'Bachelorette' rejection doesn't slow down Sonoma winemaker Ben Flajnik

Sonoma’s bachelor Ben Flajnik may have faced rejection from The Bachelorette’s Ashley Hebert on national television Monday night, but the day after he was back at work on his increasingly popular wine brand.Speaking from San Francisco, Flajnik said Evolve Winery, based in Sonoma Valley, is working on launching a new brand of value wines called “Epilogue,” which will be ready for sale in September. But he also now just may be Northern California’s most eligible bachelor. With his newly revealed single status, Flajnik said he has been receiving a lot of attention from single ladies.

“There have been quite a few submissions to the Evolve Winery website”" Flajnik said. “I think I have thousands of emails, but I haven’t looked at them.”Flajnik also said he hasn’t been paying much attention to his growing chorus of online admirers.

“The whole reason I’ve been able to maintain a level head is I don’t read the blogs, I don’t read Twitter,” Flajnik said. “That’s the best way I’m going to stay the same through this.”Concentrating on work also helps. “We’ve had a lot of exposure due to the show, and we wanted to expand into a different price bracket,” Flajnik said. “We wanted to be able to reach more consumers.”

On Evolve’s website, the 2009 and 2010 Sauvignon Blancs were priced at $19.99 a bottle, and the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon was marked $29.99 on Tuesday. The new wines they’re producing, a Chardonnay and a red blend, will be priced between $9.99 and $13.99, Flajnik said. They plan to sell the new product in select markets in California, New York, Texas and Chicago. “What we always try to do with our wines is over-deliver on product and not on price,” Flajnik said.