At one point in British history, prisons were becoming so overcrowded that the practice of “transporting” criminals out of Britain to other places arose. This wine label pays homage to this practice and ostensibly refers to 19 crimes, if committed, would get the perpetrator transported to primarily to Australia.
We recently had a bottle of 19 Crimes wine!
“19 Crimes Wine Label”
On this label is the criminal, John Boyle O’Reilly who is a main character on the 19 Crimes website as they tell his story through a series of slides.
Here is the narrative of one slide from the 19 Crimes website:
“Sometimes the good intentioned get into no good situations. Such is the story of John Boyle O’Reilly. Irishman by birth. Poet and activist by passion and trade.
In 1867 John Boyle O’Reilly was banished from England to Australia on the Hougoumont – the last ship to transport convicts to the down under British colony. He was sentenced to 20 years of servitude for his role in the Fenian Conspiracy – an uprising against British rule in Ireland.”
This seems like the same public domain picture from the Wikipedia website that shows Mr. O’Reilly as well:
“Wikipedia Picture of Criminal John Boyle O’Reilly”
The cork denotes which crime was being punished.
“19 Crimes Wine Cork – The Crime”
With the name of the winery on the other side of the cork:
“9 Crimes Wine Cork – The Other Side””
The winery’s website keeps with the dark theme and is beautifully executed. They have created a YouTube video which is presented below. NOTE – YouTube lists this as an unlisted video which may not be advisable to “share,” but I think this is an error since it is part of their marketing scheme. If this is an inappropriate embedded video, please let me know via comment and I will adjust the web page appropriately upon further verification.
19 Crimes – “The Banished” Video
From the YouTube website
“Published on May 29, 2015
The men featured on our wine labels are not those of fiction. They were flesh and blood. Criminals, artists and scholars. In history, they share a bond – receiving “punishment by transportation” for violation of one of 19 crimes and becoming the first settlers of a new nation.”
Additional Information:
A list of the 19 crimes can be found HERE:
More history about the transportation of criminals:
See previous SignEdge posts HERE
Just for SignEdge wine or beer labels HERE
I have all corks except # 19, is it available yet?
Sorry to give you the impression that I am a collector, but I am not. I have no idea if it is available. I would suggest you write to the company to see what they have to say. I have had good luck when contacting the producers.
Same predicament for me, no number 19 but have 1 – 18. Had fun finding them all though ? I have seen on twitter that a couple of people have the elusive 19 though, so must be out there somewhere! Just have to keep looking; and drinking I suppose ?
John:
You are better than me. I only had 19 Crimes one time. I enjoyed it, but didn’t have another. It is still on my lit however.
[ Jeff ]