Eve’s Wine 101ers: Wine Labels or what’s inside?

Once again we are faced with a plethora of wine choices that the novice has to choose from.  Instead of tasting the wine, or having it suggested to us by the sommeliers working in our wine stores that KNOW our tastes, we get…art.

Art and wine works.  But on what level?  A local friend of mine has “decorated” his wine cellar with the Marilyn Monroe wines.  They’re pretty and they look nice framing his collection.  Does he drink them?  Possibly.  Does he choose them over other wines at his disposal?  Maybe for the guest that believes in beauty over substance.  What do you say?

 This is my favorite as I could use these labels to be Frank about the wine.  What is it?  Who cares?  I think I’d rather buy the label to label a wine gift…for fun.

Next comes Kill – I – bin – bin which has to be an Aussie wine but I’m afraid to try it as it’s a wee bit threatening.  Especially if I’m home alone reading pulp fiction:

Next up would’ve paired well with Brittany Spear’s circus tour.  And, is the Divine Light just H2O?:

Lastly are the pretty ones. With real (?) embroidered labels.  Now, I might choose that over the voluptuous Marilyn to frame my collection.

(I wrote about Designer Daily labels a year ago.  These are their latest winners.  The link for all of this was sent in to me by a reader I like to call Angie Baby. http://www.designer-daily.com/25-brilliant-wine-label-bottle-package-designs-1808)

10 thoughts on “Eve’s Wine 101ers: Wine Labels or what’s inside?

  1. Eve,

    I am guilty of buying wine because of an interesting label. I have found some fun stuff, sometimes it was worth it sometimes it wasn't.

    For me buying wine because I liked the label is just a fun way of trying new wines, especially if they are under $20.00.

    Some wines I have tried because of the label, Three Blind Moose, Reflections, Truth, just to name a few.

  2. You know, if I think back, I have no doubt that I, too, have bought a wine based on an interesting label. And I like your idea of experimenting at a certain price point. Good point Susan! I'm taking my snob wine-label attitude back to the store!

  3. Nice blog entry, Eve! 🙂

    I, myself, buy a lot of my gift wines based on the label/packaging. Sometimes a picture IS worth a 1,000 words! There ARE some nice wines out there, too, which have cute, gimmicky labels. Finding a visually cool wine that also tastes good is nice bonus!

  4. SOO guilty of that… Sometimes, they taste good, sometimes, they don't.. but I LOVE LOVE LOVE labels…

  5. Thanks for commenting here and on Facebook Sabine! Feel free to share any of your favorite finds!

  6. One interesting winery we enjoyed in Santa Ynez was Artiste (also one in Healdsburg). The wine labels are artist's paintings and I am guilty also of buying a couple just because of the label. Two wines that intrigued me were the labels of Christina LoCascio's prints that were painted with wine and the other a painting by Aldo Luongo, the label of the painting "A Good Year," of his father evaluating a glass of wine. I've attached the link so you can see. Neat place to go, as you can also draw or paint at the tasting room and there are books and easels of people's artwork who have stopped in. Not sure if they still do it, but you could also buy wine kits to make your own wine, which comes in a paint bucket. A fun place! http://www.artiste.com/index.cfm?method=homepage.showpage

  7. Back in the days when I was living in PA and just learning about what I liked, I definitely used labels as a way of making a decision. Got some nice surprises, and some not-so-nice ones, too!

    Denise

  8. We bought Poizin and Antidote at Armida in Sonoma JUST because of the bottle, lael, and name

  9. One of my faves is the Silver Birch Sauvignon Blanc. I'll email you a photo of it. Mega-cool looking bottle, and a decent wine, too, especially for hardcore foodies. I found it at Cost Plus World Market.

Comments are closed.