Drinking games: New wine range gets playful with branding

San Francisco – A new wine company is raising the stakes with its brand identity based on gambling. A start-up founded by wine buff Craig MacLean, and Katie Jain and Joel Templin from branding agency Hatch Design, JAQK Cellars takes inspiration from games of chance, and features a different design and game-related name for each of the wines.

Pearl Handle is a Chardonnay named for the pearl-handled Derringer pistol that instilled a greater element of risk into poker in years gone by; Bone Dance a Merlot memorial to the origins of dice (shamans threw bones to divine the intent of the gods); and Charmed a Sauvignon Blanc dedicated to the luck of which players dream.

Wine producers have been making a concerted effort to differentiate their products from the masses of generic styles on the shelves. In doing so, as we explored in our report on making wine accessible to younger drinkers, the industry could reach newer consumers who may otherwise have been overwhelmed – or uninspired – by the huge range of offerings available.