The following is courtesy of Toasted Head.

In 1973, the Giguiere brothers returned home to the Dunnigan Hills farm in California's sleepy Yolo County where they'd grown up. First they tried raising sheep (and discovered fast that sheep use almost zero percent of their brains), then they tried wheat (turns out wheat makes almost zero money).

Next? They planted wine grapes in Dunnigan Hills. A first back then, in 1981. And a big risk. Wouldn't bet the family farm on grapevines, experts advised.

But that's precisely what they did.

When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade: Make insanely good wine.

When their first crop came up for harvest in 1983, no one would buy the grapes. Unproven region, they all said. So the brothers started their own winery. Named RH Phillips after their grandfather, the winery grew fast and became the pioneer for wine production in Dunnigan Hills.

And hang your hat on a lush, barrel fermented wine that defies expectations.

Still restless, still exploring, in 1995 the brothers pursued boutique winemaking using grapes from their decidedly unfashionable, hence less expensive, region. They loved how barrel fermentation and aging-totally boutique methods-created rich toastiness in their wines.

One day when barrel tasting, our founder noticed the letters "TH" stamped on the end of a barrel, and asked his winemaker what they meant. Turns out "TH" refers to "Toasted Heads" – indicating that the barrel heads (the tops and bottoms) had been toasted during barrel making. That's it, he thought. That's what we'll call these wines.

Get an EXTRA $1 OFF select Toasted Head wines when you use this month's online coupon! (Good May 2 through May 29, 2012.)

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