6 August 2009
While you can’t always judge a book by looking at the cover, or a wine by glancing at the label, you can’t always avoid leaping to conclusions when you take a glance at the packaging of items we encounter in our day to day lives. Packaging plays an important role in the success or failure of products that are lined up on shelves along with their competitors and brand recognition factors are an important consideration when the packaging is being designed.
At the same time, I become suspicious when I encounter wine bottles with overly colourful or otherwise eye-catching designs, particularly when we’re looking at the lower end of the market, where consumer decisions are largely based on a combination of price point and brand recognition.
It’s an area where the majority of consumers are likely to be looking for styles that are comfortably familiar rather than unusual or interesting variations on familiar themes. Given the price point they’re looking at, you’d expect, for example, that oak in a wine would originate from woodchips in a metal tank rather than maturation in hogsheads, puncheons or other variations on the barrel theme.
The arrival of the July edition of The Wine Society Best Value Dozen had me reflecting on these themes since four of the six wines in the package came from wineries I didn’t recall encountering before, and two of them had labels that had the alarm bells ringing in the old brain.
After all, I live next door to the Coral Sea, and fail to see any obvious link between that body of water, Shiraz and Renmark. The presence of a large brightly-coloured denizen of the deep on a bottle of red wines strikes me as more than a tad fishy. Checking the company’s website suggested that the labels colour-code the fish to match the wine colour.
There isn’t, however, much wrong with what I found in the two bottles of Coral Sea 2008 Shiraz (RRP $12.99, TWS $10.99, Reorder $9.34). Nicely spicy with a touch of leather on the nose, plenty of berry fruit and a trace of chocolate in the mouth, nicely rounded in an easy drinking style. While it isn’t the greatest wine you’ve ever drunk, at the price point it’s better than many.
Even with reservations about the packaging I’d be tempted to line up for more. Reorder price lasts till the end of August if stocks last, so it’s worth bearing in mind. If, as I suspect, we’re looking at a label intended for export you mightn’t find too many of these sitting on the shelves once they’ve somehow managed to dispose of the current wine glut.
Assuming, of course, that they can manage to do that.
The other wine where the packaging gave me cause to pause was the Swish Wine Tin Soldier 2008 Semillon Sauvignon Blanc (RRP $25, TWS $13.99, Reorder $11.89). Now, according to the pamphlet that came in the box from The Wine Society, The labels and bottles are impressive and so is the wine.
I spent a deal of time and effort investigating the claim Swish Wines are the product of an established vineyard and a proven winemaking team and while locating the winery was comparatively easy, figuring out what it had been prior to this most recent incarnation wasn’t quite so straightforward. Along the way I picked up a definite feeling that the winery is targeting the younger end of the market, the FaceBook/Twitter crowd by delivering wine without the wank, which is fine in itself, but if you’re going to do that, you’re also in danger of alienating part of your market, particularly when your website is slinging off at old buffoons with braces and bulbous noses.
The latest edition of Mr Halliday's handy reference reveals that the vineyard was previously owned by the Gartelmann Estate, and that when the current owners bought the vineyard, they found a toy tin soldier among the vines.
But, ultimately, it’s about the wine in the bottle rather than packaging. Tin Soldier 2008 Semillon Sauvignon Blanc (RRP: $25.00 TWS $13.99 Reorder: $11.89) is a bloody good wine. Very nice citrus, passionfruit and capsicum on the nose, and those elements come through in the mouth, nicely balanced with a lingering finish that’s reasonably delicious. Halliday, coincidentally, gives it a 91.
Oh, and the alleged RRP seems to be considerably over the odds when the winery website “normal price” is $14.99.
The rest of the box:
Prince Hill 2008 Card Selection Sauvignon Blanc (RRP $14.99; TWS $9.99 Reorder $8,49) was a straight Sauvignon blanc without the characters you associate with the Kiwi version, but with a lingering finish, a bit of lemon on the nose and very easy to drink. I liked it, but don't know if I'll be reordering....
TWS 2007 Yarra Valley Chardonnay (RRP & TWS: $11.95; Reorder $10.15) didn’t, in my opinion, have a whole lot going for it, but that might be something to do with subtlety. Melon and stonefruit on the nose, some citrus and oak in the mouth. Not my style, sorry.
McWilliams Select Series 2008 Cabernet Merlot (RRP & TWS $11.99 Reorder: $10.19) was another nice drop. Blackcurrant and chocolaty oak on the nose, soft fruit flavours with soft tannins in the mouth and a lingering finish were enough to persuade me that while I mightn’t be reordering it’s one to watch out for when we’re away from home base and scouring the bottle shop looking for something to go with the evening meal.
I didn’t set out to save the best till last, but that’s the way it turned out. The Tyrone Estate 3 Generations 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon (RRP: $11.99 TWS $9.99 Reorder: $8.49) was soft, rounded and well-balanced, for my money an almost-perfect no frills and fancy stuff everyday drinking style wine with nice berries, blackcurrant and chocolate in the mouth, hint of spice on the nose. Given low-key packaging it’d be interesting to see how sales of the other wines fare in comparison with the more eye-catching presentation of the Tin Soldier and Coral Sea offerings. Not that we’re likely to see that data, of course.
But it would be interesting.