For our first Design Checkpoint, Patrick presented 3 label design directions for my 2001 zinfandels. All three have illustrations, different typography, and different numbers of colors.

My favorite, below, included a watercolor, interpreting the names of each wine: "Small Town Hero" and "Little Miss Dangerous". These wine labels are not final and have not been approved. They are for demonstration purposes only.

He also presented a booklet-- that tells the story behind each bottle. In the liner note tradition, this includes information graphics, technical data, and acknowledgements. I strive for the similar to tradition of buying a cd, putting it in, and flipping through the liner notes.

Wine is not an inanimate object. There is story behind each wine, each year. For each wine, people can learn about the weather that year, the grape growers' connection to the land, and winemaking decisions. People can connect to wine and the winemaking process in more meaningful and relevant ways.

After the 2001 Eno Label: Design Checkpoint #1 with Patrick, I drove to the winery. Since I got there around 10:30 pm, it was going to be a late night.

I saw that Tom had picked up my 2 new Vernou barrels from Napa Valley Trucking in American Canyon. They looked beautiful-- gorgous wood wrapped in plastic. See picture below:

I punched down all of Tom's fermenting wines. Around 11:30 pm, I started taking numbers on my pinot and zin- both undergoing extended maceration. Here's the hydrometer is telling me that my 2002 Pinot Noir: Dutton Ranch is "dry" (no more sugar left):

Here are the details:
2002 Eno: Pinot Noir- Dutton Ranch
Both are still pushing a slight cap from malolactic fermentation. Each are tasting very nice and could be pressed either this weekend or next weekend.

2002 Eno: Zinfandel- Teldeschi
Both bins' caps have fallen. Paul Draper from Ridge believes a wine is ready to press once the cap has fallen. I'm planning to press this on Saturday straight into barrel.

Around 12:30 am, I drove home with no one on the roads, listening to Nelly's Nellyville.

On Monday, St. Helena Star released its 8th Week Harvest Report. Here are some highlights:

• For majority of wineries, last week was the harvest apex, the "peak of craziness"
• ...the rigorous quality-control measures (pruning) have paid off in the form of superior quality
• Vines already harvested are begining to show pattern baldness while the reservoirs reveal their bottoms
• Geese are headed south already.
• Some folks are getting excellent fruit intensity and acid balance
• Others are seeing high sugar, high acids, but relatively low ph.Waiting for acids to drop a little and the ph to come up a bit.

Patrick, my roommate and visual designer extrordinaire at Celery Design, and I are going to meet tonight or tomorrow night, to review the design directions for my 2001 wine labels. I am very excited because, in the Australian tradition, we have personified them with individual names refer to the story behind the particular wine.

• 2001 Eno: Zinfandel- Damas Vineyard (Amador) is called "Small Town Hero"


• 2001 Eno: Zinfandel- Teldeschi Vineyard (Dry Creek) is referred to as "Little Miss Dangerous.

Last month he created a moodboard to gauge how much I wanted to depart from our previous directions. If you want to see this brand document, check out the PDF:
2001 Eno: Label Design- Mood boards.PDF- 2.3 MB

Since Kiara and I were in Phoenix this weekend, I caught up with Tom and the winery happenings. On Sunday, he and Bryan pressed over 5 tons of wine. This cleared up a lot of space. He gave me an update on my two wines still "on the skins":

2002 Eno: Pinot Noir- Dutton Ranch
Still pushing a big cap, from malolactic fermentation. With this heat wave, I asked him to put visqueen over the top to prevent oxidation and fruit flies. I'm very careful with my pinots, they are so fragile. They were punched 2-3 times each day this weekend.

2002 Eno: Zinfandel- Teldeschi
With fermention complete, both bins are undergoing extended maceration. They are protected with visqueen. He "twiddled" (James' affectionate term for tapping gently) once each day this weekend.

Tomorrow night, I will go to the wine, taste all the bins, take numbers, and make winemaking decisions.