Wine Blogging Wednesday 16: Judge a Bottle By Its Cover
We've all done it. We've stood in front of a wall of wine at the store and, unable to utter the incantation of producer and vintage and Parker/Laube pronouncements that will summon a magical bottle, we have chosen one solely for its pretty label.
Wineries know this. They invest money—serious money—in their label designs, both to entice an indecisive, one-time shopper and to establish the all-important Brand. If no one buys your wine, it doesn't matter how good it is. There's a whole book showcasing pretty labels: Icon: Art of the Wine Label.
Fatemeh's written her roundup for Wine Blogging Wednesday 15, the Internet-wide tasting event started by Lenn Thompson. And with that, the host's mantle moves a few blocks up the street to my home. For WBW 16, I've chosen a distinctly anti-Derrick theme: Judge a Bottle By Its Cover.
Go to some store that sells wine, or root around in your cellar. Find a wine—any wine—whose label catches your eye. Ideally, it's one you don't already know, but I'm not going to chastise you on that point. Open it. Taste it. Write about it. On December 7, coincidentally the day when another year slips through your host's fingers, post your thoughts on your blog/website and tell me where to find them. Not just about the wine; we also want to know why you like the label. Maybe you like the elegant lines and minimalist approach. Maybe you like the watercolored fuzziness. Or the cartoon animal. Only you can tell us why a bottle yelled "Take me home!" from its perch on the shelf.Tell us what you ate with the wine. And I hope it's obvious that for this month more than any other, we'd love to see a picture.
Not a food blogger? Who cares? Feel shy about describing wine with the whole world watching? Bah. Have you read a tasting note in a wine magazine recently? Borrrrrring! You can do better, I promise. Don't have a blog? Well, it's easy to start one, but I'll host write-ups from the blogless. Just send them to me in advance, please.
I often suspect that pretty labels enshroud mediocre wines. Prove me wrong. Or right! And if we collectively find a great wine in a pretty bottle, think what a nice host/hostess present it will be as holiday-party season rushes up to us in a glittering wave of enforced socializing.
Technorati tags: wine blogging wednesday | wbw | wine
- The Subjectiveness Of Smell
Slate's Mike Steinberger continues his look at the physiology of tasting wine with a probing of the nose. There's some good information there, and it reinforces what I already tell my students: You are always right about what you smell and what...
- Wbw 16: Judging A Wine By Its Label
What catches my eye about wine labels? What catches yours? This was part of the goal for Wine Blogging Wednesday 16. Many of us can spell out our vinous biases: I dislike overoaked Chardonnay, Alder isn't a fan of German wine. But other, more subtle...
- Opening Bottles On Wine Review Online
I've mentioned before that Wine Review Online is open to unusual wine story ideas. See my article on bottles as proof (added to my "Professional Writing" section on the right if you want to look later). Once I started to research this piece, I was...
- Wtn: 1999 Vintage Port, Smith Woodhouse
How do you pair wine and food? This was Clotilde's unspoken question when she announced her theme for Wine Blogging Wednesday, the monthly tasting group that meets across the blogs of the world. Pair some wine with a dense chocolate cake, she said....
- Wbw 4: New World Riesling
In the previous three Wine Blogging Wednesdays—the monthly wine blogging event concocted by Lenn—the hosts selected themes of New World Merlot from outside the U.S., Spanish Reds, and most recently Australian Shiraz. Enough with the reds...