Mike Dunne's column - Something new for the back label

I thought this was an interesting idea. Scott Harvey has added a "light vs. hefty" indicator on the back label of his wines.

With the release of his latest wines under the Scott Harvey and Jana brands, Harvey has added to the back labels a graphic scale to shed some light on the nature of what's in the bottle.

It's a simple bar with "100 Point Judging Style" at one end, "European Style" at the other. With each wine, his winery's emblematic griffin will be positioned somewhere along the bar between the two extremes, closer to one or the other.

When the griffin is close to "100 Point Judging Style," the wine is big, bold, complex, relatively high in alcohol. When it's close to "European Style," the wine is lighter, sleeker, more readily approachable, relatively low in alcohol.

There's more here from the Sacramento Bee

I thought this was an interesting idea. Scott Harvey has added a "light vs. hefty" indicator on the back label of his wines.

With the release of his latest wines under the Scott Harvey and Jana brands, Harvey has added to the back labels a graphic scale to shed some light on the nature of what's in the bottle.

It's a simple bar with "100 Point Judging Style" at one end, "European Style" at the other. With each wine, his winery's emblematic griffin will be positioned somewhere along the bar between the two extremes, closer to one or the other.

When the griffin is close to "100 Point Judging Style," the wine is big, bold, complex, relatively high in alcohol. When it's close to "European Style," the wine is lighter, sleeker, more readily approachable, relatively low in alcohol.

There's more here from the Sacramento Bee

Would make some sense, provided the numerous 15 % Alc. European wines I've been tasting didn't exist, but they do.

I suppose generalizations don't clear up other generalizations...

Would make some sense, provided the numerous 15 % Alc. European wines I've been tasting didn't exist, but they do.

I suppose generalizations don't clear up other generalizations...

Perhaps the issue is that "Traditional European food-friendly Style" wouldn't fit on the label? It's a question of style, and I'm overjoyed to have that kind of information available.

Walt

Would make some sense, provided the numerous 15 % Alc. European wines I've been tasting didn't exist, but they do.

I suppose generalizations don't clear up other generalizations...

Perhaps the issue is that "Traditional European food-friendly Style" wouldn't fit on the label? It's a question of style, and I'm overjoyed to have that kind of information available.

Walt

Yeah, I like it at first glance, too. The only question for me is whether my idea of a lighter and more food-friendly wine will coincide with Scott Harvey's. I'll be surprised if it doesn't, though. I'm looking forward to trying a couple of them.

Mike,
Read the article also on Wed. I thought it was more of a marketing ploy on Scott's part than a practical idea for characterizing a wine. It's a bit simplistic in my mind and don't think the two end-points are a sensible categorization of a wine.
What was interesting was Mike's limited/luke-warm endorsement of the BevWizard, though based on its aeration effects, rather than thos powerful/life-changing neodynimum magnets.
Tom

Mike,
Read the article also on Wed. I thought it was more of a marketing ploy on Scott's part than a practical idea for characterizing a wine. It's a bit simplistic in my mind and don't think the two end-points are a sensible categorization of a wine.
What was interesting was Mike's limited/luke-warm endorsement of the BevWizard, though based on its aeration effects, rather than thos powerful/life-changing neodynimum magnets.
Tom

Yeah, I was surprised at the BevWizard thing, too. Mostly surprised that Mike would take it seriously enough to put it in his column. I guess he felt it made a difference, which I find hard to believe. Then again, he has more experience with it than I do.

As for Scott's thing, I guess we'll see if it catches on. It's a bit gimmicky, but I still like the idea.

I thought this was an interesting idea. Scott Harvey has added a "light vs. hefty" indicator on the back label of his wines.

Neat positioning I think. Thanks for the read!

Imagine if we could rate wines like they rate boxers....and here in the left corner, the current fly weight champion of the world..... and for the next fight, the current heavyweight champion of the world will defend his title against.....

Hmmm...so.....just for fun....(not accounting for all styles)

straw weight - white zin and fruit wines..
mini fly weight - Pino gris
Fly weight - sauvigon blanc
Welter weight - roses
super welter weight - pinot noir
middle weight - merlot, cab franc
super middle weight - meritage blends, bordeaux
cruiser weight- bordeaux, shiraz
Heavyweight - cabernet sauvignon, Barolo, zinfandel petite syrah.....

okay...so maybe I need sleep more than I thought.....