Image: The Label

The Label

When it came to designing our label, we had a lot of fun. We hired a local Sonoma designer, Ken Winston, who had done a lot of work, for businesses both local and far flung, that we liked. Ken did such a good job that we ended up with two designs and a split decision. So for our first vintage in 2004, we ended up with his and her labels.

Image: Label Hers
Hers: The Syrah Label

What do you see in the artwork on the ’05 and ’06 label? If you have visited us in Sonoma, you may recall that the driveway (green patch) runs right through the two parcels of grapes (red patches) and ends up near a pool (blue patch) at the house. Or you may see part of a glass of wine on the left side of the label and the shoulder of a bottle of red wine with a little poured out on the right. Another possibility is that you see a letter “P” on the left and an “A” on the right. No matter what you see, you are correct.

Image: Label His
His: The Blend Label

Now, what do you see in the artwork on the ’05 Blythleigh blend? Again, some folks see the driveway (cream colored patch) running up between the grapes (red patches) on our property. Some people think it looks like two glasses of wine – one upside down and one right-side up. Others see a stained glass window. Then there are those who know that we considered putting in a tennis court at the bottom of our property – an idea that was not universally embraced in the neighborhood. These folks would see the two tennis racquets – one up and one down - on the label. (Our neighbors were right – the grapes from our vineyard are too good to sacrifice for our mediocre tennis games).

Image: The Cork
The Cork

We had some fun with designing our cork too. The next time you open a bottle of our wine, you might notice the tennis ball imprint on the end of the cork. We hope the neighbors notice it too. On the sides are the words “Petrali” which is self-explanatory and “Ponque” (pronounced “ponk”) which may not be. “Plonque” is the French word for table wine. "Ponk" is the sound a tennis ball makes when it is hit and the word was used repeatedly by a neighbor addressing the subject of our proposed tennis court with the local planning commission - not in a complimentary way, as you might have guessed. You put "plonque" and "ponk" together and you have our little cork-side joke.