More than a few times, I have had lengthy conversations (usually after a number of glasses of wine) concerning whether one could determine the quality of wine by the label. I’ve had a dear friend shamefacedly confess that the label may the sole determiner for purchasing a bottle of wine. And let’s be honest here: even the most stalwart of vinophiles would, if they were being honest, admit that at times the label has tipped the scale when two unknown wines were up for consideration.
But can you really tell that much about a bottle of wine simply by the bottle design? Matthew Latkiewicz does yeoman’s work at devising a taxonomy for decrypting wine bottle labels in this piece over at Grub Street. Really funny stuff, including an awesome chart. He really nails a few of these categories:
Euro-Trash A-hole
A rare sighting, the A-Hole label is usually more than a label. Often, the whole bottle is some unique shape. Look! I’m a wine bottle in the shape of a shampoo bottle! Deal with it! Whatever.
What to Expect: I wouldn’t know, for I do not condone this sort of behavior. And neither should you.
Photo credit: Baynham Goredema