Finding a Name...

...for your wine is tantamount to parents picking a name for their child that's about to be born. You want a name reflective of something worthwhile. My first wife and I had three sons and each one was an experience in finding the right name. Looking back now, I want to believe that we could have named them different names and that today they'd be the same irrespective of the name we gave them. A rose by any other name is still a rose. Well that saying might apply well to plants but I wouldn't apply it to people.

I'd like to think that the discussions and the disagreements their Mom and I went through in picking their names meant something; that the names we arrived upon has had some impact on their lives. And that is the underlying belief I think we all have. And that is why we take bestowing a name on a loved one or in wine making, the product of our loving and caring natures, with such a serious and benevolent approach.

How can we go about picking a name for our wines? If it were like picking a name for a person we might go to a book of names. We'd find Anthony, Ezequiel, Alberto, Ricardo, Ana, Kim, Carolina, Omar, Arabella and so on and so on. I guess you might want to name your wine in such a manner. For example my brother Cio (the wine maker) titles his Chardonnay, Dona Magdalena, after our Grandmother; his Zinfandel, Don Ezequiel, after our Father and his Cabernet, Don Lucio, after our Grandfather.

He choose to honor those who contributed much to his own life and that to me goes a long way and says a lot about the wine maker. I'm trying to get him to produce a Port and I want him to name it Don Antonio. He could name it San Antonio but I think readers would confuse that with the Texas City by that name and not necessarily me. That of course would really tell me a lot about the wine maker. (I hope my brother is reading this.)

Another approach would be to focus in on sayings, "To be are not to be...that is the wine" or "carpe diem" seize the day or "mens rea" would be a good one for a criminal attorney who happens to make wine (it means guilty mind). There are places on the internet like "Latin phrases" or "Spanish phrases" that are good to look at for ideas. I saw one on a Spanish phrase site, the word was "besame" with an accent on the first "e"; it means kiss me. I like that one.

Emotions are another fertile ground for finding the appropriate name for your wine. Use a romantic language such as Spanish. Sentir or sentirse usually means "to feel an emotion." I always thought "jealousy" was a great descriptive word. You find it in many love relationships and that alone makes it a great word. It may refer to a strong feeling of envy or it can imply a sense of distrust, suspicion or anger.

I've always liked the word "Carinos" (it has a squiggly over the n) and is used to describe those tender actions loved ones do to one another such as tapping your grandchild on the bottom as they run off to play or rubbing the earlobe of your better half as she has her head on your lap as you watch t.v.. A tender moment is a thought that goes well when drinking wine.

As you can see the approach is endless. Let me know your thoughts. Share, so we can all be better.

Love Anthony