The Port-Wine-Label-Gallery

Labels are extremely important. On the one side they represent the company, on the other side they have to provide the consumer with the necessary details about the bottle content.

The label should be so interesting that it attracts the attention of the potential buyer. Companies distinguish each other from another by the labels – they are part of the corporate identity. This is the one shot that the marketing department has at the person that stands in the wine store in front of the shelf and wonders which wine to buy.

Port Wine labels have to be approved. Each bottle that is sold world wide has a label that was approved by the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto. There are certain criteria that must be fulfilled – some words are forbidden to be used as they could be misleading. The institute makes sure that the consumer gets a very clear understanding of what he is buying. This is extremely important – as many Port Wines are supposed to be stored away for decades – and when a bottle is opened 50 or 70 later you will not have any chance to exchange it at the liquor store where you bought it if the Vintage Port turns out to be a cheap Tawny…

Labels are reflections of the company and the image that the company wants to give itself – and also mirrors of the taste of the society. This taste changes over the decades and leads to different ways to design labels.

Some labels are mind-blowingly boring… others are real pieces of art.

Following a tiny selection of labels from the last 120 years.

A big “Thank you!!!” goes to Carlos Cabral. Carlos is from Brazil – and it will be difficult to find a Portuguese with more passion for Port Wine than Carlos has. He wrote several books about Port Wine: “Porto – Um vinho e sua imagem” and “Dicionario ilustrado do Vinho do Porto” (together with Manuel Pintao). I meet him in February in Porto – and imagine my surprise when a few weeks later a parcel with several hundred Port Wine labels showed up in front of my door. If more people would be as nice and generous as Carlos is… well, the world would be a better place! Thank you!

Alto Corgo