I really enjoy seeing everyone’s creative labels!
So far, all of my labels are pretty much the same, although I changed them so the batch number is at the bottom and I added the bottling date. For quick drinkers, I cork the bottles and call it done. For those that I age longer, I put capsules on the bottle for a nice finishing touch.
I started making wine in December of 2020, and throughout all of 2021, I just kept numbering the batches in sequence (B01, B02, etc.). But then I decided since this appears to be a serious hobby for me, I wanted to change my batch numbering system. I won’t ever hit triple digits in batch number, so the YYB## scheme works for me. The year is what year I started the batch, not necessarily the year the fruit was grown.
I am cheap and I want easy removal of labels so I can reuse my bottles. I have settled on an inkjet label from Amazon (
https://a.co/d/2tl0kCH), and I print them at home. The labels are easily removed after soaking them in hot water and Dawn dishsoap for a while. However, our printer died a few months ago, and I explored the idea of getting a laser printer just so I could print better quality labels. But decent color laser printers are a lot more $$$ than we wanted to spend, so we stuck with the inkjet format. The new printer prints better than the old, so I am happy with the results.
The slogan is a joke between my fermenter mentor and me: when I was whining about not being able to lift 5 and 6 gallon carboys, he told me he was going to put me on a workout regimen so I could move them around, and he told me it was “for the wine!” When I was settling on a logo, I looked for an image of someone holding barrels on their shoulders, but stumbled upon this medieval woodcut image and decided I liked that better. Funny how these things evolve!