Restaurants with strong wine programs often involve the sommelier or wine director in the custom-label house wine design. The sommelier selects the varietals, approves the wine before the print run, and sometimes signs the back label as the wine director's note. The result is a house wine that reads as a sommelier-curated selection rather than a generic pour.
The wine direction
The sommelier can specify the varietals, the AVA, the harvest year, and the winemaker's notes. Our standard offering, Moonlight Select red and Countryside Select white, can be specified in cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, sauvignon blanc, or chardonnay variants. The sommelier chooses based on the restaurant's menu pairings.
The back label as wine note
Many sommelier-driven programs use the back label for the wine director's tasting note. NOTES OF CHERRY AND DARK CHOCOLATE. PAIRS WITH OUR DRY-AGED RIBEYE. The note is signed by the wine director. The guest who turns the bottle and reads the note has the restaurant's wine program directly addressing them. The bottle is a small extension of the wine director's expertise.
The list price
Sommelier-driven custom labels typically list at the restaurant's normal premium-list pricing rather than the house-pour pricing. The bottle is positioned as an exclusive, not as a default. Guests order it deliberately, often after the sommelier recommendation, at a margin similar to the restaurant's other curated selections.