Nestled in the scenic foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the quaint community of Oildale. An upscale of Bakersfield. Known for a rich cultural history of art and music and more recently for a wine label called Harper Hill.
Strategically planted btween pumping oil wells and oil sumps are rows of grapevines.
This blend of oil and tar-tainted soils leds itself to a wine grape flavor seldom duplicated throughout the world of viticulture. At your next trailer park potluck, surprise your neighbors with this teasingly trashy white. No catfish should be served without it.

Many thanks to Tom Pelick for the label. Tom says the wine, a Rhone style blend, is made by Renwood; I was at Renwood's Amador County winery in June 2002 and unfortunately didn't see it. Apparently the womans white dress was a late addition painted on as a result of some US states not approving the label for sale. If anyone has a copy of the original I'd like to see it By the way, Tom is a dab hand with labels himself. Read his article on making labels here

Rudy Gnekow told me "We are a family run winery, two years ago we wanted to develop a product that was affordable, that deliver high quality and created a unique "point of difference" on the shelf. YN pronounced Wine sells in the range of 2 for $12.00.

We held an internal contest and awarded $2,000 to the person who came up with the most clever label which had to have the state of California on it. YN comes in a red and/or white wine, so you would look at the bottle and be able to say California Red Wine or California White Wine. We felt the label gave us a true "point of difference" in the market place and also delivered a fun wine for people to gather around the BBQ."

The label succeeded in catching the public eye - 4,000 cases were sold in 2002.

Calaveras County is a most attractive part of northern California with rolling hills and oak trees. I tasted this wine at the Black Sheep winery. It's an enjoyable every day drinker.

For another drinking frog see Paddarotti.