A wine label tells a story, makes an impression on a buyer (or not) and creates a brand image. Historically, wine labels used to be conservative and uniform. Now, shelves of wine shops are flooded with kangaroos, funny shapes, bright colors and cartoons. Wineries have realized that the label is their first opportunity to make an impression and hopefully, to make a sale. In today’s highly competitive marketplace, a wine label and a wine package (glass, closure, shape, etc) is more crucial than ever.
The TTB (the legal entity that regulates the laws related to alcohol in the USA) mandates that wine labels include very specific information such as the alcohol content, a standard government warning (normally on the back label), the brand, the appellation, and others. Aside from this, the design of a label is an absolutely creative process.
Some basic wine label rules:
Here are some examples of some established and successful wine labels:
Château Mouton Rothschild has created an art collection. In 1924 Baron Philippe de Rothschild made a decision, revolutionary at the time, to bottle the entire harvest before it left the property. From that time on, the label became the trademark, the proof of origin, the guarantee of quality and the signature of the vineyard. It was the famous poster designer Jean Carlu he commissioned to design the label for the 1924 vintage. It remains today as one of the greatest examples of the Cubist influence in commercial art. With the liberation of France, to celebrate the return of the peace and to mark a new beginning, Baron Philippe conceived the idea of dedicating the vintage of 1945, one of the greatest of the century, to 'Année de la Victoire, the year of the Victory. He commissioned the young painter Philippe Jullian to produce a graphic design based on the "V" sign made famous by Winston Churchill during the war. From then and forward, a different artist designed the Chateau Mouton Rothschild label.
Andy Warhol Label, 1975)
Veuve Clicquot Champagne speaks to women. The yellow color is attractive to the eye and was ahead of its time. The history of this Champagne house speaks of the widow Clicquot as a revolutionary woman. The story behind the label says that Madame Clicquot was near sighted and needed to have a bright colored label to spot her Champagne from across the room. We will never know whether this is true, but it’s been quite a success!
Our neighbors in Rutherford, Frogs Leap have had the same label since 1981. The label was designed by Chuck House, is fun and cheerful and also has a great story behind it. When John Williams (owner and winemaker) first moved to Napa Valley, he worked at Stags Leap while he lived with Larry Turley on a frog farm. He would bring grapes back to the frog farm to make wine and decided that if he ever had a winery of his own, he would name it after the frogs he was living among. And so he did!
Sue Weinstein, one of Louis Honig’s two daughters, had the original idea for the Honig label. For many years our Sauvignon blanc bottle had a colorful label on the inside of the bottle that you could see by looking through the glass. Unfortunately, because of the location of the front label, this back label design was difficult to see. In 1998 we hired Chuck House to redesign our label, using the same concept of the inside image. Our back label is now clearly visible through the front of the bottle and is an artistic interpretation of the view from our home at the Honig property in Rutherford. It is pretty and eye-catching but also speaks of a place, the origins of the wine, and gives the customer a view of the Napa Valley wherever they are.