Name that wine
My friends Jim and Kristin are on (I think) their second year of making a "boutique" Oregon pinot noir. From what Jim tells me, boutique means less than 5,000 cases of wine. Way less, in their case. Anyway, they need a name for the wine. I told ‘em that there are a few creative types reading Slacker Manager, who have too much time on their hands and maybe they could help. And I mean help in the broadest sense of the word. An actual name would be cool, but tips on naming brainstorming sessions would be cool too. (They already know about lubricating brainstorm sessions with wine)
Jim gave me some helpful background which I’ll try to recount here, as best I can recall…
- They don’t want a presumptious "chateau blah blah" name
- They’d like to represent the indirect path they took to becoming winemakers (overeducated winos is what they are)
- They don’t want too much of a cutesy, clever name
- They’d like the name to reflect the sense of community they have when making their wine–lots of friends gathering together to pick fruit, stomp it, bottle it, etc…
- If it went retail, their wine would go for $20-$25 per bottle. They’re doing a co-op thing and co-op folks pay about $12 per bottle.
- They kinda like the name "Shed" or "Shed Cellars" or something like that. It reflects not just their humble roots, but also their present humble state. I’m still not sure why they’re not rolling with Shed…maybe you can help them justify it. Or not.
There’s probably more, but I can’t remember it. If Jim has more to say, I’ll have him drop it in the comments. Now, I can’t promise anything, but if you come up with a full-on winner of a name, it’s entirely possible that Jim would hook you up. He’s cool like that.
Feel free to fill up the comments with suggestions…
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POSTED IN: creativity
9 opinions for Name that wine
Ken Camp
Feb 28, 2005 at 5:45 pm
What’s wrong with a prententious, but humourous Chateau du Shed (or hangar for a french variant)? I mean Fat Bastard wine’s pretty decent.
The Vision Thing
Mar 1, 2005 at 6:46 am
Open Source Wine
I thought the “character” of the wine is what normally inspires its name, like “Fat Bastard” or “1.6 (carbs)”. Presuming you don’t just name it after the winery itself.
Brian Perry
Mar 1, 2005 at 9:59 am
Interesting- I like “Shed” as a word, especially if it’s characteristic of their wine’s history. I think that good drawing of a shed would be key, and make it memorable. Wine names are tough- one of the most memorable I’ve had recently was called “Woop Woop” from Australia. I don’t remember the wine so well, but I certainly can’t forget the name.
One association to be avoided with “Shed” and wine is an extremely well known saying from communion: “The blood of Christ shed for you.” A bottle of wine with the word “Shed” on it alone might be a little too open to misinterpretation! Better to go with a two-word combination and a drawing of a shed deflect unwanted thoughts.
My only actual contribution: “Shed Simple”.
Durst
Mar 1, 2005 at 1:59 pm
Well, considering their humble origins, Shed Cellars seems to be a good fit. Now to address their abundance of education: perhaps enlightenment or erudite
As for incorporating the actual process of winemaking (my cousin owns a vineyard so I get in on the good stuff): trampling grapes (and in the thesaurus “Trample” is a good substitute for “humble” at least in the verb tense)
So here are a couple of suggestions for wine names:
Shed Cellars’ Trampled Bits or Shed Cellars’ Enlightened Tramplings
Jim
Mar 4, 2005 at 12:48 pm
Why not “Cottage Cellars”? “Cottage” sounds small, but also like to sort of place you’d have a bunch of friends to, unlike a shed.
(”Timeshare Syrah”?)
Jonathan
Mar 6, 2005 at 10:29 pm
The Gathering Shed Winery
Paul
Mar 7, 2005 at 4:50 am
If they went for Shed would their fans be Shedonists?
Suzanne
Mar 9, 2005 at 11:12 am
How about Bed Head?
Marlene
Mar 9, 2005 at 5:42 pm
Plebeian Cellars
Foot Stomping Caves
Sophic Cellars