... so I'm sure you have walked into a wine shop at some point in your life (probably a long while back) and bought on the basis of a label. 99% of people do.

Just in the same way that most people judge a book by its cover, and a huge percentage of book buyers never even go past the first three pages of the purchased book.

Caught this excellent article (below)on the web about how very crucial labels are (you already knew this) and if you are a winery, what you can do to improve your position. Oh, and please stop by A Wine Story for great articles and consider my book Building Buzz for more savvy marketing info.

From the Sacramento Business Journal

"Because labels play such an important part in getting wine into consumers’ hands, Dayton said wineries shouldn’t skimp on the design process. A label redesign in the Sacramento region can range from $2,000 to $8,000, depending on the experience and track record of the design firm. Design firms in large cities can charge upward of $12,000. Dayton said the national average is about $3,800 to $7,500.

Additionally, winery owners must pay the printers based on the number of colors and cuts the labels require.

“It’s an expensive investment,” Dayton said. “It’s best to shop around, but don’t go with the lowest price before checking with other clients of the designer to see if they were satisfied with the final product.”

Same wine, but most people considered the California wine better.

Reminds me when a friend popped over and opened and drank one of the expensive French chards I'd been saving for a comparison tasting and admitted he'd done so a few hours later.

"Which chard?" I asked. "I don't remember," he said, "but from the label it didn't look like the expensive bottle."

I kind of had to laugh.

Do you have a fun label story? Share it in comments.