Toasted Head

My favorite wine of all times is Toasted Head Chardonnay by RH Phillips. It has been a favorite of mine for at least 5 years (since I have been legally of age to drink), but probably closer to 8 years. I rarely and do mean rarely buy it for myself. It seems to be one of those special treat moments that I splurge.

It is actually rather sad that I don't enjoy it more often since it is still under $15.00 a bottle. It ranges anywhere from $10.99 to 13.99. Once in my life I have seen it for $6.99 a bottle, I ended up buying 2 cases! I have introduced it to numerous people who say that it is a really good glass of chardonnay. It is rich and creamy with a butterscotch oak ending. It has minimal and I do mean minimal hint of a tropical flavor and a dash of vanilla (but it has taken me years of drinking it to pick up on the those flavors, or maybe just to able to identify them). Swallow doesn't like Chardonnay's but she enjoys Toasted Head (when I share, which is rare)! When Dempsey was introduced to it, he too bought and entire case. It is an easy drinking almost with any occasion chardonnay. Of course, I wouldn't purposely pair it with everything, but it is a great glass of wine after a long day, fantastic along side salmon or light fish.

I have never met someone who didn't like it...they might not have loved it like I do, but no one hasn't liked it, until Saturday! I introduce Seabiscut to Toasted Head and she immediately tells me I have extremely poor taste in wine. I then enlighten her that I just requested a case of Two Buck Chuck to be shipped to me. You would have thought I just shot her mom. She gave me the worst look in history and proceeded to tell me that she was going to teach me about good wine. That after she was done educating me on good wine and wine pairing that I would never even look twice at Toasted Head. I just started laughing and then wished her good luck.

The bottom line is I can't enjoy a $40 bottle of wine. I can't appreciate the fact that each glass is $10. I can't value the taste, the pairing of food, and desire to drink a certain vineyard from a certain year. It is kind of like a grown up car. I am a grown up an actual adult (whether I behave like one or not) I can't justify spending $35,000 or $40,000 on a grown up car (Cadillac, Jaguar, etc...). I perfectly content driving a honda, toyota, or the alike.

I will continue to enjoy my Toasted Head Chardonnay from California and will continue to save it for special occasions or moments when I feel like I want to splurge. I might continue to drink it more when Seabiscuit is around so I don't have to share with her. :)