Label Your Wine Bottles So You Know Who Gave Them To You

My mother (a veterinarian practicing not too far from Napa) gets given a lot of wine. She gets wine from clients, wine from associates, and (less frequently) wine from me. As a sender of thank you notes—something we should all be—remembering who gave her which bottle has been a source of stress.

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This weekend, as we were drinking wine, and talking about wine, she announced she had a “hack” for her “problem.” Basically, she solved the issue how she solves everything: by labelling it with her P-Touch machine. (I am not exaggerating; her entire home is P-Touched.) She types in the name of who gave her the wine, and maybe the occasion as well, then slaps the label on the bottle. Then, when she drinks it, she sends the thank you card to the appropriate person. (She’s right. That is a hack.)

I do not have a P-Touch machine, but I do have a roll of blue painter’s tape, and—as I type this—I realise that the two are not that different, and that I really am becoming my mother. I use the tape to label bottles of vermouth (with the date they’re opened), cocktail glasses (so I can keep track of which one is mine), and all sorts of syrups, pickles, and other fridge ephemera. It makes a great label, is what I’m saying, one that you can discreetly remove from the wine bottle come serving time without leaving any residue behind. Just make sure you place it somewhere safe until you send the thank-you note, which is the entire point of labelling it in the first place.