My New Label "Mis Ninos" for 2009

I took the weekend just to let my mind, on its own, think about label possibilities for this 2009 production. Remember I was toying with the name "Mis Ninos" meaning "My Children"? Well that has stayed with me. So, after court this morning (I am a trial attorney for those of you who want to know what I was doing in court) I sat down at my computer and by 1:48 p.m. I had my label complete and placed on bottle number 17 of our production.

I used the software "Microsoft Publisher" that came with the computer to create the label. I laid out the paper (11 x 8 1/2) as landscape so that when I created the label each page would contain four labels.

I started out with the name "Mis Ninos" but the first problem I ran into was the squiggly mark above the second "n" in Ninos, i.e., how do I place it there? I ended up looking at the different characters or figures in the software program and I found not a squiggly mark but an image that would work as well. I laid out the information in a single label and then I copied and pasted the label into the other three word boxes that I initially created on the page.

I printed out the initial four label page and made several corrections (I find it easier when I can hold a copy in my hands when making any changes).

In the first attempt I numbered each of the labels 1, 2, 3 and 4. I changed this to "No." without any numeral. I can personally write the number in and give that a personal touch to each label.

I also changed my warning "NOT INTENDED FOR SALE" TO "SALE PROHIBITED". Why? Because it took up less space and is was more emphatic.

I printed out the final version and with scissors cut out the four labels. I placed one on the number 17 bottle and used Ana's nail polish (I was hoping to find a clear polish but instead settled on a reddish color) to adhere the label to the bottle.

The label reads beginning at the top: MIS NINOS in large blue letters, then the year 2009 again in large blue letters (all the text on the label is blue and the image I used for the squiggly is in red with a shadow), then CABERNET SAUVIGNON and below that, ST. HELENA, CALIFORNIA. I then set forth the following, one below the other: "Picked: 10/17/09; Pressed: 11/1/09; Bottled: 11/6/09". Below that I set forth the following: "Harvester: Fred White, T'Andre White, Joseph Manning, Anthony Perez". Then below that in the lower left corner I have, "No.". To the opposite right corner I put in capital letters, "SALE PROHIBITED".

The only thing I don't have on the label is the alcohol content and that is because that is information I don't have. I talked to my brother Cio, the family wine maker, and he said that they have a litmus paper that can help with determining the alcoholic content of a liquid. That's what I will most likely do because it would be better to know that piece of information.

Overall, in my opinion, a stupendous display of talent.

There is one last dressing up of the bottle I intend to do and that is to coat the corked end of the bottle (the neck) with red wax.