CF Napa Recreates Schug

Schug Winery came to CF Napa to restructure and redesign their multiple tiers of wine to support plans for increased distribution. Schug’s packaging hadn’t been refreshed in nearly 30 years, and the new look needed to be more modern and premium while maintaining the brand’s timeless elegance, allowing the family’s winemaking legacy to take center stage. Additionally, CF Napa needed to develop a system that created visual differentiation between the multiple wine tiers while retaining cohesion throughout the portfolio. CF Napa re-imagined the iconic Schug Winery crest to be more contemporary, allowing its reference to the family’s history as shoemakers to be more impactful. The delicate lines of the new symbol were foiled in gold for a luxurious feel. An S was placed at the center of the crest, centralizing their name, and honoring the many generations of Schug family winemakers. The shading was removed from the wordmark and the font was adjusted for a bolder, more premium-looking brand name. The refreshed Sonoma Coast Tier debuted first, the largest tier of wines per volume and distribution. For these wines, the crest was placed front and center on a warm, cream-colored label. An elegant script was utilized for the vintage and varietal. For the Carneros Tier wines, the crest was placed in the lower right-hand corner like a seal of authentication. A rich laurel green hue gave sophistication to the design and set the stage for a packaging system of darker colors signaling increasingly premium offerings. For the most premium wines, the Estate & Single Vineyard Tier, the new crest was placed front and center above the refined Schug wordmark. The crest and text were given a high-end gold foil treatment, creating contrast with the rich black label. The winemaker’s signature and bottle count created an air of exclusivity for these limited-production wines.