You know you have a successful brand on your hands when people can recognise what it is by only seeing a fraction of its logo. Like a can of Coca-Cola, a Kit-Kat, or a pair of Levi jeans.
In a world of wine where wine labels can blur into one another standing out is even harder to do - unless you are a Grand Marque Champagne and the sort of marketing budget that literally pays its way in brand recognition.
It makes the success of Orin Swift and its, yes, iconic wine labels even more remarkable. It has not relied on multi-million pound advertising campaigns to get itself noticed. It has been built on two overriding factors. The quality of its wines, and its bold, unique branding. Not, though crucially, for the Orin Swift brand itself, but for the individual wines in its range.
They are the brands that people know and have fallen in love with. They are the stars of the show. So much so that that there are now almost like cult followings for key wines in the Orin Swift range. Their success resulted in Gallo buying the Orin Swift business in 2016 in order to help strengthen its growing and strategically important premium and luxury wine portfolio.
Dave Phinney not only makes widely revered and respected Californian wines he has created a range of wine brands that have earned iconic status for their labels and branding
Crucially the deal saw Dave Phinney, founder of Orin Swift, continue as the creative director of the brand and the individual wines.
He has certainly come a long way from when he first started out in wine, armed with a political science and history degree, and sent out his CV to 50 Napa wineries looking for work.
Only one replied. Robert Mondavi. Who even overlooked the fact he turned up for his temporary harvest position interview dressed in a suit and tie. That was in 1997 and a year later he started Orin Swift - Orin being his father’s middle name and Swift his mother’s maiden name.
Clear strategy
Dave Phinney and Orin Swift have helped take wine label design and branding to another level
He says he started out with the same winemaking and business philosophy as he has now: “Find the best fruit from the best vineyards. Farm it right, harvest it right, bring it into the winery and don’t screw it up.”
It’s clearly a lot more complex than that, but as business goals go it has served him - and now Gallo - well.
He has also, it seems, found the right partner that shares his approach to business. As he explains: “The philosophy of Orin Swift is to be humble and to over deliver, and that describes Gallo’s philosophy too. There’s not a lot of flash, just a really smart way of doing business. I know that selling wine is the hardest part of this business and we’re putting Orin Swift wines in the hands of people who know what they are doing.”
Gallo and Phinney also work hard to push each other to make better wines. As he says: “I take what we do extremely, extremely seriously. I view it as a responsibility, and it would be disrespectful to the product, the company and the consumer if I didn’t.”
Big and bold
But what makes Orin Swift wines so special and why do they potentially deserve a place on your premium wine list?
Adam Kirkbride, wine buyer at the Secret Bottle Shop in Hereford, sums it up nicely: “Brand recognition, especially for California, is key. It’s not just about branding though; they’re all great wines and Orin Swift, in particular, has a great story to it.”
Orin Swift has found a natural home at Smith & Wollensky in London
Richard Beck, assistant general manager of Smith & Wollensky, the premium steakhouse restaurant in London, and one of the biggest supporters of Orin Swift in the UK, says it is quite simply “the big, bold style of Dave Phinney’s wines that really compliment our menu”.
He adds: “Bold, heavy wines with good fruit concentration. Also, the marketing image of Orin Swift is pretty bold which compliments our restaurant style.”
It currently lists Abstract, Advice From John, Palermo and 8 years in the Dessert and says it is the “stories behind the wines and the labelling that work well” with its customers.
“The labels also help to sell the wine and we often keep a few bottles on the floor during busy services,” says Beck.
Working with Gallo to ensure “good pricing that remains stable” is also an important part of why it is has had such a long-standing relationship with Orin Swift and its wines.
A pricing structure that appeals to the “young professionals” who are the main customers for the wines. Guests who, Beck says, are “interested but not too versed in wine, and are already familiar with the brand and are relatively loyal”.
Wine by wine
The Orin Swift wine range is a collection of wines that can stand on their own merits, or behave very differently when taken together. As the Orin Swift website explains: “A wine collection shouldn’t feel like a museum. It should feel like a story, one you’re actively writing, bottle by bottle.”
Here The Buyer analyses six of the wines in the range -Mannequin, Abstract, Papillon, Mercury Head, Advice from John,8 Years in the Desert - and explores the branding and business strategy behind each one and what point of difference they hope to offer.
Mannequin
Overview: A world class Californian Chardonnay. One of the most recognisable and influential wines in the range that truly illustrates what Dave Phinney’s wines are all about - that is like nothing else on a wine shelf. Who else would look to promote their wine using simply a handful of shop mannequins?
The inspiration: Phinney says the idea for the wine came to him when he was driving, listening to a song which had the line: “You at a stand still, mannequin.” (“Roman's Revenge” by Nicki Minaj, featuring Eminem). He liked the idea of a mannequin being the neutral or “static” canvas on which clothes are placed to bring it alive.
Or as he explains: “Clothing, much like wine, evolves over time to reflect trends nature and creative whims, yet the mannequin always remain static.”
The wine: “Mannequin is our manifestation of California Chardonnay.” That’s the mantra that is used to make this classic opulent Californian Chardonnay, blended with a small percentage of aromatic varieties that change vintage to vintage. Care is taken to only select grapes from cool climate vineyards - usually Russian River Valley, Santa Maria Valley, and Atlas Peak - to bring out the “lush flavours and bright acidity”.
Grapes are also chosen for what they can bring to the finished ? be it their acidity, minerality, ripeness or fruit characteristics. It hopes to capture tropical California in a glass with notes of peach, melon, baked apple that combine to make a rich, textured, fleshy, full-bodied, plush, creamy Californian Chardonnay. It sits sur lie in French oak barrels for up to nine months.
Food pairing: A gastronomic Chardonnay that would pair well with textured fish dishes, rich lobster, creamy pastas and roast chicken, pork and cracking and aged gouda and brie.
Price and distribution:
£53, available at Majestic, Enotria and selected independents.
Abstract
Overview: A multi-regional Californian Grenache-based red blend. As a former magazine editor this is my personal favourite in the Orin Swift range. Well in terms of the label that captures the spirit of America’s most iconic magazines, such as Life, Time, The New Yorker and Vanity Fair.
The inspiration: It also comes from Dave Phinney’s own love of magazines who says he spent three years buying and cutting up interesting images from magazines which he then tried to bring together in a collage. Over a period of two weeks he worked on a big table in his office to pull all the images together.
As he explains: “After the third day, we closed off that part of the office for fear that someone would open a door a gust would blow everything apart. Every night I’d take a picture as a safety measure. When it was done, we got a big ladder and shot it. That was the only easy part.”
The wine: This is all about showcasing what a multi-regional blending philosophy “that represents all of California” can bring to a wine. As Phinney says: “I like the complexity we get by using fruit from different geographical locations.”
A wine that is made from over 100 lots of wine with grapes grown in different soils and in different climates. “Individually they’re good wines, but together, they tell a full, complex story, like a collage,” says Phinney. Hence the label.
The wine itself is a blend of Grenache, Petite Sirah and Syrah that is aged eight months in French oak, and 29% in new oak. It is full of ripe, plush dark fruits, with cherry, blackberry jam with plenty of spice and and lively acidity all calmed by its velvety tannins. It’s not for the faint hearted coming in at over 15% abv and is big on both the palate and the nose.
Food pairing: Great with steaks, grilled, braised and BBQ meat dishes as well as charcuterie boards and hard cheeses.
Price and distribution:
£47 available at Majestic, Enotria and selected independents.
Papillon
Overview: A Californian Cabernet-based brand made up of all five classic Bordeaux varieties. A wine that captures the heat, and strength of Californian wines but also how delicate and nuanced they can be when in the right hands - literally when it comes to the label.
The inspiration: David Phinney had already had the idea of creating a label that depicted “a prison style tattoo on somebody’s knuckles” - as you do. Then when walking with his daughter one day a butterfly flew by and she said: “Look, dad, Papillon.” There was the inspiration - as Phinney says: “I love the juxtaposition of this beautiful French word on these really gritty hands.” The hands are actually those of one of his grape growers.
The wine: “The goal was to incorporate all the majesty of Cabernet Sauvignon with the subtleties of Cabernet Franc and Merlot and the power of Petit Verdot and Malbec,” says David Phinney.
The result is a bold, opulent wine that regularly rattles up scores of 91-94 points. A powerful fruity and full-bodied wine, but with structured tannins that help with ageing and drinkability. An intense but also controlled wine that keeps on giving with a rich vanilla tone.
Food pairing: Big juicy steaks, roast beef, rack of lamb and strong aged cheeses.
Price and distribution:
£80 available at Enotria and selected independents.
Advice from John
Overview: A Californian Merlot blend designed to put the Sideaways backlash firmly in its place. This is a serious Merlot wine, that plays testimony to Phinney’s love of Bordeaux Merlot classics. “Exactly the kind of underdog story I can get behind,” he says.
Inspiration: Here the inspiration is down to his friend and assistant, Sam Smith, who looked to capture the iconography you see in the graffiti scrawled across walls and bathrooms of American bars whilst on the road. One of the messages “You Had At Me Hell No” taken from a wall in a Texas bar struck a chord with Phinney who says “it’s the kind of irreverent wisdom that makes you grin, shake your head and learn in for one more glass”. Before adding: “Advice from John isn’t just a wine; it’s a conversation starter.”
The graffiti-inspired message behind Advice from John
The wine: The wine is a 77% Merlot blend with Petite Sirah, Syrah and Grenache that come from four hillside, cool climate vineyards with alluvial soils that help bring acidity and structure to the wines. It carries the richness, and opulence you would expect from an Orin Swift wine (149.% ABV) but is also highly appealing with its freshness and how, well frankly, how easy it is to drink with strong notes of blackberry and ripe plums and herbal finish. The wine is aged for 14 months French oak - 25% new. “It’s lush and textured, with soft tannins, carrying through to a long finish,” says Phinney.
Food pairing: Good with an earthy mushroom risotto, roasted duck, braised ribs, charcuterie, hard matured cheeses.
Price and distribution: This is an on-trade exclusive wine in the UK with a recommended by-the-glass price of £20.
8 Years in The Desert
Overview: Orin Swift’s tribute to Californian Zinfandel and it was the first grape variety that David Phinney made when he first started the business as a 25-year-old in 1988. It’s what he cut his winemaking teeth on, turning trials and tribulations into his multi-award winning wine business.
Inspiration: When Phinney and his “ignorant bravado” resulted in him buying two tons of Zinfandel to try and make his own wine back it would be the predecessor to him going on to make The Prisoner which turned Phinney into the rockstar winemaker he is today. When he sold The Prisoner in 2008 he was prevented by the buyers from making a Zinfandel-based wine for eight years. Over those years he plotted how he could return, even turning to writing short stories, one of which he called “8 Years in a Desert” - hence the inspiration for the Zinfandel wine he could make when the ban was over. His says those years of waiting “felt like an eternity” but as his wife likes to say, “when life gives you lemons swap them out for limes and grab the tequila”.
You can get skate boards in Orin Swift wine label designs from the gifting section on its website
The wine: This is a bold Californian Zinfandel-based red blend along with Syrah and Petite Sirah which comes in at 15.6% ABV. Rich and plush it oozes black fruits and black cherries with notes of vanilla, tobacco and spice. A powerful, full-bodied wine with richness and depth and velvety tannins. As Adam Kirkbride says: “8 Years in the Desert” is a great expression of Zinfandel, but delivered in Orin Swift’s inimitably bold style.”
Food pairing: Grilled or BBQ lamb chops, smoked pork ribs, pizza, cheddar or gouda cheese and dark chocolate.
Price and distribution:
£66 available at Majestic, Enotria and selected independents.
Mercury Head
Overview: A classic Californian Cabernet Sauvignon. A collector’s wine if ever there was one. Would look good hanging in a gallery. It’s, not surprisingly, Orin Swift’s flagship wine and . “emphasises” the brand’s guiding principle: “Without quality grapes, great wine is impossible.”
The inspiration: As well as making and creating great wines, Dave Phinney is also a coin collector and the Mercury Head is the nickname given to a Liberty dime coin. Phinney says he was lucky enough to be given one in his change one day, so when he was thinking of a name for his flagship wine, it just had to be in honour of a coin that has not been made since 1945. Each bottle made includes its very own Mercury Head coin that have been individually sourced from collectors and dealers all over the world. Such is the relationship that Orin Swift now has with its customers that many will send back the coins from the bottle so that they can be made into a new wine.
The Liberty dime coin that is embedded in every bottle of Orin Swift's Mercury Head
The wine: Mercury Head’s Cabernet Sauvignon grapes are chosen from the best lots from very select vineyards in Napa Valley. “The wine is a testament to those vineyards, to our principle and to what is possible in Napa Valley,” says Dave Phinney. This is rich, intense fruit-forward wine that hits you between the eyes as a full blown Cabernet Sauvignon. The kind of dark fruits and plums that would be ideal for a crumble, combine with sweet vanilla notes, to give a long lasting wine that is kept together by its strong tannins and a backbone of bright acidity.
Food pairing: The best rib eye steak you can get your hands on, or strong aged cheeses, and a rich chocolate dessert.
Price and distribution:
£150 available at Enotria and selected independents.
* To find out more about Orin Swift click here.
* Orin Swift is part of Gallo - a commercial partner to The Buyer. You can find out more about its luxury and premium portfolio here.
