Judging a Wine By Its Label

I love wine. When people ask me what kind of wine I like, I say, “whatever tastes good.” Sometimes that means paying $18 for a glass of Gustavo Thrace Rutherford Cabernet at The Palo Alto Wine Room, sometimes it’s all about the $3.75 happy hour Copper Ridge Chardonnay at The Essex Hotel Lounge in South Beach. It means splurging on a $65 bottle of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon one day, and most others stocking up on the $4.99 Rhone Blends from Trader Joe’s.

Trying new wines and searching for bargains is a constant for me. I heavily rely on the newsletter of K&L Wine Merchants, a really great source for finding great deals and rare wines. However, one of the ways I’ve found some really yummy wines is by simply buying a bottle if I’m attracted to the label. Good design is important in all areas of life and should be rewarded. I have to say, unless I’m trying it for free, I will never “cold-buy” a wine with a badly-designed label. On the other hand, if the price is right ($10 or under), I will gladly take a chance on any varietal with an aesthetically appealing one. My criteria include everything from nicely-kerned fonts to interesting artwork to clever images or wordplay. What’s crazy is how often these bottles turn out to be some pretty good to really great wines. My latest discovery is the black/white labeled bottle above, a Paso Robles Cabernet Franc called “Lazy Bones”. The artwork is nice and there’s a bit of a wink delivered via visual double entendre. This is also an example of just how much I can be swayed by a label: I generally do not even like most California Cabernet Franc and steer away from any blends that contain it. Taking a chance on this one turned out to be a winner–at $6.99/bottle at Trader Joe’s, it’s a medium-bodied, easy-drinking wine. Tasting notes as listed on the bottle (ripe cherries, spiced blackberries, sweet wood, fresh herbs) are pretty true-to-form. Try it if you can get it, but more importantly, take a chance on a wine if you really like the label. I’ve found that when the wine-maker cares enough about the label going on the bottle, they tend to care about what goes into that bottle. Cheers!