you may And yourself on occasion choosing a particular wine because the bottle has an attractive label — and you would not be alone. Today’s wine labels are not there solely to identify the contents — they must also sell the wine by attracting and wooing the customer. This dual function has played a crucial role In the design of wine labels, to such an extent that they have become an extremely attractive art form in their own right Classic designs range from the simple beauty of the Chateau d'Yquem label to the highly artistic Opus One and Cloudy Bay labels. Some of the leading wine producers have even commissioned well-known artists to design their labels — for example, Chateau Mouton Rothschild, whose labels have featured the work of Picasso and Andy Warhol among others.
The Art of the Wine Label ls a tribute to these unsung masterpieces of ephemeral art The book opens with a section devoted to the origins and development of papen labels, and goes on to decipher what is actually written on today’s labels. The main part of the book is divided into two sections: Typical Labels' contains an analysis of the sometimes surprising national and regional differences (what makes a Bordeaux label different from a Beaujolais label), and 'Label Themes’ covers a diverse range of subjects—vineyards, commemorative, even the humorous. Positively packed with examples drawn from the four corners of the globe, The Art of the Wine Label is a catalogue of colourful imagery, designed to be admired and to inspire.