Let's compare wine shopping to dating. People in a committed wine relationship tend not to play the field-- they grab their bottle and go. People looking for new love, so to speak, start from a position of already having some idea of what they are looking for, and the search process is closer to speed dating than courtship. It's entirely natural for people to seek out clues, shortcuts, etc., when searching for something to suit their tastes, whether it's in a mate or a wine. Wine labels are supposed to communicate. Grape and place names are basic reference points, but is that enough information these days?

I believe that wine shoppers are responding readily to labels that go beyond the traditional mold of "So-and-So's Such & Such from Somewhere," not unlike the way speed daters seek to glean information that goes beyond looks. Bottles that are able to project their identities stand a better chance of being noticed and bought; wines whose identity is unclear, or whose shelf image conflicts with expectations, run the risk of quick rejection.

Concept Wines Rising

I believe that "concept wines" represent an important trend in wine marketing today, cropping up across a broad range of price-points, styles, producers and regions. Some are driven by graphics, others simply by name. But as a group, these wines share a conscious effort to appeal to the consumer on a different level than just the actual wine in the bottle. And in the process, these concept wines are merely pulling wine into the ranks of contemporary consumer goods marketing (shocking!). Think about it: Bottled waters appear pure and refreshing. Soaps and detergents shout clean. Sneakers are fast and cool. Consider as well the latest crop of do-everything mobile phones--brand names don't dwell on the actual technology, they beckon with hip simplicity: "Chocolate," "Razr" and "BlackJack."

Concept wines talk to people. They evoke ideas, images, emotions or usage. In turn, these wines stand apart from similarly crafted/priced but traditionally marketed peers. At the same time, they appeal to people who are happy (or perhaps merely conditioned) to shop for wine as they do other products that engage them on a level beyond simple product ingredients/attributes.

Of course, concept wines are hardly new. Beaujolais Nouveau began as a gimmick, but proved to be enduring. Meritage was a concept that eventually gained recognition and traction. Art labels, pioneered by Château Mouton-Rothschild, have been tapped by many producers in various ways. I would also argue that single-vineyard wines and even "faux reserves" from California represent concept wines; the former aim to convince buyers that specifically sourced wines are a step up in pedigree, while the latter (such as K-J Vintner's Reserve) promises shoppers quality that rose above their peers, despite ordinary pricing. So-called "critter" (or "fun" or "adventure") wines are concepts as well; Little Penguin, Yellow Tail and the like do no more or less than project a sense of no-serious-thinking-required pleasure. Not a high concept, but a clear idea that is communicated at a glance.

Distinct genres of concept wines are taking shape today, and marketers are getting creative at all price-points. Following are some of the most vibrant categories.

Red This, Red That: Many blends created in the past 10 years don't fit into established categories (e.g., Meritage, Rhône-style), leading to names that transcend a recipe of grapes. St. Francis's RED, Laurel Glen's REDS, Coppola's Rosso, Big House Red and Red Truck have carved out plenty of shelf space, and spawned bandwagon-jumpers just as Yellow Tail did for critter wines. Red Flyer, Red Knot, Red Guitar, Frontier Red, Three-Legged Red…. The common bond here is that these blends downplay grapes and emphasize easy-drinking style that is in synch with contemporary packaging and moderate pricing.

Lifestyle: We're seeing gender-oriented wines (Ray's Station for men; Napa Girl, Little Black Dress for women); character-driven wines (Lulu B, Three Thieves, Cycles Gladiator) and wines that focus on aspects of life beyond wine (Bootleg = fashion, Twin Fin = summer). Almost any wine can be tweaked to cast a lifestyle appeal, but there are no sure bets (think "White Lie" and "one6").

Grape Personalities: Much to marketers' credit, wine labels collectively today are doing a nice job of portraying grape personalities clearly on the bottle. Riesling--long the poster grape for inscrutability--is benefiting from simple, evocative brand names (Relax, Essence, Clean Slate, Bloom) and/or imagery, not to mention more dry examples being labeled "dry." Zinfandel has scores of nicknames that declare the grape's wild side; at the same time, old-vine bottlings have earned respect for their concentrated style. It's amazing how much of a wine's story can be told on a bottle; Root 1 Cabernet tells the tale of phylloxera-free vines in Chile; Oops presents the story of Carménère, the "lost grape of Bordeaux" misidentified as Merlot for decades. Maybe the most important new grape-personality making waves is the unwooded white, whose lack of oak is proclaimed with pride, making an instant stylistic statement of pure fruitiness.

Celebrity Wines: Celebrity watching is a national sport. Why shouldn't wine get in on the act? Marilyn Merlot--the grandmother of all celebrity wines--now has more company than ever, ranging from Elvis to sports stars. If NASCAR wines can sell, what special-interest wine is next?

Food Wines: All wine should go with food, right? And are there consequences for pegging a wine as going with one type of food in particular? Three to watch: Constellation's Knife & Fork Australian varietals; Freixenet's Tapeña reds from Spain and Oroya, also from Freixenet, a delicate, off-dry blend of Spanish grapes designed by a Japanese enologist to complement sushi.

Humorous/Provocative: Bonny Doon proved witty wines can be taken seriously, and others have followed, most notably Don Sebastiani & Sons (Plungerhead, Screw Kappa Napa, etc.); the Fat Bastard varietals from France and countless cheeky-named varietals and blends from Australia (U-Bet Shiraz, Barrel Monkeys, The Ball Buster, etc.). The Barossa Valley Grenache called Bitch gets my vote for the most provocative wine label ever. The pink oval label with script lettering and a subtle border of hearts and daggers delivers a punchline on the back label: the word "bitch" repeated 75 times, followed by "and bitch some more." Then there's the portfolio of Four Vines Winery based in Paso Robles: Naked Chard, Heretic Petite Sirah, Biker Zin, and blends called Anarchy and Loco (the latter boasts a dose of Tempranillo from the "Tres Cojones Vineyard"). Too edgy? For some, perhaps, but probably not Millennials.

Tapping Your Concept

Of course, not every wine is capable of shouting, "Bitch!" But even if you are a small, eponymous family-owned boutique, your wines are capable of making a statement. Given the proliferation of free-wheeling wine names and alternative packages flowing to market these days, now is prime time to assess what identity you want your wines to portray.

Step back and ask: What is your wine's statement? Is it about value? Is it about blending? Is it about style? Vineyard sources? Terroir? Is your wine organic? Is your wine unique thanks to barrel aging in a pyramid formation? Is this a hands-on family operation with a track record? In short, what's your wine's identity? Then you need to ask: Is that identity clear?

Compare your wine to others from the same appellation, same grape mix and same price-point; are there incongruities? For example, if you are a Napa Valley winery but your labels look like they came off a laser printer, that's a problem. One recent label update I like is BV's new Beauzeaux label(s); the old version made the wine look like other high-end BV bottlings in the portfolio, even though the wine was clearly more tilted toward fun. The new labels (four versions featuring jugglers) express the fun at a glance, and the lower price-point makes it obviously less serious.

Differences on their own are not bad, but there needs to be some rationale evident, especially when price is factored in. Dtour bag-in-box wine, for instance, costs more than the average cask, but its cylindrical package and French AOC pedigree imply higher quality; the wine sold well at about $30 for 3 liters. On the not-so-lucky side, both Fortant de France and Baron de Rothschild tried creating high-end blends from Languedoc; but they stuck out like McMansions on a block of row houses. On the other hand, Hundred Acre's "Gold" (Chardonnay featuring actual gold flake) works because the clear, upscale package showcases its uniqueness. Sometimes concepts are extremely subtle yet significant; Mayo Family Winery discovered that its $20 wine labeled Pinot Gris outsold the exact same wine labeled Pinot Grigio by a 2-to-1 margin.

And images can still speak as loudly as words. A favorite package I stumbled on recently is the $30-ish Bleasdale Potts Family Reserve Shiraz from the Barossa Valley. Five generations worth of Potts portraits are featured on the wine's capsule, encircling the neck to make a statement of family tradition in a way words simply could not.

Granted, many of the points raised here are not exactly new. It's the same old marketing challenge: How can you make your product stand out? With more and more wines conveying messages beyond grape and place, clarity in image and packaging are vital, even if you are not making an overt "concept" wine. As with dating, this is a game whose rules are constantly evolving, but the clearer your message, the better your chances.

(W. R. Tish, former editor of Wine Enthusiast, now develops private, corporate and trade tastings through his website wineforall.com. He also publishes an e-newsletter called WineFlash. Tish's approach to gastronomy: "I drink, therefore I am. I eat, therefore I am more." Contact him through edit@winesandvines.com.)