Vestal Claret was created in 2005 by Phil Swanson with Simon Tuozzoli as an idea for an occult heavy metal / death rock project. Simon was running the studio Phil was recording at and asked if he would take part in the Vestal Claret recordings. "Blood Oath" and "The Templars Idol" were the first tracks spawned from this meeting.

Their name is an euphemism for virgin blood.