This week marks the completion of four laps of the alphabet, twice with red wines and twice with white and I am unnecessarily pleased with myself for not having given up. I have been tempted once or twice, but as soon as I remember that I am my only reader I get an inexplicable second wind.
When I completed the WSET Diploma one of the units (#1) required me write a report on 'The presentation and packaging of wine'. I rather enjoyed doing that and was rewarded with my highest rating for any of the units. The report required, with other things, two wines to be used to demonstrate the difference between 'good' and 'bad'. Had I have encountered this week's selection I would have found it hard to resist, but good or bad?
Week Z (2016) Chronic Cellars Purple Paradise, Zinfandel, Paso Robles 2013. Majestic £12.74
We will come back to the packaging in a little while, but for now let's understand what is in the bottle.
It is a blend of 70% Zinfandel, the big red grape of California known as Primitivo in Southern Italy, 14% Syrah, 11% Petite Sirah and 5% Grenache.
It is 14.5% abv and a full, rich deep cherry and spiced chocolate wine with smoky vanilla oak flavours. There are some robust tannins, but it has a splendid warming finish. If you are in the mood for a subtle light summer red, possibly drunk slightly chilled, do not chose this one. If on the other you want something to chase down a rump steak fried in garlic and black pepper and served with cherry tomatoes roasted in balsamic vinegar and sweet potato chips, then this works a treat. I know, 'cause I was there.
So, now we know what it's like, does the packaging work? I showed the bottle (unopened) to a winey friend who said that if it had been a craft beer sitting on the supermarket shelves wearing this label, it would have caught his eye favourably, however, as it is a wine it made him suspicious.
It turns out that this was quite a perceptive observation as it was the intention of the brothers who make the wine, Josh and Jake Beckett, to 'make a statement' with counter culture branding of their products. There are three names credited on he back label, two Becketts and one I can't quite make out identifying the illustrator.
So good packaging? Yes, I think so. It gets the product noticed and certainly stands out from the often impenetrable wine wall. Will it put some off? Yes, but it may well appeal to the craft beer crowd and make a few converts. As it says on the back of the bottle: 'Life is gamble, just roll with it. Wishes in one hand Chronic in the other'.
When I completed the WSET Diploma one of the units (#1) required me write a report on 'The presentation and packaging of wine'. I rather enjoyed doing that and was rewarded with my highest rating for any of the units. The report required, with other things, two wines to be used to demonstrate the difference between 'good' and 'bad'. Had I have encountered this week's selection I would have found it hard to resist, but good or bad?
We will come back to the packaging in a little while, but for now let's understand what is in the bottle.
It is a blend of 70% Zinfandel, the big red grape of California known as Primitivo in Southern Italy, 14% Syrah, 11% Petite Sirah and 5% Grenache.
It is 14.5% abv and a full, rich deep cherry and spiced chocolate wine with smoky vanilla oak flavours. There are some robust tannins, but it has a splendid warming finish. If you are in the mood for a subtle light summer red, possibly drunk slightly chilled, do not chose this one. If on the other you want something to chase down a rump steak fried in garlic and black pepper and served with cherry tomatoes roasted in balsamic vinegar and sweet potato chips, then this works a treat. I know, 'cause I was there.
So, now we know what it's like, does the packaging work? I showed the bottle (unopened) to a winey friend who said that if it had been a craft beer sitting on the supermarket shelves wearing this label, it would have caught his eye favourably, however, as it is a wine it made him suspicious.
It turns out that this was quite a perceptive observation as it was the intention of the brothers who make the wine, Josh and Jake Beckett, to 'make a statement' with counter culture branding of their products. There are three names credited on he back label, two Becketts and one I can't quite make out identifying the illustrator.
So good packaging? Yes, I think so. It gets the product noticed and certainly stands out from the often impenetrable wine wall. Will it put some off? Yes, but it may well appeal to the craft beer crowd and make a few converts. As it says on the back of the bottle: 'Life is gamble, just roll with it. Wishes in one hand Chronic in the other'.
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