What do you do when you don't have actual fibery content for a blog post? You look back through the photos on your SD chip and see what you can find that might even be remotely related. It's kind of an alcoholic week chez Keyboard Biologist since what I found on my chip was some interesting wine that I found when John and I were in Ann Arbor earlier in the spring.

One thing I love about wine right now, is that there is a lot of wine that doesn't take itself too seriously. This leads to some very fun labels. If you go into almost any wine store, you're bound to find some of these or other clever names. Some of these wines even go beyond having clever names into being good wine. And one of these, I promise, will even have a fibery connection.

The Chocolate Block and Goats Do Roam

The Chocolate Block isn't really a play on words, but what knitter doesn't like to have a little chocolate to accompany her knitting. There's no actual chocolate in this South African Syrah/Grenache/Cabernet blend but it's supposed to be sweet and rich and the relatively high alcohol content guarantees to help mellow you out during even the most stressful tinking or ripping experience. The bottle I didn't get a good shot of on the right side is "Goats Do Roam" which I love because of it's play on "Cote du Rhone" a wine region in France.

Earth, Zin and Fire and The Seven Deadly Zins

Zinfandels may not have the luxurious quality of a good cab or merlot, but they are a personal and sentimental favorite. When I was in college I had a plant physiology class by one of my favorite professors. One of the "laboratories" for those of us who were 21 and over was a "grape physiology" lab -- i.e. a wine tasting. At the very end, a few of us got to stick around to try a couple of wines from the professor's special collection, which included some wonderful Ridge Zinfandel. I've been hooked ever since. I love the hearty and spicy qualities of a good Zin. And these labels made me smile. After all, I think my parents had a few "Earth, Wind and Fire" albums in their record collection and I am almost sure that almost every one of those 7 Deadly Sins can be applied to knitting! Lord knows, I've already got gluttony taken care of!

Dyed in the Wool

I must admit to not being the biggest fan of pinot noir (but perhaps we have not yet been properly introduced) but how could I not be intrigued by a wine called "Dyed in the Wool"? And it's from New Zealand, a land of many sheep! How incredibly appropriate. This bottle came home from the store with me but still remains in my parents house (hopefully in a cool dark place!) waiting for a good occasion to be opened -- at which point you will all get a review. It was this bottle that got me to pop out my camera in the wine department of a produce mart in Ann Arbor and got me to see all the other clever labels around me.

Maybe you know of another wine with a clever label? If you feel so inclined, share it with me in the comments!