Article by Peter Renton

Copyright (c) 2006 Peter Renton

It comes as no news to anyone that the American people love their animals. What did come as a surprise to me is that we also love animals on our wine labels. Yes, a study released earlier this year by ACNielsen confirms that wine labels with animal images are becoming increasingly popular in this country.

I felt compelled to do my own research on this topic so one evening I stopped by my local liquor store to check out the wine selection. Sure enough I was greeted with a veritable zoo of animals on labels. There were Dancing Bulls, Leaping Horses, Black Swans, Little Penguins, Kangaroos, even a hippopotamus courtesy of Fat Bastard Wines (which is French would you believe). This very informal research confirmed that there seems to be a much larger selection of wines with animal labels than ever before.

Critter Labels Rule

In the wine industry these animal labels are affectionately known as “critter labels”, and the trend began back in 2001 with the introduction of the Yellow Tail brand of wines into this country from Australia. Pictured on the label is what looks like a kangaroo (but which is in fact supposed to be the yellow-footed rock wallaby). These wines had labels that looked striking, were priced very reasonably and they tasted great – so they became a runaway success. So much so that they spawned an entire new “category” of wine.

The ACNielsen study has some hard data confirming the popularity of this new wine category. In the past three years there have been 438 new Table Wine brands that have been successfully introduced in the American market (those wines that sold more than ,000 annually). Of these 438 new brands 77 of them featured an animal on their label, around 18 percent. Combined with existing “critter label” wines, sales reached 0 million in 2005 out of a total of just over billion, based on ACNielsen sales data from supermarket point of sale purchases.

“Critter-labeled wines are on the rise, quickly gaining share in the table wine category,” said Danny Brager, vice president of ACNielsen’s Beverage Alcohol team. “The sales generated by new brands featuring a critter outperform other new table wines by more than two to one.” That’s right, taken across the board new critter-labeled wines have proven in the marketplace to be more popular.

“While placing a critter on a label doesn’t guarantee success, it is important that wine makers realize that there is a segment of consumers who don’t want to have to take wine too seriously,” said Brager. “Not only are they willing to have fun with wine, they may just feel ‘good’ about an animal label presentation.” With hundreds of new wine brands being introduced each year, wine makers realize that they need to stand out from the crowd if they are to make an impression. The easiest and most cost effective way to stand out is with an attention grabbing label on your bottle. The wine industry has also realized that there is an increasingly large segment of consumers who are attracted by fun labels. They want to buy a non-pretentious wine and they don’t want to pay a fortune. These are the people who walk into a liquor store and supermarket and have no idea what they are going to buy – they decide by looking at the labels.

Chasing the Yellow Tail

The Yellow Tail wine phenomenon is the perfect example of this. From Casella Wines, a small family-owned winery in New South Wales, Australia, Yellow Tail went from zero to the number one imported wine in the US in just two years. The first year the Casella brothers expected to sell 25,000 cases of wine here, they ended up selling 200,000 cases. That was back in 2001. In 2005 they sold 8 million cases of wine. Yellow Tail Shiraz is now the #1 selling red wine in America (not just imports but ALL red wine). In the crowded and highly competitive US wine market with over 6,500 wine brands, Yellow Tail has become the #1 wine brand, and it took just five years.

Now, I realize that Yellow Tail’s success is not just because of their label. They have a great product that is reasonably priced – the Shiraz is just .99 – and they have a very loyal base of repeat customers. But could they have become #1 without their unique label? I don’t think so. One of the biggest barriers they faced was getting people to try the wine in the first place. With what looks like a brightly colored kangaroo on the label on a black background, it is a visually striking label. It was able to break through the clutter at the retail store with this label.

Perhaps the biggest indication of the success of Yellow Tail is the number of copycats it has spawned. Penfolds, Australia’s leading winery, was obviously disappointed in missing out on this opportunity, so they responded with the launch of the Little Penguin brand of wines. There is now a deluge of animal themed wines, so much so that ACNielsen is tracking their sales now. Despite all this new competition Yellow Tail remains the most successful wine brand in terms of total sales.

Labels are a Powerful Tool

While the wine business is somewhat unique there are lessons here that can be applied to any industry. One lesson is that with a high impact label you can make inroads even in a conservative and image conscious industry such as the wine industry. Your label should be working hard for your product. It should be informational, be a sales and marketing piece, carry any necessary regulatory information, and at the same time be eye catching. If you are selling your products at a retail store, then your label needs to perform well in all these areas for your product to compete with other more established brands.

Your label is your sales tool. The success of Yellow Tail wines demonstrates that in any competitive industry a good label can help bring success. Of course, it doesn’t have to feature a critter, but a visually appealing and eye catching label will always help sales.

Today’s champagne cannot be compared to that of yesterday. The champagne of previous years had lesser bubbles. That is the reason why the glasses were designed differently. The glasses made yester years were known as saucers or coupes. However, when champagne evolved the glasses needed to change in like fashion. Nowadays, the glasses have narrow opening, created with smooth glass consisting of tall bowls and thin stems. Narrow opening keeps the attractive bubbles from coming by restraining the surface.

As you can tell bulk champagne glasses are flexible and have numerous varying uses for many occasions. It could be for a wedding or a toast at any gathering. Those who serve wine are aware of the value of having requisite serving pieces. Sometimes the container in which a product is served contributes to the enjoyment of that product by clients. You would be guaranteed of a regular supply of wine glasses when you buy in bulk. Purchasing them in bulk has several advantages.

They are mostly made of either fine crystal or creatively designed stemware which emphasizes the need for buying bulk champagne glasses. This makes it easily susceptible to breakage.

Buying in bulk also ensures tremendous cost savings. It is better to buy your champagne glasses in dozen packs or a pallet full. This way you would save instead of buying them weekly or even daily and having to pay expensive retail prices. Retail price glasses are for unique occasions and it would be good to use other glasses.

These types of glasses are very easily broken stemware not like goblets or wine glasses and must be handled cautiously. Indeed they are not crafted for normal everyday use. Under special occasions like birth day parties, weddings and dinners you would need a vast supply of stemware for the guests. This is another reason to go in for large orders directly from the producer or a wholesaler instead of at retail prices.

Consuming your much cherished wine from anything other than a well crafted champagne glass would mostly be unsuitable. In fact you would want to enjoy your champagne with style and colour. With this knowledge about champagne glassware that should now be possible. Do a check on your local yellow pages or business directory and find a producer in your neighbourhood. You could save on delivery costs if they are nearer.

Read more about the best cheap champagne glasses or personalized champagne glasses.

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Indeed one of the most treasured and important traditions of your wedding ceremony will be the toast that your invited guests give to your health and happiness as you begin life with your other half. Because of the significant part of this life landmark it is advisable to select some great wedding glass champagne flutes. This should be able to characterize your personalities, relationship together and the things you would want to keep in mind the rest of your life. You could select glass champagne glasses that depict your ornamental prowess which will really make an impression on your guests when seen at the head table. These days you can buy these great items very easily online at reduced prices. Let’s take a look at some of these.

First there is the open loop heart flutes. These glass champagne flutes are delicate in their plainness of the iced glass top and the silver trunk of the flute. In fact each flute can be adapted with the initials of the couple to make them even more unforgettable and emblematic of your relationship. In the area between the stem and the glass is a silver heart flourish that adds an aroma of romance and enthusiasm to the flutes. It serves to give you a deeper connotation of the toast and drinking of the champagne.

The crystal ring flutes are a really striking and complex range of glass champagne flutes. It gives a unique difference to the clear glass at the top with a shining glass stem. In between the stem and the glass is a ring of rhinestone crystals that add an extra class of exquisiteness and attractive flexibility. They can even be given as gifts to the parents of the bride and groom or from the guests to the couple. It would serve to initiate the bonding familiarity between the family, friends and loved ones.

The last of these is the diamond ring flutes. These are composed of purely crystalline glass in order to capture the light and give off a glowing sparkle. They can also be customized with the couples names and date of the wedding. The middle area of the glass and the stem is marked with a diamond engagement ring shape.

Give new levels of meaning to your good luck toast and also delight your guests by using some of these decorative glass flutes.

Read more about the best silver wine goblets or cheap champagne glasses.

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Are you thinking of giving wine as a gift this holiday season? Wine clubs may be exactly what you are looking for as a gift for the wine lover in your life. There is a wine of the month club of every type, red wine, white, foreign or domestic they make a great gift for just about anybody. Each club has its own unique things to offer so you can customize one to fit your needs perfectly. One thing for sure is you know your gift will be used and enjoyed. Use this guide to giving a wine club as a gift throughout the entire year.

There are so many wine clubs available to choose it makes it fun to use them as presents. Also, wine of the month clubs keep on giving month after month. Some clubs are designed for three months, others six and there are many that last for the year. Your gift recipient will keep on getting wine bottles to use on special occasions through the year. You can relax knowing the gift you gave was put to a good use and fully enjoyed.

If you find yourself looking for a wine of the month club, remember there are many different selections you can make. For instance a general club may have only red wine, all white wines or a nice mix of both types. This is one way you can rely on the club’s top rated picks across a specific category. The result is a nice selection of wonderful wines to enjoy.

Looking for gifts for a wine lover? Here is an idea for someone you know that has a particular taste or preference in wine. You can select a club from their favorite region such as Napa Valley or only French wines. Another idea is to select their favorite varietal such as a California Chardonnay or Spanish Rioja. There are several clubs that make special selections tailored to those tastes. There is another variation on this theme that is fun. Certain clubs focus on one varietal, such as a Cabernet Sauvignon wine club, and end up sampling different Cabs from all over the world.

Wine clubs don’t have to break the bank in case you are on a small budget. They aim to please and their selections often turn up some gems at a very reasonable price. For top rated wines such as a 90+ wine club you can send one bottle at a time of affordable picks. Others may want to send an entire case at once with a variety of careful selections based on your preference of wine region, varietal or rankings from the magazines like Wine Spectator. This gives you flexibility without spending more than you planned.

A wine of the month club can still come in handy for all kinds of occasions like:
* Birthdays
* Anniversaries
* Weddings
* Valentine’s Day
* Mother or Father’s Day
* Job promotions
Of course the holiday season is the traditional gift giving time of year and wine clubs are very appropriate gifts.

When in doubt, remember you always have a big selection of wine clubs of every type and from every place to match almost anyone on your list. Part of the fun is to customize them and match someone’s specific interests or tastes or select one of the packaged options that meet your budget to give a gift with a fantastic taste. Wine lovers appreciate the huge selections on the market today. Give a gift that people will always remember and use this year. Wine clubs will even make the holidays special.

To find out more about wine clubs and Wine Gifts check out our site at http://www.valleywineshop.com

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There is an ever prevailing confusion about buying a wine and making it go with the dish that you are about to serve for your guests or your family. This confusion is the first step towards learning all about wines. If you are not satisfied by your choice of wine, just chill because even the wine exerts fail to notice occasionally. First things first – believe that it is not common that one can tell what a wine could taste like until he/ she opens it up and takes a sip. Everyone is subject to imperfections and faults. Do not blame yourself if you find wines very difficulty. In order to make it a pleasure and learn more about wines hit California. Take this wine country tour and equip yourself with lots of information about wines. You can see to yourself the wine making process if you take a California wine country tour. California is home to diverse types of wineries. You can learn to pick a good wine by following these tips;

Type of Grape used – Information regarding the type of grape that went in the making of the wine will be specified on the label. Grapes are the primary differentiator of tastes that wines pick up. The tastes of grapes differ vastly. And this is why there are a variety of wines available. There are even wines made from 2 or more grape variety. This enhances the diverse tastes in which wines are available. This results in an array of flavors unheard of. They are called blended wines. Blended wines can delight your taste buds in an exciting manner. But here the cellar masters have the opportunity to mix low quality grapes to make good sales. Therefore only trust well known and certified wine makers.

Winery – Wineries make a great difference when you determine the taste of the wine. A handful of wineries always produce wines that give best taste. So you can depend on those labels. So, check on all brands a few times and decide on buying the ones that are very consistent in providing the best taste.

Place – Also check the region where the grapes where picked from. This information is provided on the label of the bottle. Grapes acquire the flavor from the soil they are grown in. France for instance induces lavender aroma to the wines that are made out of their grapes. So there is abundant variety depending upon the place where the grapes were picked from.

Year of produce – Look out for this information without fail. If a particular year was bad to the vineyard then they are sure to yield bad wines. They make a sea difference in the taste of the wine.

Shijina is a SEO copywriter for Napa Wine Country Tours. She has written various articles like California wine country tours , Wine Country Bus Tours, Wine country sightseeing bus tours, Napa valley and more. For more information visit our site winecountrytourshuttle.com. Contact me mail at winecountryshuttle@gmail.com.

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One would need proof of course, in order to deduce these things. And tons of evidences were then gathered. These evidences convey that humans who lived a long, long time ago already had sufficient knowledge in the basic processes of homemade wine making. If we ask them now “how do you make wine?”  they will tell us that they did so at their very own homes and backyards, using the grapes they picked from their own vineyards.

“How do you make wine?”

The following will tell you many details:

-    Georgia and Iran were the two regions where early evidences of wine making were first found. The evidences date back to 6000-5000 B.C.
-    In Macedonia and Europe, there were evidences dug up by archeologists depicting that people 6,500 years ago already had knowledge in wine making.
-    Ceremonies were the center of life among the Egyptians. True enough, there have been paintings on ancient tombs and walls depicting wine making as being included in their rituals and ceremonies.
-    In China, evidences of wine making among the Chinese trace back to 2000-1000 B.C.

The diets of the classical Greeks and Romans were not complete without at least a glass of wine. This is very essential in their meal plans and couldn’t actually eat without being served a glass of it. They make sure that this is the case because they were very proud of the technology they have discovered at that time. This technology I am referring to is what they called the Wine Press technology.   This technology particularly made wine making very simple, easy and fast for them. “How do you make wine?” They used it to produce wine from various kinds of grapes, it helped them create various techniques in land growing and made them become creative in barrel making, wine storage and shipments.

We ask them again, “How do you make wine?”  We all know that a time came called the fall of the Roman Empire. When this happened, the Catholic Church imbibed their tradition and incorporated wine in their ceremonies particularly in the celebration of the holy mass. The use of wine as a symbol of the blood of Christ is a high point in the Catholics’ Eucharistic celebration. Wine then became a necessity for them which brought about the spread of wine use sometime in the 15th century. This is the case for the Catholics. For other religion like Islam, use of any alcohol was forbidden unless it was for healing or remedies.

During the prehistoric times, there were little or no evidence at all as to wine making. “How do you make wine?” Archeologists only speculated that prehistoric people also concocted their own homemade wine from wild grapes and fruits and eventually led to other evidences in the early times.

With these things, we can say that it is indeed quite hard to pinpoint where wine making really started. Evidences point to all sorts of different directions. Some say it originated from the vastness of the African continent while others point to the huge lands of South and Central Asia. We can never really know for sure.  What we can be sure of is that our contemporary or current wine making activities did stem from the ancient Greeks’ tradition. This is because the grapes being used in modern day Greece are similar to those used in the ancient Greek period.

Simon Thomas is a homemade winemaker, enthusiast and author. He lives in California and spends his time teaching others how to setup an amazing boutique winery. You can find more information about how to make professional quality wine at your own home, at Simon’s popular site: www.homemadewinesecrets.com

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• Computer
• Graphics Software
  - most cost from $0 – $50 in the US. There is a light version of Photoshop that will create labels for the amateur with ease. It usually costs less than $39 and is sometimes given free with purchases of scanners or digital cameras.
• Printer & Label sheets (optional) 
  - Without a printer you can save your label art to a jump drive and take it to a copying facility, such as Kinko’s for printing. However, if you have a printer, you can print these yourself.
• Scanner (optional)
  - Printers and scanners can be bought new for less than $100 in the US

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The main thing that you need to know when it comes to wine storage is to place your bottles on their side somewhere relatively cool and free from direct light. However, learning a little more than the basics is advisable, and that’s what we’ll look at now.

Temperature is an important factor when you’re dealing with wine. Wine should ideally be stored between 50-60 degrees farenheit, although a range of 45-65 degrees farenheit is considered OK. A lower, colder temperature causes the aging process to slow down, preventing the wine from aging properly. A higher, warmer temperature causes premature aging (not in a good way).

The worst thing that you can do to your wine is subject it to varying temperatures – a steady temperature at either acceptable extreme being better than subjecting it to large variances within the ideal temperature range. The temperature should never fluctuate more than 5 degrees a day; this is especially important for red wines, which are more susceptible to damage from temperature than white wines.

Humidity is also important as, unless it’s properly maintained, it can cause the cork to dry out, and this allows air to come into contact with the wine (which damages it). You want to aim for a humidity level of around 70 – 80%, and can purchase a hygrometer to track this.

A wine cellar is the ideal place for storing wine because it maintains the optimal humidity and temperature; however, they aren’t practical for most people because of their size and cost. If a wine cellar isn’t practical for you, place your bottles in a garage or basement to achieve similar conditions. Making some space in either and purchasing a wine rack and temperature / humidity gauge are highly recommended if you intend on storing more than a few bottles of wine at a time.

More : Wine Guide

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The taste of a wine can improve or worsen depending on the food that you drink it with so, by learning the basics about pairing them, you can enhance your culinary experiences.

There are two basic approaches to choose from. One is contrast, where the wine is different in character to the food, but the differing characteristics play off each other, and the other is complimentary, where the wine and food work together through a similar trait (such as sweetness or acidic). Either works equally well, but which to apply varies on the type of food being served.

Regional combinations are also worth paying attention to, as food originating from a particular region or country will often pair well with the local wines, as they have evolved to complement one another. So, foods and wines from France work well together, as do ones from Italy, and also ones from Spain.

Here are some examples of wine and food pairings: pair beef with heavier reds like Zinfandel, Bordeaux, or Cabernet Sauvignon. Most of these wines go well with lamb as well, but this meat can take white wines like Pinot Gris too. For poultry, look for whites, or light reds when there is a heavy sauce – Pinot Noir and Beaujolais work well. Fish should always be served with whites, and Sauvignon Blanc makes a good choice.

However, though these are said to be classic pairings, that doesn’t mean that you’ll necessarily like all of them. Everyone has a different palate and appreciates different tastes and flavors. Keep in mind also that some people have a favorite wine style that they stick to regardless of the food being served. Therefore, you should always have different types of wine at hand when you’re entertaining others. You can recommend a certain variety, but the final decision about what they drink should be up to your guests.

If you liked this, try : Wine 101

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