It has been two months since I have made a photo in Makeshift Studio Galactic Headquarters, so I've been in withdrawal. Making this photo solved that problem!
Rioja is a wine region of Spain that is most famous for its red wine made entirely or primarily of Tempranillo grapes. There are three regulated categories of Rioja other than the common table wine -- crianza, reserva and gran reserva. Crianza is stored the shortest amount of time prior to release. Reserva is stored longer and gran reserva is stored even longer.
This particular Rioja is a gran reserva made of 85% Tempranillo and 15% Graciano. I was thrilled to come upon it because it's difficult to find a gran reserva in America, which is where I live. That's partly because some wineries make a gran reserva only when the quality of the harvest merits making it. It's also partly because the supply of gran reserva is small enough that it so often gets sold out in Europe.
One reason I photographed the bottle is because I have never photographed one enclosed in the brass wire. The wire is iconic of Spanish wine bottles decorated in an old, traditional style but I don't know the origin of using it.
Set Up
The bottle of wine is standing upright on a tabletop (not displayed in the image). The camera is tilted and mounted slightly above the scene hanging from a boom. The background is textured black fabric inlaid with gold metallic flecks. A small continuous-light lamp fitted with a diffusion sock to reduce the brightness of the light is above and to the left of the subject. A flag blocks some of the light on the left to help define the shape of the wine label. A white reflector is on the right side of the bottle to create the reflection above the label. A torn black piece of paper is placed at the bottom of the reflector to add grunge so the style of the reflection complements the style of the wine label.