AmericanWinery.com

It has been quite a while since our last post. We have been very busy here at the AW headquarters, and as a result, the frequency of our posting has decreased. I promise, however that in the upcoming months we will make an effort to get back into the blogging groove. Thanks to all of you who have followed us, and continue to do so. Until the creative sticks arrive, and the blogging fire is rekindled, I want to post a few visual stimulants for a brief bit of entertainment. A few months ago I published a post presenting some fun and creative wine labels. Seeing as people continue to innovate and come up with new designs, I feel like a Redux is in order.

I don’t know about the quality of the wine, but I would probably be a sucker for this design were I perusing the wine isle at a grocery store. Let’s face it, we have all bought a bottle because of the label before, and this one grabs you…

Talk about encouraging a personal connection with the winery. Portraits of three generations of the people behind this organic and sustainable winery and viticulture project from the Toro D.O. Matsu.

Intricate work on these bottles – looks like a mixture of totem pole art and ancient cave paintings. Even the bar code was integrated into the design.

Not the same level of art and sophistication as the last few designs, but definitely a clever bit of branding that helps you remember the wine (in case you forget that the label was a boarding pass…)

What do you see?

And now for two designs that might rub some the wrong way….

OK, what is your first thought? Paint thinner, oil…but definitely not wine. In addition, I am not sure how the flavor will hold up in a metallic container…

I’m all for wine samplers, I think its a great idea, but the word “chic” – It seems to me that to be fashionable is more than wearing a shirt that says, “Look at me! I’m very fashionable!” Nothin’ wrong with the idea or design, but the name “Very Chic Wine” kind of rubs me the wrong way…

Thanks to The Coolist blog for compiling a list of designs that I picked from.

Luigi Bormiolo was a new name to me when I took some time to visit their breath-taking website. I’ve come to see they are a premiere wine glass (among other glass products) manufacturer with brilliant design-work.

I highly recommend checking out their website for the incredible scrolling graphics, great layout and the ability to drag, scroll and browse through their collections. My favorite was the Esperienze series whose, “Concentric ‘ripples’ at the base of the bowls increase the area of contact with the wine, thus enhancing bouquet while intensifying reflections.”

Which one is your favorite?

Swedish designer Matilda Sundén Ringnér has made pouring wine for yourself and guests a lot more interesting and certainly a lot more fun. Titled, ‘Rainman,’ this device’s main purpose was intended to be a wine decanter (which you could also use to water plants with, as you’ll notice on the designer’s website), but with the unique holes which pour the wine, it becomes clear that even the pouring would be beneficial to helping aerate the wine.

According to Matilda’s website, the decanter “plays with the traditional way of transporting water/wine from container to drinking glass.” While that is certainly true, I also admire how it provides you with a more controlled pour when pouring your wine. No more, “Whoops! I just gave you a third of the bottle on accident!” Or the famous ‘dribble-all over-the-place’ pour we’ve all encountered at one time or another.

The decanter RainMan will be exhibited in collaboration with Skruf Glasswork at the Formex Fair 2008. For more information on the Formex Fair, please visit their website.

Chances are that if you’re reading this you are aware that there are quite a few laws in the U.S. that make shipping wine across state borders difficult. This is just one of the regulations that wineries face in almost all aspects of making and selling their wine.

However, one recent regulation, and more specifically, one winery’s indirect answer loop-holing around this law caught my attention.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) recently changed the regulations for the Certificate of Label Approval (COLA) that were aimed at protecting Portugal’s geographic indication. This prohibits any winery that was not “grandfathered-in” before the law was passed from using the term “Port” on their packaging.

Similar to the protection given to the “Champagne” designation, this label regulation aims to protect the unique winemaking and fortification techniques which originated in Portugal. That’s where Peltier Station Winery sought a way around this law.

The winery hired 6 West Design to indicate the word “Port” without actually using the word itself. Their way around this regulation was to name their 100% Zinfandel Port: “USB.” Anyone using a computer can connect those dots. A USB is to a port like a plug is to an outlet. They go together so inseparably that when you mention one you’ll innately think of its other component. To top it off, the back label further prods at the regulation: ”Be the Ultimate Savvy Buyer by including our USB __ in your __folio of wines”

6 West commented further on the design:

“The imagery screen printed on the front label shows an old vine built out of binary code that translates as “Peltier Station,” and has roots that form the recognized USB computer symbol. The back label leaves it to the viewer to fill in the letters “port” in underlined slots (i.e. im____ant for “important”). The back label took three months of TTB/Cola deliberation before they finally approved it – not without telling our Client they had never encountered someone going so far out of their way to prove a point.”

What do you think? Was this a cheap-shot or a clever move? Should we shun wineries which navigate their way around certain laws (even though this particular label is quite creative), despite the fact that their design does not technically break any regulations?

You’re already imbibing; why not just admit it more openly?

Celebrating this idea is at the core of designer Kacper Hamilton’s latest creation centered around wine glasses and the seven deadly sins.

There are seven different glasses for each deadly sin which are handmade in limited quantities in England. The red wine glasses personify the sin in their shape and design, “Encouraging the user to be sinful in a theatrical fashion,” according to Hamilton’s website. Take a look at some of these great pictures that really capture the indulgence of drinking wine with these glasses.

The set of seven comes complete with a glass case to protect and display the glasses.