I admit, I am one of those silly people who is lured to purchase wines by the uniqueness of its label. You can’t rely on my wine buys unless the art of the label is all that it takes to satisfy you!
Well, in this case, I was not responsible for the purchase and it wasn’t the label but the twist top that got me. John purchased this wine , I believe at Wines To Buy in Sarasota. and I discovered it in our frig. The bottle has a smooth cap that disguises the twist as well as a clever, small gold logo imprint offset on the cap’s top. Very classy! The wine is a 2008 Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand – Brancott. While I was totally impressed with it’s design, I have to say the liquid inside was delicious!
I’ll try and be more faithful to this blog and post a number of the wines that are opened daily in our home. In return I hope you will offer up some favorites you are drinking and let me know when you find a well designed, intriguing bottle and exceptional labels!!!
John's Wine Cellar 
Very cool bottle…
You asked what your vast fan-base is drinking, and it just so happens I opened a bottle tonight that is worth mentioning. It’s Ambullneo Vineyards (Santa Maria) Howling Syrah, with 65% Bien Nacido fruit and 35% from Rimrock Vineyard. This wine came from an experiment I am conducting, tasting over the past couple months ~20 well-regarded bottles from K&L’s excellent web site (www.klwines.com) to try wines I wouldn’t normally buy. This one was near the top of my price range at $35/bottle, but from the first whiff I knew this one was going to be good. Well balanced with some dark fruit and beautiful structure. Maybe it will help take some of the edge off of watching SF Giants “torture” as they have a rematch of last year’s NL championship against the Phillies.
Richard,
The Ambullneo sounds very interesting. Certainly gets a good review from Parker.
I have always liked K&L and even visited their SanFrancisco store several years back. The under $35.00 price is amazing. I didn’t see it anywhere on the internet for less than $55.00 and most closer to $70.00.
I’ll be interested in the results of your experiment.