Wine label

[Steven Noel]

What is your favorite wine label? I like the following one with the Braille.
Do you think the label matters at all?

 

[Ian Sutton]

Hi Steven
A few producers have been doing braille labels for a while, and good on them for doing that. Chapoutier and Niepoort are big examples and this one is Niepoort taking it a step further if the google hit is correct - the wine made by blind winemakers?

Yes I think it can matter, from a grotesque label that puts you off, to art labels that can appeal in their own right. That's not to say the wine inside isn't the most important thing, but especially at the commodity wine level, a memorable and appealing label can be critical.

regards
Ian

 

[Phil David]

I like critters on the label.

 

[Peter May]

Welcome

Of course a label matters. Imagine a wine shop full of bottles without labels

Unless you can taste the wine, the only information you have to base your judgement on whether to buy the wine is the label.

The label you refer to seems only to have braille, thus is is useless to all those who cannot read braille. There are labels that have braille on an otherwise standard label.

My favourite label is from the California winery Ridge because
It is clear and simple
It has clearly identfiable type faces/colours
It hasn't changed over the years
It has all the info one wants, including notes and vintage and winemaking.

(the wines are good too)

For an assortment of odd, interesting and unusual labels may I recommend my book,
Marilyn Merlot and the Naked Grape
available from Amazon

 

[Ian Sutton]

The label you refer to seems only to have braille, thus is is useless to all those who cannot read braille. There are labels that have braille on an otherwise standard label.

Perhaps that is the intention - to show the sighted how lack of braille feels like to the blind? i.e. A provocative label.

 

[Steven Noel]

I will check out your book on Amazon Peter. Thank you for advice.

By the way, I heard about book store in Australia, where books are wrapped in paper with short descriptions. So no one will judge a book by its cover. It would be interesting to see the same with the wine.

 

[Steven Noel]

Yes, Ian, I also think it’s rather provocative.

 

[Jonathan Hesford]

For me, labels are more likely to put me off than encourage me. If it's too brazen or attempting to shock or look too posh, I'm likely to suspect I won't like the wine.

 

[Asa Joseph]

I hate gimmicky labels, but I really love the design on the Nyetimber bottle - the script, the simplicity, the layout. I don't really have an eye for these things (at all), but everything about it feels elegantly British.

 

[kieran hynes]

I love the labels that some young punks do, especially "passion has red lips". It's true to say I prefer their labels to the wine in the bottle if I'm being honest.

 

[Mark Carrington]

Could you need any further info?!

 

[Charles Muttar]

One of my least favourite. What it lacks in kitsch it makes up for in pretentiousness. And vice versa.

 

[Charles Muttar]

And don't get me started on Fabien Jouves...

 

[Christopher Topham-Smith]

I've always liked my labels subtle and understated.

More seriously, several of my other interests (calligraphy, heraldry and military architecture) mean that I've always enjoyed the traditional labels of Bordeaux – the likes of Cos d'Estournel, Marquis de Terme, Phélan-Ségur, Labégorce-Zédé and Gressier Grand-Poujeaux (under their former regimes), Pichon-Baron, Filhot, Calon-Ségur, Haut-Brion, d'Issan, Fourcas-Hosten and Rabaud-Promis. Looking back through that list, it seems I also have rather a thing for double-barrelled names?

 

[Tom Cannavan]

 

[Christopher Topham-Smith]

Bad enough as it is, but for one horrific moment I read that as 'vommy juice'...

 

[Simon Wheeler]

One of my least favourite. What it lacks in kitsch it makes up for in pretentiousness. And vice versa.
View attachment 10884

I’m with you Charles, when the reds have such classic labels this was a total head scratcher visually

 

[Jack Birchenoff]

I always liked Hannes Storm's labels.

 

[Alex Jagger]

Bad enough as it is, but for one horrific moment I read that as 'vommy juice'...

I'd processed it as that until I read your post!

 

[Mahmoud Ali]

What is the point of having a label entirely in braille? First off, I hardly think blind people go into shops fondling all the bottles until they come across a label with braille. Secondly, how is a person who cannot "read" braille know what the wine is unless the store has a shelf tag that is not in braille. By this logic wine stores should have braille shelf tags for the wines with non-braille labels and of course regular labels for the braille labeled wines.

Anyway, a throwback label from Australia that I am fond of, unfashionable but endearing:


Mahmoud.

 

[Simon Wheeler]

What is the point of having a label entirely in braille? First off, I hardly think blind people go into shops fondling all the bottles until they come across a label with braille. Secondly, how is a person who cannot "read" braille know what the wine is unless the store has a shelf tag that is not in braille. By this logic wine stores should have braille shelf tags for the wines with non-braille labels and of course regular labels for the braille labeled wines.

Anyway, a throwback label from Australia that I am fond of, unfashionable but endearing:

View attachment 10904
Mahmoud.

That’s great, a burgundy wine made from hermitage grapes, they just missed the source being North Africa

 

[Mahmoud Ali]

I used to think that the Auburn Burgundy was made from Clare Valley shiraz (the "hermitage grapes") because of the Town of Auburn. However an article on Lindeman's Philip Laffer says the name came from a suburb in Sydney.

"The huge Sydney cellar brought together wine for Australia-wide blends but was also home to regional specialties from the Hunter, Coonawarra, Padthaway, Barossa Valley, Eden Valley and Clare Valley. The cellar, at Nyrang Street Auburn (now home to Tooheys) also gave its name to two popular blended reds, Nyrang Hermitage and Auburn Burgundy."

Because the author uses the term blended, I now suspect that the Auburn Burgundy might have also included Hunter shiraz.

 

[Alino Punzalan]

Not my favourite label, but maybe there are few forumites who like the president.

 

[Alex Lake]

I’m with you Charles, when the reds have such classic labels this was a total head scratcher visually

There must be a story behind that label... Anyone here mates with Jean-Marie? Maybe Jasper or Nigel or someone? Do ask!