Wine Blogging Wednesday: Judge a Bottle by its Cover

The theme for this month's WBW event is great label art, or at least eye-catching label art. Many thanks to Derrick over at An Obsession With Food for hosting and coming up with this great idea. When I think of label art, I usually first picture the work of Ralph Steadman and other artists on Bonny Doon labels. There's no doubt that Bonny Doon has achieved a certain notoriety with its wacky and humorous labels. But as great as this label art is, Bonny Doon was too easy a selection for this event. So, I perused my wine collection and local wine shop and it jumped out at me: Let's spend some time talking about this label. First, a disclaimer: I am not an expert in art, and if I happen to refer to the wrong movement or something, it's because I'm not well-informed. I have enough knowledge to be dangerous. This label seems to be a skilled combination of Arts and Crafts elements with Art Nouveau. The typeface on the label is distinctly Arts and Crafts, while the figure of the woman and the leaves and grapes is distinctly Art Nouveau. This, of course, is a logical blend of styles since Arts and Crafts influenced the Art Nouveau style and they both enjoyed popularity in the early 1900s in Great Britain and the U.S. But enough about art, let's get to the good stuff: the wine. This 2003 Pinot Noir comes from Van Duzer in Oregon's Willamette Valley. The wine is a pretty garnet color with a beautiful nose of classic Pinot Noir notes: red fruits, with hints of darker fruits as well. The earthy notes also make themselves known. The flavor profile is wonderful with cherry flavors and silky tannins. The finish is nice and long. At $20+ per bottle, this is not an everyday drinking wine for most people, but you can drink it any time and enjoy it. Solid 90 on the WineGeek scale. While I won't offer any tasting notes on other wines, I can mention a few labels that I've always found to be interesting. One is Chariot Sangiovese from California. This is an inexpensive Sangiovese with gorgeous classical artwork with high quality wine inside. I wish I had a bottle to photograph and share the label image. It runs less than $15 and is worth seeking out. Da Vinci Chianti also has beautiful label art, but again I cannot find a usable image to share with you. It's a good inexpensive Chianti for everyday drinking. I've always liked the label art of L'Ecole No. 41. The wines that come in the bottle are outstanding as well. I have yet to have a bad wine from L'Ecole No. 41. That's it!