Philippe Melka is one of Napa’s top winemaking consultants (Dana Estates, Gandona, Seavey and 20 additional wineries). This deep, sumptuous cab blend is one he makes at his own estate, and it is bursting with generous, dark fruit. But the winemaker’s eyes creepily staring out from the label seem to say, “Who are you to judge my wine?” 2014 Prisoner Wine Company Blindfold (US$32)
Last year, giant wine company Constellation Brands bought Prisoner’s five labels for a reported US$285 million. This one is a satiny white blend, mostly chardonnay and viognier, with honeysuckle aromas and fruit salad flavours. The lush taste is the complete opposite of the pain-and-suffering label, with a Goya-esque image of a blindfolded prisoner tied to a stake. How one can think positive thoughts about the contents after looking at it, I have no idea. 2014 Component Cabernet Franc (US$145)
Former super-somm Michael Hill Kennedy II, who managed wine programmes for the Ritz-Carlton restaurants in the Cayman Islands, founded this company in Napa in 2016. Most top reds in Napa are blends; Kennedy is a boutique négociant sourcing individual components of posh, cult brands and bottling them as 100% varietals. This one is smooth, scented and seamless. But you would never know it from the single smudge-dot label, which looks like a colour test pattern for a malfunctioning computer printer. 2014 Ken Wright Cellars Savoya Vineyard Pinot Noir (US$62.50)
Wright is an Oregon pinot master, and this single vineyard bottling is one of his best: floral, spicy, with notes of cranberry, pomegranate and leather. The woeful, depressing scene on the label shows pruning on the dark days of winter, but it makes me think of starving farmers during the Irish potato famine. Sad.
This winery in Austria’s Burgenland, near the Hungarian border, makes elegant, lively, natural wines from biodynamically grown grapes. Try not to be turned off by the portrait on this white blend of grüner veltliner and chardonnay, which to me resembles an ageing portly sales manager. The Oggau estate has invented a fictitious family to express the taste personalities of its wines, assigning each wine a face, name and story. Does not work for me. 2015 Some Young Punks ‘Monsters Monsters Attack!’ Riesling (US$25)
The contrast between this round, fragrant, spicy Australian riesling from the renowned Clare Valley and the kitschy, “scary” label is a total disconnect for me. The wine is of far-higher quality than I would have guessed from the image, even if it has a zany hipster appeal. Do not serve it by candlelight on a first date. This article appeared in Issue 788 (July 24) of The Edge Singapore.