Silverado Vineyards, the Napa Valley winery, founded by Diane Disney Miller and Ron Miller in 1981, recently tasked Affinity Creative Group to brand a new portfolio of wines called Borreo in accordance with Silverado’s 40th anniversary. The name honors Felix Borreo, an Italian immigrant and Napa grocer who purchased property near Napa Valley’s Soda Springs Resort and built a stone and redwood winery in 1888, where he planted grapevines, fruit and olive orchards. In 1992, Silverado’s founders – the Miller family – purchased the site. Today, Silverado winemakers, Jon Emmerich and Elena Franceschi, craft Sangiovese, Rosa, Zinfandel and Kerner, as well as Olive Oil, all sourced from the property. In a bow to tradition, Silverado renamed the vineyard Borreo Ranch, and sought a brand and label design that evokes the story of Felix and the property. .
Affinity Creative Group’s mission was to respectfully reference Borreo’s rich heritage while avoiding wine label visual cliches. Additionally, the new brand needed to acknowledge Silverado’s stewardship of the vineyard and its unexpected varietals. Affinity gladly accepted the challenge, creating a distinctive label design system. The Borreo branding is bold, splashed across the label in an upward sweeping band that bridges the classic and contemporary worlds of typographic design. Vintage-inspired colors change by varietal, providing contrast and patina to a range of drawings with a retro vibe. In close collaboration with Affinity, the illustrations on the label feature the property’s botanicals, designed by Annabelle Rey Miller, fourth generation winery owner and great granddaughter of Walt Disney. Her realistic depiction of grapes, lemons, pomegranates, and other fruits serve as a focal point for the label and provides a natural ‘stage’ for the brand name.
