Snooth Talk: Best and worst names for wines and wineries

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Wine Talk

: Best and worst names for wines and wineries; Posted by dmcker, Oct 30.; From another thread:
GregT: " Oh it makes my ears bleed. I need to go and drink a bottle of Sang de Cailloux"

Dmcker: "So what's the 'terroir' for the blood of stones? Great naming for a domaine. Too bad you can't really get away with that type of name in English. Guess we have to suffice with 'Big House' or 'Suckfizzle' or '10 Minutes by Tractor'."

GregT: "It is a great name isn't it? Those other names just don't have the same panache. Even worse - Fat Bastard? The Bitch grenache? That should be a thread - names of wines. I happen to like the Two Hands names - Angel's Share, Bad Impersonator, etc."

OK, so here's a thread on the worst and best names we've encountered for wines and wineries. To make it easier, names of beers and liquor, and photos of the worst labels, will also be accepted...

10 1135: Reply by dmcker, Oct 30.; To start the ball rolling, here are some that fall pretty much on the 'worst' side...

Some wine:
--Goats Do Roam (South Africa)
--Shingleback Shiraz (Oz)
--Cat's Pee on a Gooseberry Bush (NZ)
--Mother Cluckers Chardonnay (NZ)
--Marilyn Merlot (Napa)
--Ptomaine des Blagueurs (Santa Cruz/Southern France?)
--Horse's Ass Cab (Sonoma)
--Cleavage Creek Secret Reserve (Napa)
--Tex Zin
--Wild Boar Doe (Long Island)
--Booger Swamp (Brushy Mountain Winery, North Carolina)
--Red Chardonnay (the bottle's red, too; also from N.C.--what's going on over there?)
--Mommy's Time Out (Italy?)
--The Dog's Bollocks (house wine by a market in Calais obviously meant for those taking the ferry over from Britain--also the name of some decent Brit beer)

Some beer and rum:
--British Navy Pusser's Rum (UK)
--Entire Butt Porter (UK)
--Butcombe Bitter (UK)
--Just about all the beers put out by Butts Brewery ('Le Butts Biere', anyone?--UK)
--Aass Bock (Norway)
--Bürgerbräu Bad Reichenhall Suffikator (a premium doppelbock from Germany)
--Wasatch Polygamy Porter (Utah)

I thought anyone from Oz, Kiwiland or even certain parts of the US might have an advantage in dredging names easily, but now am thinking Brits may have a legup.

Non-English-language namings as perceived by English speakers may also have an advantage. Purposely dodged all the 'Hell' beers out of Germany since that just means 'light' in German.

Some of the above have pretty nasty labels, too (e.g. Cleavage Creek). Have some jpg images I may go to the trouble of posting later. I like the British labels that can't name the varietal because they don't fall within the list of grapes approved by the EU. Also those Welsh wines that have some small English label on the back because the main label on the front, in Welsh, isn't acceptable to the EU.

Finally, why is it that I find myself more willing to buy the funkily named beers than the gimmicky wines?

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Reply by Philip, Oct 30.

I have a bottle of Bellarine Estates Phil's Fetish Pinot Noir lying around it home - its old and cooked, but I've kept it as a decorative piece (http://www.snooth.com/wines/phils+fetish/1/0/)

I'm not a fan of the quasi-offensive names such Bitch, Fat Bastard and so on, although when they are in foreign languages I'm more forgiving, for example Clos de Pise (aka Field of Piss), which is a good name for a Sauvignon Blanc. Shame its actually a Chardonnay! http://www.snooth.com/wines/clos+de+pise/1/0/

The Cleavage wines (http://www.snooth.com/wines/cleavage/1/0/ - with pics) I thought were to do with (avoiding/researching) breast cancer, but I think its a poor choice of words. Much better are (the labels for) the Marilyn wines: http://www.snooth.com/wines/marilyn/1/0/

DM - I've mentioned this blog several times, its one of the most underrated wine blogs around in my opinion - all they do is point out hilarious wine label registrations: http://www.bevlaw.com/bevlog/ - should be able to find plenty of fodder there.

They recently had a few posts about feminist wines, with wacky labels - such as:

2 7: Reply by torchtaker, Oct 30.; I have enjoyed drinking a very affordable Ventouw wine earlier this year with the funny name Chat en Oeuf (Cat on Egg) with reference to the obviously neighboring terroir classic ending with -du Pape

Holland's largest grocer Albert Heijn sells on its website expensive burgundy's under the Mischief and Mayhem label. If this was for an Ozzy wine I might buy it, but in combination with grapes from the Cote d'Or, I find the name somehow off-putting. Not sure why... ;-)

Fat Bastard was mentioned above. I found it pretty funny, but the wine was disappointing. I saw another wine recently named The Naked Grape, which I found a funny and appealing name...

In the world of beer, like dmcker mentioned, you can find plenty of funny labels. A short list of funny Belgian and Dutch beers I have tasted:
- Delirium Tremens
- Zatte (Dutch for drunk)
- Verboden Vrucht (Forbidden Fruit)
- Dikkenek Grand Cru (Fat neck ...)
- Cuvee des Trolls
- Mort Subite
- Nog ééntje (Just ONE more)

0 48: Reply by Charles Emilio, Oct 30.; I'm a big fan of
"Chateau ver de flor"

8 70: Reply by chadrich, Oct 30.; I've always questioned the wisdom of Paso Robles' "Graveyard Vineyard"

0 1: Reply by furry55, Oct 30.; Lascaux from Langeudoc-Rousillon has a really elegant label. The reds are generally very good and whites are even better.

1 16: Reply by Gonzalita, Oct 31.; Hahahaha, "Graveyard Vineyard", that sure would be something for Halloween!

17 20: Reply by Stratego, Oct 31.; Gonzalita,

Sang de Cailloux (blood of stones) is not bad for Halloween as well. : )

17 20: Reply by Stratego, Oct 31.; What about arrogantfrog? Hilarious! Specially here in Quebec.

http://www.arrogantfrog.fr/

1 16: Reply by Gonzalita, Oct 31.; What a great name, I like it and havehavehave to try that wine! Will check if it's possible to find it over here.