Montevina Winery always did things a little bit differently. Their winemaker, for instance, liked to dye his hair appropriate to season and varietal. But their fun-loving nature never compromised their love of wine.
This iconoclastic, yet very personal, brand is expressed online and in print using a very unique analog device – a series of mixed media water color illustrations, where even careful application of wine stains became part of their authentic personality. The illustrations came to life in a flash experience where users followed a spaceship through various settings to explore the winery and its people. Text was handwritten in a signature font.
The winery website’s copy further enhanced the experience. Peppered throughout with quips, a home page exclamation mark allowed users to read them all and get a taste for how seriously Montevina took its wine, if not itself. A few sample quips:
- Don’t believe in miracles? Drink this while remembering that it grew from nothing but dirt and water.
- The perfect complement to an empty wine glass.
- Sing to grapes. They’ll appreciate it even if you’re not so good.
- Mean people are not allowed to touch our barrels.
- The official wine of drinking wine.
- We live wine. To clarify, living it includes drinking it.
Montevina Winery remains a milestone site in FINE’s history of award-winning wine web design and development, and one that saw many imitators in the years to follow.