Wine Labels

We recently blogged about chain store wine labels and the tranquilizing effect the designs and colors have on the customer facing the display.  We concluded that the wine aisle had much in common with other store aisles where colors are used to soothe customers and perhaps to prime them for additional purchases.  

We also got a little critical of the stupid names or other text on labels that seemed to have nothing to do with what's actually in the bottle and that's what prompts this post now.

What the consumer should know is that the grocery store wine set is the result of incredible research done by the largest wine companies in the world.  Those wines are often amended and manipulated to appeal to everyone and offend no one.  Hence, they lack distinction.  So when I see Tribute Cabernet Sauvignon I know two things immediately: there is no Tribute winery and what's in the bottle is formulaic using bulk wine.  It is not the product of an individual vineyard and more likely the product of a laboratory.

The mass marketers do a good job, by the way.  Joe Six-pack probably gets a better bottle of wine at the end of the day than he would have gotten fifty years ago when we got into this business.  Like we said though, there is little in the way of distinction in this end of the business. 

Anyway, back to the offensive wine names and here's a surprise - You don't have to go to a chain store to see stupid labels.  We have them right here.  Leviathon, True Grit, Silver Spur, Blood Root and the inestimable Glup Glup are all currently in stock and they are all good wines.  With names like those, they've got to be good!  Oh, and we have the seductive colors and designs the chain store have too!  

So, who are we to be critical.