Bottles of Between Five Bells 2010 Geelong Red Wine sport a most mouthwatering label. It’s an infographic by none other than Nicholas Feltron. Owner of the Australian winery, David Fesq, tapped the info-viz wiz in the hope of achieving “transparency” by sharing vineyard data with the consumer.
Fesq explains the graphic on the label:
This is actually all the data of the various grape varieties as they entered the winery and went through primary fermentation. There are eight axis at play, including the heat of the ferments, the time on skins and the ripeness of the grapes. These are all things I find interesting, and even for a casual drinker, with a little research, they can tell you a lot about the flavours to expect.
As we move forward, each label will be unique to that wine. As they are data driven, no two labels can be the same
As it turns out Fesq and Feltron are cousins (same great-grandfather) which is how, as Fesq explains, he secured the designer’s services, and how, as Feltron explains, he got the gig. I’m still trying to decide who is luckier.
As I am somewhat of a purist—infographics, not wine—I am a bit disappointed by what appears to be a mislabeled key to the left of the graph. As you can see on the details of the label, below, Shiraz is blue in the key, and green (lichen?) on the graph, while Zinfindel is blue on the graph and green on the key. Too bad, because with the graph so clearly labeled, a key was not really even necessary.
While I'm at it, (because I probably would not pick on this by itself), what looks like another key to the right of the center graph (detail below), is not a key at all, rather a chart of general information.
So what’s an information graphics editor to do? If I had had a glass or two before reading the label, perhaps I would not have noticed. And if the wine is any good, then after a glass or two it might not bother me anymore.
In fact, if the wine is good, then for the next go-round, my expertise is available for barter!
Love this post.
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