Wine by Design

When most people are browsing through the shelves of their local wine store trying to find that perfect bottle of red or white for the evening, they normally have certain criteria in mind to guide their choice. Amongst other things, they consider the country… the year… the grape… the house… and of course, the price.

However, years ago, while I was slowly developing my taste and love for the almighty grape, I had an admittedly simple way of choosing which bottle to buy when faced with the thousands of possibilities. The label!

Now, I can practically hear the cringing of any true wine connoisseur… and that’s fine. But being a designer, the label was always an integral part of my process in those days. The funkier the label was, the more likely I was to buy it. It sounds a bit crazy, even to me.

Of course, during that time there were a few misses here and there (not every bottle is perfect), but in all honesty there were way more great finds than duds. And in most cases it seemed like the more I liked the label, the more I liked the wine. Was that just the designer in me refusing to believe that no wine with such an awesome label could ever be bad? Maybe. But these crazy labels seemed to be steering me in the right direction.

One vineyard in particular has always stood out to me in terms of their design creativity: Bonny Doon Vineyard in Santa Cruz, California. They use a number of different illustrators and designers from New York to California, creating some of the coolest labels you’ll ever see. I should mention that I also really enjoy most of their wines! I highly recommend checking out their website bonnydoonvineyard.com

As time has gone by, my tastes have changed quite a bit. My taste in wine as well as my taste in wine labels. But one thing seems to have remained consistent… if I have a choice between two similar wines, one with an ordinary looking label and one with some creative flare to it, the latter will no doubt win the battle and end up in my cellar!

Cheers!