Good Labels

some good labels

I like wine, but I am not a wine connoisseur. I really can't be bothered with the nuttiness or fruitiness of my wine. I like cheap wines and expensive wines. (Not that I've tasted many expensive ones.) So, when I'm at the store deciding what to buy, I really have two requirements:

1.) can I afford it? 
2.) does the label make me smile?

Since I have to be picky about spending money, and since I don't really know what clarity, nose and palate mean, I figure that I'm going to choose my wine based on something I can appreciate: good visuals and a sense of humor. I'll give my money to the winemakers who take the time to make a nice looking label or come up with a clever name.


Anyone can grow grapes and slap a boring chateau drawing on a bottle, but who can be yummy and witty and look good, too? They're the ones I want to buy from. I want a label that makes me smile, or better yet laugh. And I'll even pay a little more to get a smile from the label.

Mad Housewife is the first label I remember seeing where I said to myself, "I have no idea what this will taste like, but I have to try it because of the label." I even thought of a few people who I could gift it to.

I found Mommy's Time Out and had to enjoy it with a friend.

There's Three Blind Moose which I thought is very clever, but maybe that's because I live in Minnesota.

For brown nosers there's Ass Kisser. Which makes me wonder, do you serve Ass Kisser to the person you are trying to impress? Because that might not work out so well. Or do you buy it for yourself to enjoy, thereby acknowledging that you are an ass kisser? Or maybe you buy it for yourself to get the nerve up to kiss the ass you need to kiss? So many questions. And despite the questions, it makes me smile.

In any case, my favorite label so far which had me actually laughing out loud in the store is Plungerhead.

First of all, the concept is just silly, which is great. I like the artwork too. So curious was I as to why a wine would be named Plungerhead, that I read the back panel. It was simply a letter from an employee and his reaction to having his image on the label of the new wine. It's signed: Eddie Plongerheid.

It's a good wine too. But what would I know about that?