What Drives Your Desire?

I was meeting with my friends Sara, Kevin, and Theresa at Sara Nelson Design yesterday when a great question came up having to do with people purchasing wine off of the internet.

Sara Nelson Design is one of the most cutting edge wine industry designers in the Northwest. They do work for several area vintners, as well as vintners from as far away as New York. Their work on branding, logo and label design, websites, and your social networking persona is fantastic. I’ve had the pleasure to be able to do some really fun work with them over the past few years.

So, getting back to a global version of yesterday’s question: What makes you want to taste and buy a bottle of anyone’s wine?

I’ve found that wine is both a commodity as well as a piece of art. Because of this it is actually a very tricky product. There are reams of paper written on this, and entire courses and degrees available on it from prestigious universities both in the U.S. and abroad.

The first thing that makes you want to drink any vintner’s wine is the winemaker, or the owner’s, personality. A perfect example of this is Charles Smith of K Vintners Fame. Charles’ personality is huge and luckily enough his wines follow that level of persona. Other winemakers such Mike at Coyote Canyon Wines in the Horse Heaven Hills are just so personable and kind. When you drink these wines you feel like you’re part of the family.

The key ingredient to personality driven wine choices are tasting events, tasting room visits, and winemaker dinners. This can carry over into twitter and facebook, but that is just an extension.

Second, the wine gives you a good memory. I have very fond memories of my younger years surrounding Ste. Chapelle winery. I’d buy the Riesling just for that alone.

A third reason to drink a wine is that it looks like something you want to drink. I get at least one or two bottles each week in my studio that I wouldn’t try if I didn’t do this article, and then I get many more that I really want to crack open.

A great example of this was a bottle that I tried this week of a wine with a bright blue stopper and label. The whole bottle was frankly, ugly. Unfortunately/fortunately the wine inside was quite approachable, but I wouldn’t have purchased it otherwise.

Taken to the next step, attractiveness is especially important on the website or store shelf. I can’t tell you the number of really good winemakers who make the mistake of not getting GOOD bottle images. If the wine looks crappy then you will assume that it probably is and not buy it. A website and point of sale materials such as tasting notes that are attractive makes you the consumer really want that $30 bottle over the Three Buck Chuck.

Last, and pretty much the least is the actual taste of the wine. Believe it or not, most people don’t know what a good wine is. I can’t tell you the number of people that tell me wines that I know are hideous are their favorites. One winemaker I know must purposefully intend on making vinegar, but he has a huge following of admiring fans because he does everything else above pretty well.

So, the next time you purchase a bottle of wine, think about what makes you want to make that purchase.

Enjoy!

Find The Perfect Wine For Your Mom

While I was sprinting through the gift shop looking for gifts for my mom and wife this week, I realized that it was indeed Mother’s Day again. This year, I thought I would celebrate our mothers with a review of some of my favorite womanly wines. The list of woman oriented wines extends forever, although I thought that it would be fun to list some that match the motherly women in my life.

First, I thought I would start off with a wonderful story of a woman who passed away at the ripe age of 100. Standing at 4’8”, Mary was passionate, loving, caring, strong, and loved Lawrence Welk.

Her memory has gone on to create one of the strongest red blends in the entire Northwest. Her winemaker grandson, Charlie Hoppes, honors Mary with every bottle of M100 Red Blend. The wine is a beautiful blend of 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 12% Syrah, and 7% Malbec. The M100 wine opens with nice raspberry and strawberry jam flavors. The finish is a nice balance of cocoa, spice, and velvety tannins.

Another motherly personality that I’ve been touched by in my life reminds me of Kiona Winery’s Vivacious Vicky labels. Vivacious Vicky is named after Vicky Williams, wife of winemaker Scott Williams. Her vivacious personality in spite of 25 years of long hours, endless dinner guests, and fruit flies that are ever present in the wine business, makes this label remind me of several women in my life.

There are four Vivacious Vicky labels. A White, Red, Rose’, and their Nice Legs Merlot. The Red, White, and Rose are very approachable in both price and flavor. The Merlot is a premium vintage, with a mouthful of rich berries, vanilla, and baking spices.

Next, to a wine that has created both positive and negative vibes for me over the past few years. Charles Smith of K Wines developed Kung Fu Girl Riesling about 3 years ago. The current vintage of this wine is good for the price, with approximately 1.5% residual sugar, it is a semi-dry done in the Mosel style. A little bubbly in the glass when you swirl it, it tastes of young peaches and spice. The reason why I choose this wine for this column is simply for the label. It’s caption that says “Girls Kick Ass” really speaks to so many powerful women in my life.

Next, I just have to bring up Mad Housewife Wines. These wines I know have broken some sales records down at Dave’s Chevron in Pendleton. The labels are just plain funny, with a 50’s style lady on the front who looks completely “June Cleaver” gone mad. This reminds me of many of the mothers in my life. Things may be completely bonkers around them, but as long as there is a glass of wine with dinner everything works out.

Last, I need to bring up a wine that I know offended my wife when I walked in the door with it. But, I know these wines are catching on like wildfire. Bitch wines out of Australia, come with a pretty, pink label with hearts and daggers on it.

Bitch originally offered just Grenache, which was full of berries, and buttery tannins. Now they are offering a Bitch Bubbly, which is a Grenache Rose’ Sparkling. This wine hits the tongue with a burst of ripe strawberries, lingering citrus flavors, and tight bubbles. For the price, this is good stuff. I’ll let you guess who this reminds me of!

Happy Mother’s Day!