baca zinfandel baca zinfandel

BACA Zinfandel wanted to stand out through its dedication to making Zinfandels that reflect the vibrant and versatile regions the grapes come from, and a penchant for the uncharted. It’s the third wine brand from the HALL family, starting with single vineyard wines from Rockpile in Sonoma, Howell Mountain in Napa and Dusi Ranch in Paso Robles.

Drawing from raw nature and the meaning of BACA, Latin for berry, I created a brand identity to complement such a curious, spirited and adventuresome company. It had to feel different from HALL and WALT while sharing their resources, so working alongside the BACA team and their brand strategist, we built it from the ground up: logo, palette, labels, packaging and signage, plus a rosé that carried the brand into new colors.

Zinfandel had a reputation. Most of what was on the shelf was sweet, thick and syrupy, marketed as either macho or cute. BACA was aiming for the top of the category, and it wanted to be high quality without the pretense, carefully crafted but also playful.

It also had to be its own thing. HALL and WALT were already so different that the team struggled to bring them together, and BACA needed a personality bolder and more playful than either while still belonging to the family.

BACA celebrates creativity, drives exploration and inspires discovery. The strategy gave that a name, bold progressive craftsmanship, and three values became the filter for every design decision.

BOLD

Selective about the talent, the vineyards and the grapes, and always pushing forward.

PROGRESSIVE

Thinking outside the box, and refusing to stand still.

CRAFTED

Time spent up front leaves room to take risks, without cutting corners.

The core audience was millennials and the older drinkers who share their outlook. The idea that tied it together was bohemian luxury: high quality without the pretense, carefully crafted but also playful.

Round one put three directions in front of the team: Engaging Excitement, Modern Craftsman and Bohemian Luxury. Modern Craftsman felt too calm and too close to WALT. Bohemian Luxury was the big favorite, with its stacked, distressed letters and a palette drawn from raw nature. Kathryn Hall loved the period after Zinfandel, a declarative mark, and it never left.

Four more rounds refined it. We tried a berry tucked into the period and topo maps of the vineyards, then settled on block letters over stencil, one signature color instead of two, Zinfandel and its period locked up below, and a rounded B with more texture showing through so the mark holds up small.

The palette pairs deep blue with a fired up orange, the combination the team kept coming back to, with cool gray blues and cream around them for a sense of bohemian luxury. Sofia Pro gives the brand its modern voice, and Australis Pro adds an elegant serif for supporting copy.

The stacked mark carries across totes, tasting sheets, water bottles, signage and a custom set of games, usually in orange on blue or cream.

• DEEP BLUE
• FIRED UP ORANGE
• SLATE BLUE
• CREAM

The label is a near-square die cut in cobalt blue with the stacked mark in orange. Every label follows the same order: BACA, Zinfandel., the wine name, the vineyard and the vintage.

Each wine takes its name from a playground game, Tug O’ War, Double Dutch, I Spy and Cat’s Cradle among them, a nod to the brand’s kid-at-heart spirit. The mark carries onto shippers, gift boxes, bottle bags and neoprene totes.

BACA Rosé stands at the intersection of bold expression and elevated craft. It’s designed for wine drinkers who value authenticity, curiosity and a sense of adventure in every glass. Confident, playful and modern, with an undercurrent of sophistication, it speaks to those who are unapologetically themselves and seek moments of joy and connection. Bursting with notes of wild strawberry and citrus zest, it feels effortlessly stylish and refreshingly unpretentious. On the can, the stacked mark turns pink and a patterned band wraps the base.

Seeing it out in the world never gets old. BACA’s own photography shows it at work on the tasting room wall, on game boards and poker chips, in club shipments and on the patio.