Judging Wines By Their Labels
Stefan Geens has an entertaining post about “how to judge a wine by its label:”
Therein lies the secret as to why you really can judge wine by its label: Companies where the management has an atrocious taste in labels tend to be the old-school type, uncertain about innovation, parochial about marketing and under the impression that serifs imply prestige. Anyone relying on serifs to get a leg up in the wine stakes is suspect, methinks. A surfeit of colors or an overly florid arrangement of castles and gold leaf also bodes ill for the wine, much like a painter who prefers his works in elaborate gilded frames. Instead, extensive testing confirms that a sans serif font and white space on a wine label constitute a secret sign, a wink by the vintner that their approach to winemaking matches your approach to typography and graphic design. Use this knowledge as a shortcut to good wine.
It’s too bad he’s wrong. Look at that label. Just look at it. Serifs everywhere! Curlicues galore on a burgundy backing. Gold foil! And even two gilded frames! Every single listed element of “atrocious taste in labels.” So if anyone would like to trade one of those for some Albak de Elviwines 2003, I’m happy to help you out.
Would it tip my hand to offer to go two-for-one?
Yet another attempt to evaluate a wine by NOT tasting it… like smelling the cork… HEY, the wine is IN your glass!
I nearly never follow advice about wine or movies. I taste/go see them and judge for myself.
It also means more Lolonis for me…
-DM