We all know that one shouldn’t judge a book by its cover or a wine by its label, but occasionally the wine bottle (or book cover) is compelling enough to be well nigh irresistible. But succumbing to the lure of a beautiful label is about as reliable as choosing a mate based solely on his or her appearance: once in a blue moon one’s heart’s desire will be fulfilled, but more often disappointment lies within that handsome package.
With wine, the road to happiness is best negotiated via brand name and other specific markers that are usually (but by no means always) dependable indicators of quality. If, for example, you are purchasing a bottle of Chateau Mouton Rothschild because you like the label on it, you will certainly not be disappointed in the wine. But when the pretty picture that catches your eye is from a winery you’ve never heard of — well, keep your fingers crossed.
The watershed year for modern wine label design was 1946, when Baron Philippe de Rothschild began commissioning well-known artists to create images for the bottles of his premier vintages of Chateau Mouton Rothschild. Today, the popularity of the Rothschild art labels has greatly increased the wine’s relative value at auction, but if you choose not to purchase one of the pricey bottles you can still visit the chateau in the village of Pauillac in Bordeaux to admire the legendary label art created by artists such as Dali, Chagall, Braque and Henry Moore.
One of the most beloved of all art wine bottles is Perrier Jouet’s “Belle Epoque” Champagne, from a venerable winemaking firm that was formed in 1802, as the result of the marriage between Pierre Nicolas-Marie Perrier and Adele Jouet. The famous bottle came into existence almost a century later, when Perrier-Jouet’s then-owner commissioned Emile Galle, one of the founders of the Art Nouveau movement, to create a bottle honoring the Belle Epoque (“beautiful era”) of painting, literature and music. But the handmade bottles were expensive to produce, and Champagne was furthermore in a slump. Sadly, the Belle Epoque wine was virtually impossible to sell. The bottles were tucked away in a corner of the cellar to wait for better times, but they were soon forgotten.
Several decades later, the bottles of Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque languishing in the dark cellar were uncovered almost by accident. The firm decided to replicate the beautiful bottles, but Galle’s complex enameling technique had been lost to time. Eventually another artisan was found who could apply the charming arabesque of enameled white anemones to the bottles. The first cuvee was uncorked in 1969 at Maxim’s in Paris to celebrate the 70th birthday of jazz legend Duke Ellington. Today, Perrier Jouet’s Belle Epoque continues to represent one of the most successful marriages of art and wine.
Not surprisingly, California has positioned itself at the forefront of wine label design. One of the first memorable artist’s labels to emerge from the Sunshine State was the distinctive silhouette of three interlocked birds gracing Ravenswood Zinfandel. David Lance Goines, one of the San Francisco region’s most respected graphic designers, created the label, which first appeared in 1979.
“A label is part symbol, part memory, and part story telling,” says Jeffrey Caldaway, one of the members of Icon Designs, a California firm that produces some of the most sophisticated California designs. Typical of Icon’s work is the label for Ovation (a Sonoma Coast Chardonnay produced by Joseph Phelps Winery), depicting a delicate tendril of vine entwining an unseen trellis as a metaphor for the symbiotic partnership of wine and nature. And, oh yes, the wine is delicious.
Most wine enthusiasts are familiar with the winsome designs on bottles of Ca’ del Solo Malvasia Bianco, designed by Charles House, another Icon partner. The scene is set in an imaginary land on the border of Santa Cruz (where the grapes are grown) and Piemonte (where the inspiration for the wine comes from). A 6-year old girl named Malvasia (for one of Italy’s most widely planted grapes) is shown with her mother, who is taking her to school. The white wine, a product of the eccentric California vintner Randall Graham, is as bright and as friendly as its label.
An evocation of place beyond the wine chateau is not uncommon on contemporary labels. Vale la Pena, for example, a red wine from Argentina, depicts a provocative woman’s ankle and high-heeled shoe — a reference to the Tango, the dance that has come to symbolize the South American country.
Humor is not unknown on contemporary wine labels. Galante, for example, a wine from California’s Carmel region, has been given a cowboy spin. The original label (produced by Britton Design, a studio in Sonoma) was fashioned of hand-tooled leather by a saddle maker in Petaluma. Each of the Galante wines includes on its back label a phrase of cowboy wisdom: “Don’t squat with your spurs on.” “Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.” “Always drink upstream from the herd.”
A continent away from Chateau Mouton Rothschild is another winery gallery showcasing original art commissioned for wine bottles. Joe Benziger, who produces limited amounts of high-end wines, including Viognier, White Burgundy, Sangiovese, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Petite Sirah and a red blend known as WOW, runs Imagery Estate Winery. For his eclectic range of wines, Benziger wanted “labels as evocative as the winemaking.” Twenty years ago, he fortuitously met a local artist named Bob Nugent, who persuaded Benziger to let him design a label. The resulting Chardonnay label was the beginning of the Imagery art collection, which Nugent, a professor in the art department at Sonoma State University, has curated ever since.
With few exceptions, each of Imagery’s original art labels is used only once, on one vintage of wine. “From a marketing standpoint, Imagery doesn’t make sense,” concedes Nugent. “People always ask why the images on the labels keep changing. My response has always been because every vintage of wine is unique, so why shouldn’t the label be unique as well?”
Benziger relinquishes virtually all creative control to Nugent and the individual artist. With a philosophical shrug, Joe Benziger says that they learned early on that this is not always a stress-free process.
William Wiley, one of the first artists commissioned to create an Imagery label, complained: “You cut off the tip of my moon.”
“It turns out we hadn’t allowed an eighth of an inch for cropping,” explains Bob Nugent. Imagery held the release of 5,000 bottles in inventory, soaked them, then removed the labels and reprinted them with Wiley’s moon intact. A surprised and grateful Wiley shared the story with his colleagues in the California art community. “The following year, every big-time artist in the region wanted to do a label for Imagery,” recalls a smiling Nugent. Today artists from Brazil, China, Cuba, France, Germany, Japan and the United States have created labels for Imagery. Taking a cue from Chateau Mouton Rothschild, whose first artists were rewarded with five cases of wine from that bottling, plus five more from Baron Philippe’s private cellar, Imagery artists are paid a standard honorarium that includes wine.
Visitors to the Imagery Winery in Sonoma, Calif., can view 130 works on display in a gallery surrounding the tasting room. The collection is currently growing by 10 to 12 pieces a year. Joe Benziger points out that as the majority of Imagery wines are sold almost exclusively through the tasting room and Imagery’s wine club. “This is the place to come,” he says, “to experience the uncommon journey through wine and art.”
Chateau Mouton Rothschild, visits must be booked in advance, Tel. 05 56 73 21 29.
Imagery Estate Winery, the gallery is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.) 14335 Highway 12, Glen Ellen, Calif., 877-550 4278.
Benziger Family Winery, 1883 London Ranch Road, Glen Ellen, Calif. 95442, 707-935-4011, www.benziger.com, www.imagerywinery.com.
(Marguerite Thomas writes about wine, food, travel and personalities. She is the author of “Wineries of the Eastern States,” a travel guide to U.S. wineries.)
