Historic wine and candle light

[Mike Buckley]

My wife and I drank a bottle of Chateau Latour to celebrate my 60th birthday in December 2000. That was not because we expected the wine to be worth the exorbitant cost. (We didn't and it wasn't.) It was because that winery produces one of the five first growth grand cru wines from Bordeaux and because there is so much history about those five wines. Drinking just one bottle of such historic wine is part of our wine hobby.

The photo below is of Australia's Penfolds Grange, the most historic wine label pertaining to wine made anywhere from shiraz grapes (also called syrah). We bought it a few months ago to celebrate my wife's 60th birthday in December 2018, when Wine Spectator says this particular Grange will still be in its prime. Even though they rate it 98 points out of 100, we again don't expect it to be worth the ridiculous price even though shiraz is probably my wife's favorite wine grape. As when we celebrated my 60th birthday with a historic wine label, we'll do the same for hers.

Please click to view at a larger size.

[Loose Canon]

Now that's a shot Mike!

Could easily be my fave of yours.

Very well done Brother!

[Brownbear]

Yes, indeed that's a shot! Absolutely gorgeous! I love the light, the mood and the composition. Loaded with stories, too!

And another one, perhaps my favourite of all of your images. (Wine glasses and decanter is another that comes to mind as an absolute favourite)

[Rita]

Totally georgeous.

[Shadowman]

Very nice, however that horizontal position and the DOF has a dizzying effect on my eyes and I didn't even get to imbibe.

[ajsmith]

Beautiful photo. How did you do the lighting?

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you, everyone! You can imagine how pleased my wife was when she came home and saw the photo on our large TV. She immediately recognized it as "her" bottle of wine, and rightfully so.

Ali asked about the lighting so I'll explain the entire setup. Two pieces of the same fabric are used for the tabletop and background. Three books (a technical requirement for all respectable makeshift studios) are underneath the fabric and bottle for the purpose of raising the bottle to a height that is similar to the height of the flame. One medium continuous lamp with a salmon gel is above and to the left front of the scene pointed to the left, allowing just a little bit of light spilling into the scene. That light source is flagged to produce the shadow on the bottle (to make the historic brand brighter than the rest of the bottle). A small continuous lamp with a salmon gel above and to the right front of the scene pointed toward the black ceiling spills a little light onto the candle. A white, handheld reflector made of white poster board adds more light to the right side of the candle holder. Both lamps are very close to the scene for the purpose of producing soft shadows.

I actually don't know with great certainty what produces the reflection on the top of the bottle but I think it is a white wall behind the scene. (I'm terrible at determining angles.) I would normally add a reflector to produce that sort of reflection on the bottle to help define its shape but liked the effect without having to do anything else.

The yellow band of light along the far edge of the bottle's label is a reflection of the candle flame.

[TonyW]

That's a lovely picture. i tasted some Grange once. Unfortunately it was quite old, had not been kept well and so had definitely gone off. I couldn't imagine that I would ever buy any.

Glad to hear that you are now on the right side of 60. Congratulations!

[Mike Buckley]

i tasted some Grange once. Unfortunately it was quite old, had not been kept well and so had definitely gone off.

That reminds me that Penfolds holds recorking clinics all over the world. If you have a Grange that is at least 15 years old and has never been recorked, the people at the clinic will open the bottle to determine if the wine has held up well. If so and if some of the wine has evaporated (that happens over decades), the winery will fill the bottle back up by adding the most recent release to it. They then recork the bottle and certify it. Otherwise, they recork the bottle and place a marker indicating that the wine is no longer top-drawer.

No other winery in the world does this...and it's free.

[ST1]

Nicely done Mike, I hope the wine is as good when your wife gets to taste it on her Birthday

[FootLoose]

Excellent shot, Mike, I like the way the red and yellow of the candle is echoed on the bottle's label.