. That year they released a 2004 vintage of Matchbook that included a Tempranillo, a Syrah and a Block House red blend. Phillips and briefly attempted to enjoy retirement, but the wine life was calling to them. In 2005 they left their jobs as executives at R.H.

Phillips and Toasted Head to the Canada based Vincor in 2000 with a five year no-compete clause. With such a big triumph on their hands it was time to finally cash in on all their hard work, so they sold R.H. Toasted Head Chardonnay, named after the toasting of wine barrels, was born into immediate success.

After two years of work, they released a Chardonnay in a long-neck bottle that featured a bear breathing fire on its label. Then in 1995 they started work on a new brand that would change everything. Both lovebirds were big fans of Spanish reds and they planted their first Tempranillo in 1988. Phillps started to see some moderate success, so they continued to expand and try new varieties in their vineyards. When they were down to their last 'sawbuck' ($10 bill) R.H. They scraped by for a few years, living off of credit cards.