Wine Blogging Wednesday #16: Superficial Review
This month’s Wine Blogging Wednesday (#16) asks you to shamelessly buy a bottle of wine based on the label.
Here’s my bottle:
The celaphane obscured my view of much of the label, but I knew a few things about this bottle before I got close enough to really look at the label. I knew it was pink, shiny and pretty. And by the curves and big top…I knew she was bubbly.
To paraphrase the late Marilyn Monroe, Don’t you know a wine being bubbly is like a girl being pretty? You might not marry a girl just because she’s pretty, but my goodness, doesn’t it help?
Imported by Terry Theise, this Champagne house is as anti-marquee as it gets. From the weirdo area of Villers-Marmery in the Montagne de Reims, the wine is made from the rare acres of Chardonnay in the area. The color is surreal–the palest magenta, with an almost unnatural blue tone to it. The aroma from the glass is as fresh and brilliant as any Champagne I’ve ever had. Cherry. Nothing simple, more like a million blossoms in liquid form. This wine is less than 20% Pinot Noir, but it’s screaming at me. There’s another note, like lime zest, that little lift and brightness and even bitterness in flavor. The simple finesse of this wine is captivating. I don’t think everyone would feel the same way. Some wines, like a piece of music, or certain labels, just speak to you.
Now, I should admit that I often judge wines by their labels. As in, if a wine has a stupid label, I won’t buy it. I don’t care how delicious the juice. Because design matters to me. If you don’t have the good sense to put forth a professional, artistic, or crisp vision of your winery……well, then, your wine probably doesn’t have much to say to me, either. Is this harsh? So. Oh, I judge books by their covers, too.
Besides, somebody who longs to put jumping rabbits and emus and shit on a label, would never, ever make a wine like this.
December 7th, 2005 at 12:32 am
A Terry Theise import is always an excellent choice. I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad one.
December 7th, 2005 at 9:44 am
I saw (and tasted) this wine a month ago…the bottle is very cool - a great choice!
December 7th, 2005 at 12:32 pm
Thanks for this - now I don’t feel so stupid for using label design as the sole factor for buying a particular bottle (of course, not counting red vs. white).
December 8th, 2005 at 6:05 am
I’m looking for some nice bubbly for 12/31 - what’s the $$ on this one?
December 8th, 2005 at 10:17 am
How can you go wrong with a label that has fluffy clouds and windmills, it hides the beast waiting in the bottle. delicious.
you can find this wine for around 40$
December 8th, 2005 at 11:38 am
Jumping rabbitts? Emus? Now yer talkin’ mag, where can i go to add a couple of those to my collection? I did drink a decent bottle called arrogant frog this summer, suprisingly good.. got me turned onto the animal motif. Nice post as always
Bill
December 8th, 2005 at 1:19 pm
Jeff’s right, this bottle’s only about $40. For a rose Champagne, that’s great, better than great.
PS: This wine was crazier the next day, almost herbal and savory.
December 15th, 2005 at 9:22 am
Now, I’m confused. Do lables mean something to you or don’t they? I thought I read somewhere else on this blog they mean nothing.
Just provoking.
December 15th, 2005 at 12:31 pm
Good question, allow me to clarify. Wine labels the likes of designer labels mean nothing to me–your Opus Ones, Insignia, Stag’s Leap, etc. To me, it’s the same as Tommy Hilfiger being in every mall in America. I don’t get why people lust after the label, it doesn’t mean anything. I don’t have any clothes with labels on the outside. I don’t buy my wine that way. I don’t think wine should be bought that way, i.e. as a designer label.
But design is very, very important to me. The way a label looks is a window into the winery’s soul. I truly believe this. One of the things that bugs me the most about Washington wines, for example, are the amatuerish, bad wingding clip art labels. They are a fucking embarassment to an industry that claims to be serious.
So label design is important to me, but designer labels mean nothing if the wine is shite.