Poll: Cute wine labels

[Robin Garr]

Hmm ... I haven't tried out the poll feature. Let's see here ...

Robin, it's almost a year later, and I'd love to see whether "cuteness" has gained or lost any traction.

I walked through a couple of retail shops that were new to me today -- cuteness seems to have gained shelf space over the last year.

Or is that just OF masculine grumpiness at work?

My biggest complaint is that dinner guests who know that we drink wine, show up with these very predictably. The last one was a Three Blind Moose.

[Robin Garr]

Robin, it's almost a year later, and I'd love to see whether "cuteness" has gained or lost any traction.

I walked through a couple of retail shops that were new to me today -- cuteness seems to have gained shelf space over the last year.

Or is that just OF masculine grumpiness at work?

Bob, I wonder if it varies by retailer? Most of the shops I patronize are primarily geek-shops, and I don't see that much of it there. There's always some, though.

Another variable: Avoid generalizations. Yellow Tail and Little Penguin don't strike most wine geeks as worthy, but not all cute labels adorn insipid wines. Charles Back's Goats Do Roam wines can be pretty good. Even Fat Bastard is okay. And some of Bonny Doon's funny-label items are quite good, especially his Italian "Il Circo" line.

And then there's that wacky Chateau Cheval Blanc with its white horse on the label. Quel silly!

I am guilty of purchasing [and giving] the cute animal-donned wine bottle. When someone doesn't know a THING about wine, it's not knowledge or descriptions that sell a wine, it's the packaging. "Oh look, penguins, like that Marching movie! OMG I love moose!"

Personally I won't make the mistake again, excepting recommendations. Even a cursory knowledge of wine and/or a minimal amount of legwork shows that there are many better options out there [and yes, some that have cute labels].

I dont know about "cute", but as a retailer I will tell you that labels are far more important than some producers understand. As sad as it may sound, there are some great wines that dont do as well as they should because of sloppy labels.

Also, labels that work in some markets flop in others.... this is especially true for some labels that are produced for the North American markets (many of which are more "risque" in many aspects). These more aggressive labels tend to underperform in markets like the Argentine where consumers are very conservative with their labels. The same happens with names of wines, BTW. For example, something like "Fat Bastard" would not work here in Argentina.... the market is not ready for that just yet.

[James Roscoe]

I hate cute labels and will almost always avoid wines with cute labels. The cute labels just annoy me. I do buy wines with cute labels IF they are recommended by a trusted wine merchant. That rarely happens.

I dislike cute labels, but I hate border line profane wine names even more. I would never buy a wine named "Fat Bastard" just on principle.

I tend to like old school, somewhat monochrome lables. A lot of Bordeaux labels, for example, that show vaguely 19th century line drawings of chateaux. I actually lined up on my desk all my Bordeaux I've acquired over the past few months and haven't moved into storage (I hate heated interiors, and my apartment is usually around 60, so...no need yet). They look COOL as a group.

I really like Vieux Telegraphe (although I've actually not yet purchased their wine).

One of my favorite recently discovered labels is Joseph Swan-which may indeed be a "critter wine" but at least is elegantly done.

I also like very austere modernist labels-Cardinale, for example, which uses a completely black bottle with a simple font label. Whitehall Lane is also pretty nice, with a collage effect from their winery building architecture.

"Bob, I wonder if it varies by retailer? Most of the shops I patronize are primarily geek-shops, and I don't see that much of it there. There's always some, though."

Both the shops I visited were geeky -- I was really surprised to see that the cute labels were prominently displayed. Much more so than last year when last I visited both shops.

Their more sedate labels were still there, but in out of the way locations.

I am usually skeptic if I see a label that tries too hard to be cute and clever. I just go by what I know or learn. Some of my friends, especially the loopy ones, however, do say to me: "Oh, I just got this because of the cute label, I have no idea what the wine is like". That does annoy me. I guess marketing is marketing, right?

For folks in North America... what do you think of the Nativo line labels of the Paul Hobbs wines...? Im referring to the Cocodrilo, Lagarto and Felino labels.

I voted for don't matter to me which is the usual situation. However, having once lived in Maryland, I did buy some okay wines with a skipjack (a boat used by crabbers) and blue crabs on the labels (Virginia wines). Not so much "cute" as evocative of trips to Oxford, MD and St. Michael's, MD, etc. on the Eastern Shore. In the same vein, I might be persuaded to buy a German wine with a label of a castle I've visited in person. (Including the strawberry wine from Frankenstein Castle near Darmstadt.)

They kind of bug me. I hate to say it, especially since I'm a novice, but a cute label will automatically make me think that what is contained inside is not "serious". I've probably passed up some perfectly decent wines because of this prejudice...but not nearly as many as I've passed up because I didn't understand the label!

Although the goats at the Fairview winery in Paarl were really cute..and they had some amazing cheeses there, too

I voted "They Really Bug Me"...although, they don't really bug me...LOL, but I do tend to NOT buy the cute labeled wine. Like some of the others have mentioned, it makes me think that they are trying too hard, and that the wine can't speak for itself, so they need some kind of gimick to sell it.

I dont know about "cute", but as a retailer I will tell you that labels are far more important than some producers understand. As sad as it may sound, there are some great wines that dont do as well as they should because of sloppy labels.

Also, labels that work in some markets flop in others.... this is especially true for some labels that are produced for the North American markets (many of which are more "risque" in many aspects). These more aggressive labels tend to underperform in markets like the Argentine where consumers are very conservative with their labels. The same happens with names of wines, BTW. For example, something like "Fat Bastard" would not work here in Argentina.... the market is not ready for that just yet.

So, anybody have any examples of notably underpriced wines here in the States?

Carl, being the curmudgeon that I am, if a guest showed up with a bottle of something like three blind moos, or the three toed penguin or something, I would make noises about having already paired the wine to the meal. Then at the close of the evening, I might just give the bottle back and say something like "I am sure you can get around to drinking this before I could, so why not take it home" if that was not enough, I would bid them good night and immediately pour it down the drain or maybe dropped the bottle in the sink?

I would go a little further though and if the gathering was a backyard burger thing, I would open it and put it on the table.

I recently purchased 1 due to the label alone and the cause it supports. Has anyone heard of Jarhead Red (http://www.jarheadred.com/)? I found it at a Navy Exchange for $11.99 and I truly have NO idea if the wine inside is even worth it. Truth be told, I bought it because proceeds go to support the Marine Corps Scholorship Fund.

So, opinions on this 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon?

Pete