For The Love Of Port

For some time i am drinking port and write TN's about it. I also write down notes in my cellar book. In this book i write down my purchases, quantity, stock and so on. After drinking the bottle i try to remove the label as carefully as possible and glue the label next to my own private notes.
Now, 2 questions come to my mind:

1. do most people here do the same ?
2. is it just me or is it REALLY hard to remove lables pristine from young VP's ? From older bottles the lable comes off with ease. Is it the glue used nowadays or the age of the glue on the label ?

soak the whole bottle in warm soapy water. I use a mild dishwashing soap and eventually they come off.

Erik, I once tried to remove a VP label and it came off in tiny pieces. Normally, no I don't label collect (Although this has been discussed in the past, I think some of the guys here do it)

I will remove certain labels, if possible, for special bottles.

This thread conjurs up funny thoughts.

I personally have never been a label peeling type, although some do appeal to me. However, I know folks with some strange proclivities when it comes to labels.

I know a man who spent a few years developing a chemical that would make wine labels peel off easier. I think he perfected it eventually. Now you can buy a special label peeling solution from a few of the wine geek accessory catalogues.

In Jan. of 2006, while in Atlanta, I met a man who designed the perfect way to photocopy wine labels. He spent many hours on perfecting a way to get the perfect image, while preventing the bottle from rolling at a speed that was not identical to the moving part in his copier. He also ensured that the bottles would not slip or move except in the exact direction he desired. I was amazed at the simplicity of this "technique" and it was brilliant.

So NOTHING amazes me when it comes to the lengths that serious wine lovers will go to collect corks (think of Al B. putting pieces of cork back together), bottles and labels ... not to mention the bazillion trinkets like corkscrews, tongs etc.

I’m much more of a geek with my notes. They are all kept in a program called Microsoft OneNote. If I can’t find a label online, I take a picture of the empty bottle and use that. The tasting notes are categorized by winery which also has notes, pictures of the facilities, maps of the area, people and conversations. The wineries are categorized by region and country, and they also have their own set of notes.

While I haven’t got that far, Microsoft also makes OneNote for mobile phones. Someday I may be able to take my notes with me, or make notes, complete with cameraphone pics, and then sync it with my master notebook once I get home. That is good because I am like the guy in Memento, except he could blame his bad memory on a medical condition. My memory is just plain awful for no apparent reason.

Bryan,

One Note is very cool and tonight's final meeting for redesigning the entire FTLOP website was done using our new module and One Not. It was great.

That said, there is a program that everybody already uses for their TNs, which can link your home cellar collection to the web, where your PDA/Blackberry or IPhone (I am not positive of the latter) can easily pick up your TNs. In fact, many of my friends and tasting group buddies ... check Parker/WS scores and see if they own the wines. If they love 'em, they check winesearcher.com and then order the wine they are tasting, right at the very moment. I've seen guys doing it while in wine shops too. Check out http://www.CellarTracker.com as it is am amazing product and costs very very little compared to what it is capable of. There is an upload feature to get your excel spreadsheet of a cellar converted over with almost no pain at all.

Roy

Cellar Tracker is wonderful. I've been using it for a few years and love it. It makes inventory so much easier. I recommend this to everyone to use.

I've had a hell of a time trying to take off Sandeman labels by soaking them. Most other brands work well, especially if they are printed with a black background.

Eric LeVine, major domo of CT emailed me this morning and wrote:

Yes, no problem using the iPhone to access your cellar. It is an excellent browser.

Roy Hersh wrote:In fact, many of my friends and tasting group buddies ... check Parker/WS scores and see if they own the wines. If they love 'em, they check winesearcher.com and then order the wine they are tasting

That might be the slickest thing I’ve ever heard of. Very cool.

I too keep a cellar register on all my wines, with a label. I use the "Label-off" product that is sold by both Wine Enthusiast and International Wine Accessories. I've had great luck with it pulling labels off of all bottles, including port. It basically splits the label in two, pulling off the top portion with the print while leaving the bottom portion stuck to the bottle. There's no soaking or solutions, which I really like. I think I run into a problem with about one in 20 labels, where the printed part won't come off.

John Danza wrote:I too keep a cellar register on all my wines, with a label. I use the "Label-off" product that is sold by both Wine Enthusiast and International Wine Accessories. I've had great luck with it pulling labels off of all bottles, including port. It basically splits the label in two, pulling off the top portion with the print while leaving the bottom portion stuck to the bottle. There's no soaking or solutions, which I really like. I think I run into a problem with about one in 20 labels, where the printed part won't come off.

That's great info - thanks John. For the rare bottle where I will want to yank the label off for memory's sake (if I am not keeping the whole bottle - eventually I will run out of space for my "special bottles" collection) I will have to invest in a bottle or two of this.

Todd

Here's a link to the Label-Off product I was referring to: http://www.iwawine.com/orstore/ShowItem ... =LR120-004