A Great Back Label

A bottle without a back label is rare these days, though it is still the case that the more you spend the less you seem to get!

Less consistent, however, is the quality of the copy. The French are often guilty of adding insult to injury when they translate their typically florid marketing copy into English verbatim.

Not so Madame Evelyne de Pontbriand, owner of Domaine du Closel in Savennières, and current, eloquent Président of the Savennières producers’ association. Her command of English is impeccable, as members who attended our Loire tasting in London earlier this year will have discovered. She also has a teasing smile and definite twinkle in her eye (ditto!), so we should not have been surprised to discover her delightful back label, which appears on the 2009 Savennières, Domaine du Closel, and which reads as follows:

“Wine for conversation. A dry and fruity chenin blanc expressing a hill of schist over the Loire valley. Harvested at the end of September, the grapes were golden yellow. After a slow natural fermentation and 10 months of elevage in our old cellar, this wine shows charm and insolence, minerality and elegance of our world heritage landscape, the light of the Loire valley, my love for nature. Drinking Savennières is an art de vivre: Pour it in a beautiful glass, crisp music on, have a friend join you, smell the aromas of white flowers, citrus and honey, take a sip: the palate is round, surprising, slightly smoky. The fruitiness and freshness of this wine will give you an immediate and unique pleasure. You will have an interesting conversation and soon feel hungry. Get some shrimps, grill some fish, steam asparagus in the spring…or be yourself, creative, eccentric and share your favourite pairing with me. Evelyne de Pontbriand.”

I should admit that the back label was brought to my attention by my buying colleague, Mark Buckenham, who was prompted to open a bottle by a member who had been unhappy with his. We tasted the wine over a couple of days and agreed there was nothing to worry about. Savennières is serious (one might even say difficult) wine, and this one, admirably certified organic, benefits from decanting to reveal its full complexity and character.

As far as back labels are concerned, feel free to share with us your best, or worst, examples; we already have something of a rogues gallery here at Stevenage!

Joanna Locke MW