The job title is “Murphy-Goode Wine Country Lifestyle Correspondent.” I’ve always wanted to go to Healdsburg and enjoy other parts of California’s wine country. I’m already on Twitter and Facebook and know my way around social media. Maybe they’ll notice me aka The Twitter Queen, a title bestowed on me by my husband. <wink>
We at the Murphy-Goode Winery got to thinking about the new age of communications and we figured it was a pretty good thing. So to get going, we’re looking for someone (maybe you) who really knows how to use Web 2.0 and Facebook and blogs and social media and YouTube and all sorts of good stuff like that — to tell the world about our wines and the place where we live: the Sonoma County Wine Country.
In exchange, we’re offering you a “Really Goode Job” — a six-month job paying $10,000 a month plus accommodations!
We want to hire a social media whiz (your title will be “Murphy-Goode Wine Country Lifestyle Correspondent”) who will report on the cool lifestyle of Sonoma County Wine Country and, of course, tell people what you’re learning about winemaking.
Did we mention that the compensation was $10,000 per month Plus accommodations in a beautiful home in picturesque Healdsburg, a popular vacation destination in our neck of the woods. Working hours are flexible. And all you have to do is experience wine and good living, and then tell people about it. (Do you play Poker, or Liar’s Dice? Don’t worry; we’ll teach you.)
I’ve been noticing more paper-less wine labels at the wine store lately. For oenophiles who like to collect wine labels, you’re out of luck with bottles that feature direct screenprinting aka applied color labeling. The process involves baking the inked design on the bottle in a 1200-degree furnace. These wine labels offer several advantages to wine producers: wraparound designs, perfect registration and no risk of tearing, wrinkling or other marring. I’m betting that graphic designers love the possibilities because their creativity is no longer confined to a paper label.
Here are two examples:
Boogle Shiraz
Sideview of bottle
Imported by The Grateful Palate, Baby Roogle Shiraz is the less expensive version of Marquis Phillips Shiraz, from R Wines, which I’ve written about in a previous post. (For a story about the bitter breakup of the Marquis-Phillips partnership in 2006: Wine Spectator.) The roogle is a creature that exists only in the minds of the wine’s creators. Look at the label closely and you’ll see it’s not a bird. A roogle is a cross between an eagle and a kangaroo.
This shiraz is medium-bodied, though not heavy on tannins, and has a smooth, fruity taste. I bought it for $11.
This other label is a hybrid:
The fork and the word “Tapeña” are applied using direct screenprinting and seem to float on the wine bottle. The yellow strip is a paper label, as is the one on the back of the wine bottle.
I figured the fork is meant to convey “food friendly.” However, the winemaker has a bigger goal, as demonstrated by the comprehensive web site: get into a Spanish lifestyle. Eat tapas! Tune into some Spanish guitar! Throw a party! Make these recipes! Test your knowledge of Madrid!
This earthy full-bodied wine is made from Tempranillo grapes–known as Spain’s noble grape–grown in the Tierra de Castilla region of Spain, which lies just south of Madrid. If you’ve had rioja, then you’ve had wine made from this grape. The area features hot, arid plains. Tempranillo goes well with grilled meats and salmon. It’s nice on its own, as well.
This wine label takes the understated approach to appeal to wine drinkers. Sure, the winemaker avoided critters, flowers, and other cutesy graphics. By trying to seem un-snobby and unfussy, though, I can’t help but think this too borders on self-conscious. The label’s pretense is that, hey, we’re a basic wine, something for the average person, labels aren’t important, the grape is. Blah, blah, blah. Don’t get me wrong. I like simple, straightforward labels. This one may have gone too far. The label looks like someone used a Sharpie to draw it. Think: wine for dummies.
House Wine is produced by The Magnificent Wine Co., which carries a line of generic sounding wines: Steak House Wine, White Table Wine, Fish House Wine, Red Table Wine–all but steak and fish are blends. The House Wine comes in a red and a white. The Magnificent Wine Co. also makes a cabernet, pinot noir, syrah and riesling. The labels feature similar lettering, the type of wine in big Sharpie black letters. The wine comes from grapes grown in vineyards located in Columbia Valley in Washington state.
I tried the House Wine Red the other night. It’s 73 percent cabernet sauvignon, 10 percent merlot, 8 percent syrah, 5 percent sangiovese, 2 percent malbec and 2 percent cabernet franc. The magazines Real Simple, Food & Wine and Gourmet recommended it. I think there are better red wines at this price — $11 — that offer full-bodied, complex flavors.
For one wine company, a moniker that has generated criticism in the world of wine is nothing to hide. In fact, it has chosen to be up front about how its wines come about, using the very term for its brand name. The wines under The Flying Winemaker label are from Cameron Hughes Wine, which does not own vineyards nor does it ferment wine. In other words, CHW is a virtual wine company. Cameron Hughes and partner Jessica Kogan are its founders. The story behind the wine:
After years of sourcing wine for my Cameron Hughes Lot Series, I have developed relationships with some great wineries and winemakers. People who just “get it”: clean, modern facilities, great vineyards, talented winemakers and, most importantly, integrity. For the Lot Series, we worked together on an in-and-out basis. But, over time, I saw a chance to work with a select few on an ongoing basis. The Flying Winemaker was born.
Each of the wines represents the best varietal from a great region.
Flying winemaker, a term coined by Tony Laithwaite, describes the phenomenon of people who oversee viticultures and winemaking around the world. Critics fear that what results is wine from different regions tasting the same, with no variation depending on terroir and so forth. Others point out that flying winemakers improve Old World wines and raise standards of winemaking. The article, “High Flyers?,” on the site Waitrose, addresses the pros and cons, noting,
The art of the flying winemaker is to modernise a wine, making it fruity, aromatic and ready for early drinking, without the need for much captial [sic] investment. Flying winemakers emphasise hygiene and rational work procedures, plus the use of certain portable additives and treatments.
The documentary Mondovino (2004 Cannes Film Festival) by Jonathan Nossiter is about the impact of the globalization of wine and the conflict that has arisen–the Old World vs. New World. In her January 2, 2005, New York Times article, “The Wine Wars, Spilled Onto the Big Screen,” Kristen Hohendal writes, “has movie critics here reaching for superlatives and some wine experts lobbing expletives, while audiences have turned the movie into a surprise hit.” Among those profiled in the documentary is Michel Rolland, a well known flying winemaker. Gordon Stimmell, wine columnist for the Toronto Starsays that in the documentary,
Rolland was vilified in the documentary Mondovino as a cigarillo-puffing gadabout being ferried from winery to winery in his chauffeured Mercedes, applying the same bag of winemaking tricks to every winery.he film’s message was that Rolland was contributing to the homogenization of global wine styles and the destruction of individual character that makes wines distinctively different from every country and vineyard. But the message was a distortion of the truth.
The only trailer I could find on the web was a promotion for a TV showing of the movie:
Last night, I tried the Tempranillo, which originates from Campo de Borja, Spain, and was released in February 2009. Campo de Borja is in northwestern Spain, near the city of Zaragoza. This full-bodied wine had nice tannins–smooth–with a hint of berry and spice. Delicious!
The Flying Winemaker series includes a chardonnay from Margaret River, Australia; zinfandel from Lodi, California; and a cabernet sauvignon from Maipo Valley, Chile.
You can order it at the Cameron Hughes online store, $60 for four. I found the Tempranillo in my supermarket’s wine section.
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