I have a thing for neat wine labels. I even admit here and now that they often play a much bigger role for me than the actual color of the wine. My brains logic: a cool label has been made by a cool guy from a cool winery and a cool guy can only make interesting wine. So I often surprise myself picking cool labels when walking through a wine shop, especially when I don’t know the wines of a particular region. But why am I bringing this up now?

Because I recently watched this episode of Gary Vaynerchucks WLTV and was totally fascinated by his guest Charles Smith and his winery. First of all, because this guy looks much more like some rock star than an average Joe winemaker. Second because not only he’s a cool guy but his labels and the names of the wines are just awesome; His whole concept is awesome. Just check out his portofolio. He calls his wines Kung Fu Riesling, Chateau Smith or Holy Cow, and the designs are just funky. Now I haven’t tried those wines and can’t judge their quality, but that's not the point here!

In his show, Gary declares he’s fond of Charles’ wines after trying them. I guess, I might pick those bottles in the shop without knowing a thing about them. Superficial right? Then again, if I’m disappointed by a wine I tasted, I don’t buy it again even if the label is just perfect. The neat wine label only represents a flirt, it attracts and causes interest. But it doesn’t just look good, it might also raise expectations. Disappointment could come easier.

Anyway, I decided that I will from now on post more often about wine label designs, even if it’s about wines I never tried. Eyes drink first!