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March 29, 2006
Don Sebastiani & Sons Revs Its Engine With New Luxury Label
Best known for offering upscale wines at moderate prices, Sonoma-based Don Sebastiani & Sons today announced the release of a new luxury label -- Used Automobile Parts --
to be distributed nationally through its Three Loose Screws division.
The name "Used Automobile Parts" keeps with company tradition for outlandish and creative names. "We took a look at the established luxury brands of the New World, like Screaming Eagle, Opus One and Hundred Acre, and we noticed many had one thing in common -- a made up name. So Dad came up with Used Automobile Parts. There's no story behind it -- other than it's an arbitrary collection of three words that you most likely won't forget. And despite rumors to the contrary, it's not a play on NAPA Auto Parts," said Donny Sebastiani, Jr., company Marketing Director.
The wine is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Verdot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec, sourced solely from Napa Valley vineyards. Both the Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon are from a ranch in Calistoga, while the Petite Sirah was sourced from Chiles Valley and the Merlot from Yountville. The Malbec was grown in Rutherford. The 2002 vintage is a wine with "rich extract and refined structure," Sebastiani said. "We recommend pairing it with beef and wild game, such as elk loin, venison and pheasant."
Used Automobile Parts is packaged in elegant bottles featuring a sophisticated script of 22-carat gold, directly screen printed and fired onto each vessel. The trio comes in a stylish presentation box that features a certificate with the winemaker's tasting notes and an artistic rendering of each closure.
The Bordeaux-style blend will be sold at retail in three-bottle packs for $150, or $50 per individual, 750 mL bottle.
Each bottle in the pack will feature a different closure -- the increasingly popular screw cap, the ZORK from Australia and the relatively new, German-engineered Vino-Seal, said Sebastiani. "It's three times the fun for the consumer. We're big believers in alternative closures. When it came to choosing one seal for our most exclusive wine, we were stumped, so we decided to use three and make it a package deal," Sebastiani explained.
Don Sebastiani & Sons is a family-owned wine negociant firm specializing in the marketing of upscale, but moderately priced varietal wines. Principals Don Sebastiani and sons, Donny and August, are third and fourth generation California vintners and merchants. The company is headquartered in Sonoma Valley and has a winery in the Napa Valley. Don Sebastiani & Sons markets two separate portfolios, the Three Loose Screws Wine Company and The Other Guys. Don & Sons was recently named American Winery of the Year for 2005 by Wine Enthusiast Magazine, as well as Winery of the Year for 2005 by Gomberg, Fredrikson & Associates, a leading wine industry consulting firm. Its Pepperwood Grove and Smoking Loon brands were both named Impact Hot Brands of 2005 by M. Shanken Communications, publisher of The Wine Spectator and Impact Newsletter.
And About The Wine:
Winemaker's Comments:
Dark brick red with rich cassis, black cherry and plum integrated with cedar-scented French oak. The palate has firm tannins with silky edges bursting with heavily extracted plum fruit, huckleberries and dried currants, lightly spiced with exotic Tahitian vanilla, cinnamon and faint clove. This wine is the wonderfully complex balance of all five Bordeaux varietals grown in the Napa Valley. It is crafted to be a luxury cuvee from its youth with free run wine racked into 70% new French oak, racked by gravity five times and bottled unfined and unfiltered under three different non-cork closures: the increasingly popular screw cap, the Zork from Australia and the German engineered Vino-Seal.
Serving Suggestions:
UAP is a wine with explosive fruit and massive structure. This wine is best with the quality cuts of beef, such as prime rib, Beef Wellington, and filet mignon. UAP also pairs well with wild game, elk loin with truffles and porcini mushrooms, venison rolled with fresh rosemary, sage, and thyme, or pheasant stuffed with wild rice, dried fruit, and gorgonzola.
Technical Information:
Release Date: February 2006
Blend: 43% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Petite Verdot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 9% Malbec
Appellation: 100% Napa Valley
Alcohol: 14.5%
pH: 3.48
TA: 0.65 mg/L
Production: 500 equivalent (packaged in 2,000 three-bottle packs) cases
UPC: 8 33302 00141 9
Contacts
Don Sebastiani & Sons
Jim Knapp, 707-933-1704 ext. 200
Source: Press Release; “Don Sebastiani & Sons Revs Its Engine With New Luxury Label -- Used Automobile Parts,” SONOMA, California, March 27, 2006 & Donandsons.com.
Posted by fortna at March 29, 2006 11:09 AM
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