One of the funnest parts in hobby winemaking is designing wine labels. I am not creative by myself, but as a group, we usually come up with pretty good ideas. Because our wine is not for sale, we have complete freedom in how we label and commemorate each vintage. I want to share some of our creations here.
Our first vintage was the 2016 Yakima Valley Syrah. We had completed winemaking theory and were excited to get our hands on the grapes. It was a simple wine made in a carboy to demonstrate the primary and secondary fermentation process. As harvest rolled around, my husband got pretty ill with a bad abscess in his throat and was unable to make the crush. Hence, we named the wine
Abscession, a play on Calvin Klein's famous fragrance label.
 |
| 2016 Abscession Syrah by Alisa Kessel |
The next year, we got our hands on some Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from the famous Red Mountain AVA. A shortage of vineyard workers, a late-day harvest, and an untimely power outage culminated to us crushing 4,000 lbs of grapes late at night. There is nothing like fumbling in darkness with sticky grape juice all over you. That night, Midnight Crush was conceived. The werewolf seemed a natural fit.
 |
| 2017 Midnight Crush by Olivia Lee |
In 2018, we decided to up our game and make a blend; Walla Walla Merlot and Yakima Cabernet Franc. Then things got more complicated when one of our hobby winemakers relocated for a new job. Besides managing the fermentation timeline with two varieties harvested three weeks apart, we had to coordinate the use of equipment in two locations.
This is the vintage where I wore my project manager hat frequently, and good project management did pay off. By the time we were ready to bottle, we were convinced that we had made four different wines. That meant four labels. We decided to have fun with a political theme.
We were so delighted with our free-run Merlot that year that we decided to have a single varietal bottling. The Merlot was aromatic with cherry and cocoa, elegant yet powerful. We named it Kamala Walla Walla after Senator Kamala Harris. Senator Harris caught our attention during the first Democratic presidential debate. We were thrilled when she was announced the Democratic vice presidential nominee the very same day the label went into press.
 |
2018 Kamala Walla Walla by Reuben Lee
|
We then separated out a 70% Merlot and 30% Cab Franc blend. On the nose and palate, we got cherry and strawberry. But the blend carried a higher level of tannins and acidity as well as a very long finish. We decided to name it Notorious RBG after every feminist's favorite Supreme Court justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. RBG also stands for Red Bordeaux Grapes and specifically Right Bank Grapes; of which, Merlot and Cab Franc are dominant.
 |
2018 Notorious RBG by Reuben Lee
|
The second blend consisted of 60% Cab Franc and 40% Merlot. It was fruit-forward and herbaceous, with a lot of tannins, having spent the longest time in oak. We named it AOC Columbia Valley, after Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Despite her youth, AOC is laser focused on her progressive platform, calling out the rich and fighting for the poor. AOC is also a play on the French wine classification, Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée.
 |
2018 AOC Columbia Valley by Reuben Lee
|
Our final blend was 80% Merlot and 20% Cab Franc, made in our second location. I personally have not tasted this blend and have no tasting notes to share. Following a string of strong well-spoken female public figures, it seems fitting to add a male politician.
We named this wine
Pete after former South Bend Mayor and Democratic presidential candidate, Pete Buttigieg. Pete's impressive resume includes a Harvard degree, a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford, a high-end management consulting gig, and a military career. For better or for worse, no one else made the news for being in a wine cave!
 |
2018 Pete by Reuben Lee
|
While the labels for each vintage are varied in themes and designs, the ability to have fun and to commemorate each year of winemaking unifies them all. We are after all not trying to create a brand. Yet in so doing, we are able to express what our wines mean to us.
For our 2019 vintage, we stepped back to a single variety, Walla Walla Syrah. As we bottled the rest of the wine yesterday, it is time again to start thinking about labels. So do stay tuned because ours are not just any wine labels.
Posts
