What kind of information do you like to find on the back label?
Tasting notes? Production notes? Cellar potential? Food pairing recommendation? Some story about the vintner or the region? Something else entirely?
Keep in mind that the space is very limited. Say, 5 or 6 lines at the most.
Tasting notes (if not from a source one has familiarity with) are of limited value. I've yet to find a food pairing on a wine label I thought helpful (but if you are bringing in a Muscadet, feel free to suggest mussels).
I would be interested in the winemaker's view on optimal drinking window.
If there is an INTERESTING story re the wine, vintner, or the name of the wine that can be fun.
But to me, nothing is as valuable as production notes. What is the cepage? When were vines planted? What are yields? Barrel fermentation or stainless? Aged in stainless or oak? Barrique or foudre? What percentage of barrels are new? Maceration method? Etc. etc. etc. Will these things tell me what a wine will taste like? Well, not really. But it will give me some clue as to whether a wine is made in a style that might fit in with my preferences and biases.
Dale
Dale Williams Drop "damnspam" to reply
oh, yeah, one other thought:
following what appeals to a geek crowd might not be the way to financial success. I might not like it, but back labels singing of "vanilla and cherry flavors bursting out in a cascade of fruit, a perfect accompaniment for beef, chicken, lemon sole, asparagus, or guacamole. Our winemaker was promising actor before hormore therapy went awry" might sell more than notes re cold maceration. Dale
Dale Williams Drop "damnspam" to reply
Why should the space be that limited. You either have very small labels or very big fonts!
Personally I would want production notes, cellar potential, and some indication of grape varieties and residual sugar levels if that is not otherwise obvious. Most of the rest I can work out for myself if necessary.
Marketing bullshit and extravagent TNs are also good for a laugh :-)
Unsurprisingly, I agree with Dale on this one. I think that Paul Draper's notes on the back of Ridge wines are a model for useful back label information. Be forewarned, though, that if you're placing this on a bottle of imported wine (say, from Austria) you'd better make sure that you have a good translator on board.
Mark Lipton
Despite the prominence of your tongue in your cheek, I'll have to lean more toward this response rather than the first. Frankly, despite years of imbibing, I've got no technical expertise with regard to production. Give me a lecture on sources of oak for the barrels, percentage of nickel in the stainless tanks, degrees of viagra tetrachloride hydroxinol in the first two weeks of fermentation and my eyes roll up in my head.
Give me a litany of names of viticultural giants and the odds are that I'll not recognize any with less notoriety than Dom Perignon with his bubbles and the Gallo Brothers with their incredibly rich grand-daughter.
On the other hand, tell me a bit of what to look for in the tasting and do it in meaningful language not menu-writer's hyperbole and I'll have a much more meaningful experience when I pull the cork.
Humor in an apocryphal tale of the winery is also occasionally pleasant.
Ed Rasimus Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret) "When Thunder Rolled" Smithsonian Institution Press ISBN #1-58834-103-8
Well, I do read the FRONT label. The back label is pretty much marketing hype. "this sauvignon blanc goes great with blander Chinese food." Okay? Now what? Would like to how they made the thing..
The Front Label tells you everything you need to know about a particular wine. 1) where it was grown, 2) how it was fermented, and 3) how it was aged.
The "Back Label" tells you how the winemakers want to market it. Just my two cents.
Rich R.
"Rich R" wrote in news:xlfmc.1451$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr15.news.prodigy.com:
???? Not in my experience. Occassionally that informatin is on the rear. On the front one finds manufacturer and place of manufacture (on french wines one will also find whether the grapes were estate grown or if it is a negociant wine), vintage, varietal (in US wines) and strength of alcohol (sometimes found on back label) but I hve yet to see on any wines that I buy a statement of stell tank, hot cold or otherwise, and the aging method is likewise not usually mentined. (Note I drink mostly French and Italian wines so YMMV)
Really? Number 1 probably yes, but most front labels I see don't tell how wine is fermented or aged.
Dale
Dale Williams Drop "damnspam" to reply
Hi Ed:
Me either.
I'm just saying if you were faced with a back label on a California Chardonnay that said " full malolactic fermentation, aged one year in 100% new heavily toasted barrels" you'd have a pretty good clue re style, right?
Well, yes, but the point is when there are tasting notes on the back label hyperbole is the rule, not the exception. And not knowing the writer's palate, notes are pretty useless.
Now that I agree on. I love serving Goats Do Roam, Dead Arm, La Spinona, and other wines with stories. Dale
Dale Williams Drop "damnspam" to reply
snipped-for-privacy@aol.comdamnspam (Dale Williams) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mb-m06.aol.com:
LOL
Take a look at any of the bottles from Ridge Vineyards. That covers it all, pretty much, and leaves out the fluff.
Tom S
And even with 1), this may be a pretty broad area, e.g. "California".
Vino To reply, add "x" between letters and numbers of e-mail address.
"jcoulter" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:Xns94E0D4444D895225stellar@216.196.97.136...
Well, it may just be what one considers to be the front label. :-) An instructor in a course I once took asked which side of the bottle you put the wine label on. Laughter followed and several said immediately, "Why on the front, of course!" To which he replied, "And who determines where the front of the bottle is?"
Reka
] What kind of information do you like to find on the back label? ]
More specifics would be nice, although I think technical details like 100% malolactic are lost on 99% of the wine drinking public, and might even put people off.
I'd like to know the encepagement, with percentages, and average vine age if meaningful.
I have a pet peeve about "traditional varieties" and "ancient vines" on the back label. The former implies a knowledge not always present and lacks enough detail to be meaningful in some cases, the latter could mean just about anything: greater than 20 years, perhaps? :)
-E
"Reka" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@kpnqwest.it:
"On the outside" - I believe is actually the correct answer
Would that be Helen Turley? ;^D
S moT
DrinksForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.