Wine Label Hall Of Fame: Leviathan.

Andy Erickson, winemaker for Screaming Eagle and Favia, also makes Leviathan, a California-appellation red wine blend that features this unique label. I haven’t been able to find any information on who designed it, but it’s iconic in the same way that Orin Swift’s Prisoner label was and similarly stands out from other wines on the shelf.

Wine Label Hall Of Fame: Korbin Kameron

Korbin Kameron

Bay area design firm Office has done a stunning job designing the bottles for upcoming winery, Korbin Kameron. The bottles are screen-printed (similar to Silver Oak’s Napa Valley Cabernet bottling) with a swooping design and a small, rectangular adhesive label floats near the bottom with details about the wine.

Wine Label Hall Of Fame.

Orin Swift 'The Prisoner'

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!

BUY: Orin Swift ‘The Prisoner’ Zinfandel Blend 2007