Packaging - Visit to K&L Wine Merchants in San Francisco

 This picture has nothing to do with K&L Wine Merchants but I saw it on my trip to SF.  I'm impressed the house is still standing.

Ok.  On to K&L Wine Merchants in downtown San Francisco:

 I've been thinking a lot about packaging since TK and I had to make several decisions about how to package our wine.  That's why I was really entertained by this German wine.

 Label design is such an arduous task, these guys just decided to skip it.  Those clever and efficient Germans!

 I really like the "naked" cork trend.  No foil capsule.  I like that you can see the cork, it's less waste (unnecessary decoration that gets tossed) and cheaper!

A foil can help a bottle looked 'finished', but as more people get on the naked cork trend, I think it will be phased out.  Or at least I hope it is.

I love wax, but it's expensive and a huge time investment.  I like how the wax shows the cork underneath.  It's a great way to reflect the uniqueness and individuality of each bottle, a nod to the handcrafted quality of making artisan wines.  But mostly, it's a pain in the ass. 

Or you can do extreme waxing, like Belle Glos.  It's wasteful, but I like the look.  Although, I can't look at a bottle like this anymore and not think about how much of the bottle price is going towards paying for packaging.  I want to pay for the wine, not the glass or labels.

I have seen naked corks for white wines and rose wines, but not yet for red wine.  This was great to see.  I hope people will interpret the move as eco-friendly and innovative, instead of thinking it's just a cheap or unfinished bottle.

Another naked cork!  But I do prefer a good screw cap to cork anyday.  Unfortunately screw caps require special glass and a bottling line, so for this year my wine will have to be regular cork.  That's one advantage of cork to screw cap I guess, easier use for home winemakers.

I had to take a picture of this.  It's my favorite "worst" label I've seen.  Awesomely terrible.

Next up, labeling the 2012 Wine!  You'll be able to see our design choices, and how they are informed by price.

-L

Wine Tastings

 I've been lazy and instead of posting the individual tastings, I'm going to post about all of them.  The last 3 weeks I've been trying to catch up to my new years resolution of going tasting more often.  Below are 5 places I've visited in the last month.  The first is the tasting room at Etude.

 Went to taste with some bay area friends.  Had been about 5 years ago, before they built this beautiful tasting room.

 Etude.

 In the patio we tried their Chardonnay, Pinot blanc, Rose, several Pinot noirs and one Cabernet Sauvignon.  I'm a big fan of their Rose.

 Me in the cellar, in atypical attire for forklifting.

 Me + Eric, a friend visiting Napa and helping with design elements of our wine.

Next we tasted at Prager.  Eric is a big fan of their Port.  It was my first time visiting the tiny papered shack.  I was not a Port convert but I really liked this place.

 Me + Todd.

 Prager lab, right off the tasting area.

 Money and ribbons everywhere.

 Third was Robert Sinskey.

Koi fish out front.

 Robert Sinskey's tasting included little bites, I love when places do that.  I bought a bottle of the Abraxas.  Their Cab franc was really good too.  Pinot noir was ok.

Another day it was the West of West Pinot tasting in Sebastopol.

Wines at the tasting: Flowers, Martinelli, Red Car, Failla, Fort Ross, Wild Hog, Hirsch.  Flowers and Failla were my standouts.

 The seven wines in the glass.

 West of West Tasting set up at The Barlow in Sebastopol.

 Another day I took my intern tasting at Plumpjack.

 Bench outside of Plumpjack.

 Cade is part of the Plumpjack family.  I automatically like them because they are using screw caps for their high end wines.  I didn't get to ask why there was a shirtless guy on TV.

 Additionally the Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is sold as a 2 pack.  One cork and one screw cap to educate people about the differences and their preference.  You can't buy 1 bottle, it has to be 2.  It's an expensive lesson, but I'm glad someone's doing it.

They look so nice in their wood box together.

At least for July I kicked my resolution's butt.

-L