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Good Label, Bad WinePretty packages are for suckers |
Everybody knows you can’t judge a book by its cover, but that doesn’t stop people from shelling out the price of two best sellers for one bottle of Shiraz. “Wine-label design has become a force in the last decade,” says Michael Osborne, creative director of the San Francisco–based Michael Osborne Design, who’s designed wine labels for nearly 20 years for clients like Chateau Souverain, Clos du Bois, and Rodney Strong. Cutesy animals, witty names, bright colors, and celebrity connections are all being used in packaging, and as soon as one—say, a kangaroo with a yellow tail—become popular, all of a sudden you’ve got a dozen marsupials with colorful appendages.
Now, it’s possible that if somebody’s willing to pay good money for sophisticated design, they’re also paying attention to the quality of the wine. Or not. CHOW visited a Safeway and a Trader Joe’s in San Francisco, and selected wines that appealed to us based on the design of their label alone. CHOW’s food editors and other staff sampled the wines and compared tasting notes.
Yellowtail Shiraz-Cabernet, 2005
Australia
THE LABEL: Osborne likes to call it the “era of crazy critters.” According to a recent survey by ACNielsen, 18 percent of the nearly 500 wine brands introduced in the last three years have featured an animal on their labels. Why? Because wine labels with animals outsell the non-critter competition twofold.
THE WINE: Yellowtail, widely credited with starting the “crazy critter” trend, sold a total of 7.5 million cases in the United States in 2005, making it the most imported wine in this country. The small print promised raspberry, oak, and soft tannins. Instead, we got a simple, sweetish wine that didn’t smell like much.
The Little Penguin Shiraz, 2005
Australia
THE LABEL: “I couldn’t resist myself, the penguin was so cute marching across the bottle,” said Jenelle Carlyle, a homemaker shopping in the wine section of a San Francisco Safeway. The label promised a “spicy and bold flavor.”
THE WINE: We found the wine flabby, not acidic enough, and—like Yellowtail—too sweet. “Like grape juice,” commented one editor. (For a great, inexpensive wine in the critter category, try Fat Bastard 2004 Shiraz instead.)
Candlewood Cellars Evenus Zinfandel Port, 2003
Paso Robles, California
THE LABELS: Both the Evenus port and Hahn Estates’ Cycles Gladiator labels are designed in the style of early-20th-century advertising, when Art Nouveau was established, Art Deco was on the rise, and artists like Jules Chéret and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec were working in the ad biz. On the Evenus label, the terra-cotta-on-parchment drawing of a woman in a sort of Grecian robe with lilies in her hair resembles an Alphonse Mucha print. One CHOW editor said the label made him feel as if he were discovering a port that had been tucked away for decades in someone’s cellar.
THE WINE: We imagined a room in Paris full of beautiful people sipping Evenus at the turn of the century. We tried it and stared at each other in a stunned silence. One of our food editors finally said, “This tastes like radioactive maple syrup.”
Puzzle Wines Merlot, 2004
Mendocino County, California
THE LABEL: Market research has shown that many wine buyers find classic, traditional-looking labels a turnoff. The Puzzle Wines bottle features a word-search puzzle with the words lush, currant, and chewy hidden in the grid.
Some producers have tried to make their wines more accessible through wit and irreverence. California-based Bonny Doon, for example, features illustrations by former Hunter S. Thompson collaborator Ralph Steadman on their labels, and has given their wines names like Cardinal Zin and Bouteille Call. Only their wines are good.
THE WINE: Wasn’t lush, didn’t evoke currants, and was more watery than chewy.
Alchemy Wines Hello My Name Is 2005 Syrah
Sebastopol, California
THE LABEL: The Hello My Name Is label is a reproduction of the familiar peel-off nametag. On the back of the bottle, the 2005 Syrah “speaks” to you in first person: “I’m seductive and casually intoxicating.”
THE WINE: Smells skunky and tastes like drinkable grape-flavored children’s Tylenol.
I agree. The worst wine I've ever tasted was last week when I picked up a bottle of "Mick Fleetwood's" wine. Horrible! Didn't even have his name on the cork.
This reminds me of the time my housemates and I received a bottle of Rodney Dangerfield red wine in a white elephant gift exchange. No respect is right; it was undrinkable (but really amusing!)
I was hoping to find some picks for good wine in this list as well.
I'm not a big wine drinker, and certainly no expert. We picked up a bottle of Pepperwood Grove merlot with a simple label for $4 on a Von's clearance rack. It smells good, tastes mild, and is oh so smooth. Someone else might diss it, but we enjoyed the entire bottle.
J. Garcia Wine has some very cool labels, and the product isn't bad at all.
I'm not surprised to see that the majority of mass marketed wines were overtly sweet and lacked substance. I'm dissapointed that the author didn't find any good picks in the list.
Here are a few fairly inexpensive, non-flashy labels for you guys:
Erraserez** - South American Cabernet
Rosemont - Australlian Shiraz
Montevina, Bogle, Ravenswood, or Rosenblum Vintners Cuvxe** - I think they all are Napa/CA Zinfandels (go for the more pricey one if a brand has two kinds. It's hard to find a decent cheap zin & it's RED, not white)
Kim Crawford - New Zealand Sauv Blanc
Caserillo del Diablo - Chilean Cabernet
Bouchlaine** - CA Pinot Noir...same with the zin, you get more for your money from this grape.
I hope you ENJOY!
The ** denotes my likely misspelling.
Even seeing that little Penguin gives me the shudders. For a while, it kept showing up at parties and bbq's. Its affordable but even at that price, you can do so much better.
A good wine with a fun label - and name!
Two Hands - Narly (sp?) Dudes - a 2005 Australian Shiraz.
I do, however, get scared by yellow kangaroos - at least, the wine kind.
I will now memorize these labels and avoid them when I'm feeling experimental. Can't wait for the good picks list-- I just hope I don't end up cross-linking the good labels with the bad!
I also don't have any grand delusions about skill at finding wines, but I've recently taken a shine to Red Truck red wine and Renwood Syrah. They both have purty labels and are decent, inexpensive table wines. I found them both at Trader Joe's for under $10.
another group of "animal wines" that do tend to be solid:
"Goats Do Roam"
i forgot the name, but i tried a red wine (yeah, dont remember the grape either, bu probably a cab or a merlot) with a fox on it. it was good in that very easy to drink way.
For my wedding shower the restaurant served Yellow Tail. It seemed really strong to me though I didn't mind the taste too much. By the end of the event, everyone was plastered including my mother-in-law. Which was good since she was to pay half the bill...it helped her get through the sticker shock.
For $10 or under:
Zeta Garnacha from Spain
Dehesa de Rubiales Alaia Spain
Cedar Knoll Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
Gouguenheim Malbec Argentina
These are actually fairly complex wines for the $$
They will blow away most of that mass produced stuff I see being talked about!
My suggestion is to find a good local wine shop with some young wine geeks who know a good value wine. You can find some really cool wines out there by doing that, but they won't likely be the ones that are mass produced on a large enough scale to get much airplay anywhere.
I tried the Goats Do Roam alongside Fat Bastard. I'll do a lot for a good pun....but IMHO, GDR is one of the worst cheap wines I've had. It was so bad that I'm secretly tempted to buy another bottle just to see if it consistently tastes like what I experienced. But I doubt it.
Fat Bastard was a winner on the other hand. It was a definite party-pleaser (meaning Yellowtails and Chateauneuf's all could imbibe).
Another BAD cheap wine experience with excellent design sensibility: Big House Red and Big House White from Bonny Doon.
I am in love with B.D.'s commitment to fun, eclectic (and solid) marketing maneuvers. But DAMN that is one bad bottle o' house wine. Still tempted to join the club to test some of their more "inspired" blends.
It's not a hard and fast rule, there are exceptions, but most wines with cute animals on the label are inferior values. Ditto for any winery that spends millions on advertising (like Yellow Tail) instead of its wines. Pay for wine, not marketing. Get to know a good wine merchant, take some guidance from them, and experiment a lot. Buy a wine for the look of its label and you'll get exactly what you deserve.
I agree on some fronts- that Penguin one attracted me and was awful. but on the other hand, Bonny Doon's Big House Red has an awesome label- front and back- and is a great wine for $10. Maybe not the best food pairing wine, but good to drink alone.
If wine labels could be a little more forthcoming then I don't think people would rely on cutesy design. They offer little to no guidance for the wine novice. Additives, fillers, artificial flavors or artificial colors? No indication whatsoever. Just a flowery list of adjectives and a relatively meaningless year. Why don't alcohols have to adhere to the FDA regulations for ingredient list and calorie content? Anyone know?
To find some info on what the government requires on wine labels:
http://www.winepros.org/consumerism/l...
In general, wine (even supermarket wine) has about the same calorie content regardless of the wine -- 110-120 calories per 5 ounce pour.
Montevina is one of my favorites -- it's actually made in Amador County, CA -- some great zins from there are actually reasonably priced.
I have to tell Im a young wine drinker. The first thing I was taught about purchasing wine was : Do not buy the wine with the "trendy" label. This became more and more apparent to me as I drank and traveled. If you notice, the "trendy" labels seem to appear in places where wine acts as not a compliment to food but a insult to you liver.
I love red wine and I have tried lots from the cheap to the very expensive (at a British Wine Society tasting). I generally avoid quirky labels as I expect them to be crap. When I am buying cheaper, everyday wines, I sometimes vary my selection with Rosemont, Hardys etc, but my favourite wine of all time, which I find extremely fruity and gorgeous, like blackberries, is Yellowtail!
I find it hard to choose anything else, because I love it so much. I can't remember why I chose it originally, (it was years ago), but I heartily recommend it and I therefore I don't think it's always a good idea to be snobby about labels. A good wine is a wine you like to drink and if you let a quirky label put you off trying something, you might be missing out on something wonderful.
My wife once said a wine tasted like battery acid.I asked "How did she know?". I am fascinated that one of tasters in the article was familiar with radioactive maple syrup.
Have you all heard that Bonny Doon has sold off the Cardinal Zin and Big House labels to The Wine Group, third largest wine producer by volume? They claim, of course, that they're not going to change them, but who believes that? So don't judge Bonny Doon by those wines any more!
Here's a link for those interested:
http://www.winebusiness.com/news/Dail...
@shadee Pepperwood Groove is a decent, cheap and reliable Merlot :)
What about Mogen David wines, sloe gin, and blackberry brandy? I definitely am no expert.
The current trend seems to be to create a an “industrial-strength” wine in the lab (think the enologic version of “Janitor in a Drum”), then do focus groups to find out what people are likely to pick from the shelves of mass-produced wines. These products seem to be over-the-top in all of the wrong areas, especially sweet. However, going back some years, Kendall-Jackson did a booming business, and actually introduced a ton of new folk to wine, with their higher RS “Vintner’s Reserve” Chardonnay. Overly sweet, over-oaked, but filled with tastes, albeit maybe not the ones that most serious wine drinkers wanted - they, however, were not the targeted market.
As has been mentioned my many, Randall Grahm has become the iconoclast of wine labels. With his tongue firmly in his cheek, he’s panned many (especially the FR, in both Burgundy and the Southern Rhône) wine institutions, but has, most often, filled these bottles with pretty good wine. Now, the wine seems to be an afterthought. Just give them something that will not kill them, and they’ll buy it by the truckload.
There will be a lot of marketing/advertising awards handed out, based on the total sales, but few, if any, of these will win any accolades from the wine drinking community.
I have to have my arm twisted forcibly just to purchase a bottle with a “cute” label. The “Fat Bastard” was one such wine. It was the “darling” around the wine bars, when we were traveling throughout the Tidewater Atlantic Area, some years back. Every wine bar featured it prominently and everyone around us was drinking it in great quantity. I finally decided that I had to see what the fuss was all about. It wasn’t bad (no “nuclear maple-syrup”), and if it had been priced per btl. at the same point as the b-t-g offerings, would have been a “Best Buy.” At least it was drinkable, unlike some of the more recent offerings.
Hunt
I disagree. Sure I want a fancy, expensive 20-year-old vintage port, but you know what? For $10 / bottle, I can tolerate the Evenus Zin Port.
As an Australian it's interesting to see wine makers use native animals and Aboriginal art to sell their wine in export markets. It all seems a bit too Ken Done/Crocodile Dundee for my liking.
I didn't think the penguin was all that bad, I've tasted worse. If you want more ideas on what's great/decent/undrinkable $5 wine...check out my tastings...
http://chelsieswines.blogspot.com/
~Chelsie
Roshambo's Syrah is a gooder.
Nice label, awesome wine.
Gosh, I always kinda like the Penguin. I'm not much of a wine guy, but I like the mild sweetness. Different strokes, right?
Was that wine with the fox on it called Foxbrook?
I rather enjoyed the Evenus Zinfandel Port. This weekend I had a bottle of the 2003, slowly enjoyed with some dark chocolates. I'd like to try another bottle, paired with flat-iron steak, some cous cous and grilled zucchini drizzled with garlic butter.
I actually like Yellowtail, maybe cuz it was my first Shiraz, it is sweet and strong though. I also like the Little Penguin for a cheapie , but moreso the merlot. I've had Goats do Roam and loved it , as well as Fat Bastard. Why not have a fun label? Depends on what you're doing with the wine really. Another cheapie i like is Kumala, it has a nice smoky flavor i like.
I've had a couple of more expensive and highly touted wines that really fell short in my expectations, but i can't remember the names of them. Pricier is not always better.
As for gimmicky....Dan Aykroyd has some wines out now....and while nice and acceptable...the $20 bottle of red ( i know this is not overly expensive as wines go )didn't exactly blow me away and i've had cheapie wines that i enjoyed far more.
I have tried Fat Bastard - and for some reason was not overly impressed with it. Red Truck and all the Yellowtail wines have not grown on me either.
My favorite cheap wine: Red Guitar, a syrah from Spain and The Show, a cabernet from California. Both have eye catching labels as well. Has anyone else had either of these?
Maybe I say this because I live in the Finger Lakes region of NY and I am partial to our local wines but here are my suggestions. For fun labels I reccomend Bully Hill - the wine itself tend to the sweet side but is easily drinkable particularly for people who are just discovering wine. Otherwise I will stand by, or rather gladly drink, the reislings and gwertztrimieners(?) out of the Finger Lakes region.
Let's do a past thing. Does anybody remember Suntory's Akadama red wine? Was best cold, went down great. Can't remember the price, but I think it was about $7 in 1973,
Here are some wines with cute wine labels that are fun to drink:
http://www.klatcher.com/wine_labels/2...
I also agree with the assessment of Evenus port- tasted too much like pomegranate molasses to me (which I think can taste like liquid sweet-tarts). I also can get behind the anti-Yellowtail comments: too much cheap-wine acid, flat taste overall. (Though I may be biased against it, since I had a terrible night with way too much Yellowtail Chardonnay...I digress).
For cute, cheap wines I have long been a fan of Wrongo-Dongo, a Jumilla from Spain. I can find it around me for $6-$7 and it never disappoints.
Here's a link about it from Cellar Tracker: http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp...
As you can see, a cute guy peeking around on the label.
Need I mention Trader Joe's for good, cheap wine? I have to admit, they're my favorite, most everything I drink now-a-days is from them. I'm sure there's another thread for favorites that they carry....