J Vineyards & Winery

The Beauty of Function and Form

Even if J sparkling wine was not the luscious, elegantly structured mouthful that it is, we think it would still sell as much as they could produce. Such is the power of great art that's also functional.

That's clearly what the package design of J is... functional art. The sweeping, elegant, lonely yellow J sits alone on the front of the bottle in a way that it so different from other sparkling wine packages that it demands attention. It's also proof that good graphic designers deserve every penny of the fees they are paid.

The story of how this sumptuous sparkling wine got its package is interesting. According to the designer of the J package, Ralph Colonna:

"When we decided to go with the brush scripting [of the letter J], the quick little brushstroke, the idea there was that the winemaker himself was going through the cellar, signing each bottle himself with a light, spontaneous little flourish."

This might strike some as a tad over the top conceptually, but if you are familiar with this package then you'll agree that at the very least, the familiarity of the J packaging combined with the beautiful wine inside gives its presentation something of an intimate, welcoming feel.

Tom Jordon, owner of the famed Sonoma winery named after him, gives a similar but slightly more utilitarian explanation for the original idea for the package:

"We wanted something separate and distinct from our table wines, a separate identity from Jordan, yet still associated with Jordan. The letter J is a pretty letter, and the way it was designed, with the painter's hand coming off at the top of the stroke, you get that suggestion of effervescence at the end of the paint stroke."

It's fair to say that the introduction of J into the American market prompted something of a re-evaluation among American wine marketers as to what a label and package can and should do for a wine product. Following its introduction we began to see much more emphasis on whimsy, artsy and cutting edge design when it came to wine packaging. Yet in the end, no wine can stand on its label and packaging alone. There must be something inside.

J Vineyards & Winery succeeds in the bottle too. Grapes grown in the cooler Russian River Valley are used to produce J. Yet it is still somewhat warmer in this region than in the Champagne region. So while the wine supplies that crispness we love about sparkling wine, J also adds a creaminess to its consistency that we believed is unmatched by any other American sparkler. When you add to this the pear, lime, green apple and nectarine flavors the wine delivers you begin to understand that the beautiful package is just an added bonus.

Today, J Vineyards & Winery also delivers on their promise of quality all around by offering a stunning Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir to their line up. There too, the now familiar J graces the bottle.

Your order will be fulfilled by Winetasting.com.
This vendor is located at 2545 Napa Valley Corporate Drive, Napa, CA, 94558.