Wine Labels for Young Wine Consumers

Wine labels are very important for consumers because it is from here that they are going to get the information about the wine that they are ultimately going to buy. The complexity of each label varies a lot according to each country. Labels from the New World are usually very simple to read - they regularly shows the producer, vintage, the name of the wine, grape variety, wine region and country in which the wine is produced. 

 For the costumer, it is easy to read this kind of labels, because they do not need to guess what to expect from the wine. Wines and their labels coming from France and Germany are very difficult to understand because the local wine consumer is expected to know the grape and the style of the wine that she/he is buying. A consumer who has just started to drink wine will not have that kind of knowledge and will probably find it very confusing to choose the wine just by reading the label. 

Because of this - and to expand the target audience - countries from the Old World like Spain and Italy have started to adapt their labels to appear more young and easy to read - and buy - for new consumers. This “young” style originally started to appear in countries like USA and Australia and is now gaining momentum in the more conservative wine countries too. 

Some examples that stand out for me are labels by the Spanish Winery - Gallinas y Focas, with some of their wine labels seemingly drawn by young children; and the Italian Winery Donnafugata, which chose artistic labels that appear more like a masterpiece, not a wine label! 

The innovations do not stop there: labels printed in Braille, like the Spanish Winery Lazarus are gaining popularity among the consumers (blind or not), just for its uniqueness leading curious consumers to want to experience the mystery behind the wines! 

Such innovations are helping more people to get into the wines, because the labels are happy, friendly, interactive, young and the most important: Easy to understand!!! 

So, if you just started to drink wine, and you are not really sure about what kind of wine you are buying – do not worry…the “old world” is beginning to look out for you. Just look for labels that appeal to you – most will usually give you the basics like grape variety etc, but more importantly, even if the wine is not necessarily amazing, at least you will have enjoyed the experience which is often the forgotten part of this entire exercise.