I was going to do a post about wine labels featuring bicycles today. Nothing groundbreaking, I know, but hey. To my surprise, however, I found out that the Cycles Gladiators wine out of California, who use the above classic vintage poster on their wine labels, was just banned in Alabama for being pornographic. Giggle.
Which is completely stupid, I know, but it's also the greatest marketing bonus for any product.
Anyway, here's a wine called Red Bicyclette with a bicycle on the label. American owned, French grapes.
Then there's this one from Nevada City Winery in California.
Out of Australia there is Hill of Content.
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And here's another Australian wine called Rolling. One of their labels features a cyclist. They've developed a story about the women on her bicycle:
The ROLLING label features the fictitious 'retro character, ‘Beatrice’, riding her bicycle through rolling hills. These hills are typical of the landscape at the beautiful Cumulus Wines Estate vineyard. Beatrice is a proud, confident, country woman.
Beatrice's scarf is in the colours of the local football team while the oranges in her basket point to the brand's locality.
Not sure about that screw top, though. While 'Bibs' or 'Bag in the Box' ['les bibs' in French... seriously] are now free of their stigma and many premium winemakers chuck their juice into boxes, I still get twitches when I see screwtops.
21 thinking out louds:
My understanding is that all of the wines from Australia & NZ are corkless these days. Apparently all of the world's cork comes from Europe and shipping to Down Under is expensive enough that it has through the cost-benefit analysis towards screw tops.
oops. "through" should be
thrown". No coffee yet....
sure, but there are plastic corks available.
probably doesn't matter if it's plastic or screwtop.
with cork you lose on average 10% of the bottles because of corkage.
Screwtops are great! No need to worry about who forgot the corkscrew when out for a spontaneous bicycle picnic...
The Cono Sur wine brand from Chile also uses bikes on some of its bottles:
Merlot Rosé: http://www.vineyardbrands.com/assets/0/38/66/226/228/96833990-dd63-4f40-a87a-c1304609044c.jpg
Sauvignon Blanc: http://www.vineyardbrands.com/assets/0/38/66/226/228/20376242-52c9-4b75-8967-34735ed24ede.jpg
Cabernet Sauvignon: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3033/2543684801_7b37f722b4_m.jpg
Useful fallback when the array in the bottle shop is too bewildering!
PS I saw a good documentary on cork production recently. Apparently the industry has revolutionised itself following the threat from plastic and screwtop, and the 10% spoiled is falling. Not only that, the cork trees provide a unique habitat for a wide range of unusual flora and fauna- something you don't get in a plastic factory! ;)
Screwtops are great and a large number of wines use them (maybe not all Oz & NZ wine, but a lot of the main brands).
I don't see any problem with screwtops and surely they are better for the wine and better environmentally (no shipping real cork, or using plastic, smaller amount of material, less wastage, etc, ect).
I can vouch for the Como Sur wines, especially the Cabernet Sauvignon. And there is a red wine called Tandem, with stick people riding a tandem bike on the label, that is from Morocco that is really very lovely.
I always get sucked into trying a wine if it features a bicycle on the label.
i have a few "reviews" (using this term loosely) of various bike wines on my blog - filed under booze.
i have been able to find most of those listed, but i also like to review wines that come in "bike friendly" packaging like tetrapaks and cans.
http://critninja.blogspot.com/search/label/booze
happy trails!
There's also Radlerbier, a German tradition of beer mixed with lemon juice. I'm sure there must be a few brands out there...
Here's another bike-label wine:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/micon/3224990537/
I hate screw tops on wine bottles, they are the greatest threat to the cork oak forest of the Iberian Peninsular. Give the choice between a steel smelter and a forest, I would take the forest any time...
Mikael you do not 10% of the bottles content if you store it properly.
But then I am a wine loving ecologist.
If you like beer too one of my faves is New Belgium (newbelgium.com) – with the famous red and orange cap. They're majorly pro-bike and the brew's pretty good too!
I live in Sonoma CA and word from here is that the screw top is OK technically ... most of my wine industry friends still personally choose a natural cork though.
And not a helmet in sight, even on the Aussie labels - yay!
I've spoken to quite a few winemakers about screwcaps (stelvins) vs cork, and they're mostly pretty enthusiastic about the screwcaps. One had been to a Riesling tasting, and tried some of the first Rieslings to be put under screwcap - we're talking twenty or so years aging - and apparently they were simply phenomenal, with so much more complexity of flavour than the cork ones (they had some direct comparisons, of pairs from each vintage, one cork, one screwcap). That tasting session converted him.
Whilst I do still prefer the romance of the cork (for want of a better word), and don't collect the screwcaps as I do corks, I have no objections to buying screwcaps. The interesting thing is the trends that the winemakers have noticed: many of those I've spoken to have split their vintages, to put some under cork and some under screwcap, both to compare how they age, and see who buys them. They said that the split they were seeing was around the 45yr old mark - people older than 45yrs were questioning them about the screwcaps, in terms of how good they were, then buying screwcaps, because they've had the disappointment of corked wine. The under-45s were sticking with the corks, because screwcaps still had that 'cheap' connotation for them (because we all remember drinking cheap screwcap wine in our younger days. Shudder).
Aha, yes but what is Contador's wine of choice?
I have been utterly fascinated by the largely successful campaign by the plastics industry to "rebrand" itself as Green/Environmentally friendly.
To the extent that they have a point it is only valid, even with recycling) for DURABLE goods, those intended to last for decades, or even centuries ( and who makes those these days?); not for disposable goods such as "corks."
And for those who doubt you might want to search Google Images for "Exxon Valdez oil spill" and "oil refinery."
"Green" plastics must share the blame for this so long as they are petroleum based.
Note: it is possible to make SUSTAINABLE plastic products by using vegetable products for raw stock. Bio-plastic.
KFG
Thanks for that. Bicycles and wine - loverly! Silly people who confuse an Art Nouveau take on a classical nude with porno. A religious sect did this to a café here, harassing them to remove two classical nude statues.
I tend to appreciate a real cork, NOT a plastic one, in a high-quality keeping wine. Why on earth not a screwtop on "vins de consommation courante"?
I'm drinking white wine from a screwtop bottle as I write but I put the wine in the bottle myself - it is homemade wine an uncle made. And not bad at all, actually. Though actually I'm drinking it half and half with Perrier citron as it is finally hot here and I want a refreshing, not too heavy tipple. Don't feel at all aghast about doing that with homemade wine!
I have studied wines, and can appreciate the complexity of really fine ones, but at the same time, wine is fermented grape juice, and a pleasant accompaniement to a meal. No reason to overly ritualise everyday wine.
Et en effet, helmets are anything but a selling point. Look at the flowing hair on the "pornographic" woman!
CinCin!!!
The move away from corks is indeed related to corkage, but I think it reflects the vintner's perspective on the potential hazards. On the whole the incidence rate is negligible, but it's a big deal if you happen to get a bottle ruined by cork taint (especially if it costs a lot). But don't let the screwcap dissuade you; many of the world's top winemakers are experimenting with the cap.
Regarding Cono Sur wines, I highly recommend their organically grown Pinot Noir, vintage 2008: http://www.conosur.com/en/our-wines/organic/
My wife and I also have a bottle of their single-varietal Pinot Noir (http://www.conosur.com/en/our-wines/cono-sur-single-varietal/pinot-noir/) but we haven't opened it yet.
Here is a Chow foodblog taste on the "Banned in 'Bama" windfall. Good for the winery. http://www.chow.com/media/7980
My husband has started collecting these bottles and has quite a few. He's now taking the labels off to put into a frame (yes, that's quite sad, I know) but some will come off easily and others won't. Any suggestions as to how to get wine labels off bottles without destroying them?!
You should take a look at the Chilean Winery named Cono Sur. They have one of the most delicious wines from the New World I've ever tasted and they also have bicycles on their label. You can take a look at www.conosur.com or at their Flickr, www.flickr.com/photos/cswinery/.
100% recomended!
you used to be able to buy the Rolling wine in Metro in Sydhavnen, Copenhagen
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