Judging Wine by Its Label

I'm my family's wine czar. It's not because I really know much about wine other than you color coordinate it with the type of meat (white meat/white wine, red meat red wine, not sure--rose) and that "late harvest" means the wine will be sweet as the grapes had more time to develop the sugars. Oh yes--the type of wine (Merlot, Shiraz, etc.) refers to the grapes used. I get to be the wine czar so my family doesn't have to eat my cooking, and this arrangement suits us both.

Earlier in the year I had purchased some rhubarb wine (serving suggestion: ice cream)and it was a big hit so I was kind of hoping to get more for Thanksgiving. No such luck, but the store did have a few bottles of pumpkin wine. It met my requirements: it was made at an Illinois winery (Prairie State Winery in Genoa)out of Illinois pumpkins. Best yet was its very colorful label depicting the state of Illinois with bright blue skies and big plump pumpkins. I'm a sucker for an interesting wine label. My mother wasn't too pleased when I told her what I had gotten, but all it took to convince her to try it it was one whiff. The wine was really good too--just a hint of pumpkin with a bit of spice--and a big hit. Too bad this year's pumpkin harvest is so bad.

You can see a picture of the label at http://prairiestatewinery.com/fruits.html--I like some of the other labels (like the one with the cardinal on it).