They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover or a wine by its label. That said, we all know presentation is important and when looking at a bottle of wine the label is the first selling point. With that in mind, for WineMaker’s 20th annual label contest the label was the only thing we were concerned with (we’ll just trust you that the wine inside the bottle is excellent, because you consulted the best winemaking magazine for help making it!).
This year’s contest drew entries from across the globe. Designs commemorated weddings, anniversaries, births, and holidays. They told stories of friendships and successes in home vineyards (and some tribulations in vineyards as well). Some were simple, while others were more intricate. Some serious, while others were captioned with puns that garnered chuckles. Like snowflakes, no two were alike, however one commonality between each of the labels we received — of which there were hundreds — was they all dripped with enthusiasm for the wine inside of the bottles they were created to decorate. With so much diversity, the WineMaker staff had a heck of a time judging this year’s labels. However, as they say, it’s hard work but somebody’s got to do it, so with a glass of wine in one hand, we gathered on a snowy December afternoon and got to work.
In the following pages you’ll find the labels we liked best, as well as the Reader’s Choice label decided by reader voting on our Facebook page from a selection of our favorite labels that didn’t quite crack the top four spots. We hope you enjoy checking out others’ hard work and draw inspiration for your own future wine labels. Remember, there’s now less than a year until next year’s contest!
As always, we want to offer our appreciation for those who entered their labels as well as our sponsors who generously donated the prizes for this year’s competition.
Grand: Ronald Marvin • Bakersfield, California
Gold: John Reeve & Bruce Norton • Rancho Murieta, California
Silver: Matthieu Wheeler • Vernon, Connecticut
Bronze: Megan McLaughlin • Houston, Texas
Reader’s Choice: Tom Wiitala • Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Honorable Mention:
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Milbank, South Dakota
Mundelein, Illinois
San Dimas, California
Overland Park, Kansas
Madera, California
Kenmore, Washington
Woodland Hills, California
Sonoma, California
Nutley, New Jersey
Las Cruces, New Mexico
Camarillo, California
Danville, California
Shorewood, Illinois
Thornhill, Ontario
Napa, California
Editor’s Choice:
Lauderdale, Mississippi
Concord, California
Medford, Oregon
San Jose, California
San Jose, California
Richmond, British Columbia
Holland, Pennsylvania
San Diego, California
Vinton, Iowa
Hundreds of home wine labels were entered in WineMaker’s 22nd Annual Label Contest. We share all of the winning labels that make the bottles look as good as the wine inside tastes.
Sure, what’s inside the bottle may be the most important part of winemaking, but the presentation of your homemade wines tells others that your wine is important to you, that you’ve spent time on it, and are proud of the contents. The label, like gift-wrap on a present, is the first impression others will take from your wines, and as such, they are an important piece to the winemaking hobby. For that…
