I’ll bet I’m not the only person who – even after years of being a wine enthusiast – is still captivated and seduced by well-designed and/or intriguing wine labels. It’s hard to admit because the label obviously can’t faithfully capture much about the contents of the bottle and so it remains relatively unimportant ‘window dressing’ to the main event: the beverage itself. However, wine labels are an important part of how a wine might be marketed (and perceived by the consumer) and so they do yield quite a bit of power both on the shelf and on the table. A great wine label can indicate the origins of the wine or, in the case of our first inductee, simply be an image that captures our imaginations and ‘inspires’ us to drink what’s inside the bottle.

Shortly after starting his Orin Swift winery venture, winemaker Dave Phinney came up with a Zinfandel-based blend he called The Prisoner.  The Prisoner has become one of the hottest wines of recent times due, most likely, to its accessible and luscious mixture of Napa Cabernet and Zinfandel flavors.  I’m guessing, though, that many a bottle has been purchased after noticing the unique label on the front of the bottle: a Goya etching of a man bound and masked – a prisoner.  A bold image that leaps out at you from the rows of innocuous wines at the local shop and looks pretty cool in the grocery basket.  The real reward here, though, is that the wine more than lives up to the packaging – and that is no small achievement!