Silverado Vineyards, the iconic Napa Valley winery founded by Diane Disney Miller and Ron Miller in 1981, recently tagged Affinity Creative Group to brand a new portfolio of wines, called Borreo, in accordance with Silverado’s 40th anniversary.

Felix Borreo was an Italian immigrant and Napa grocer who purchased property near Napa Valley’s Soda Springs Resort and built a stone and redwood winery in 1888, where he planted grapevines, fruit and olive orchards. In 1992, Silverado’s founders – the Miller family – purchased the site and named the vineyard the Soda Creek Ranch.

Today, Silverado winemakers, Jon Emmerich and Elena Franceschi, craft Sangiovese, Rosa, Zinfandel and Kerner, as well as Olive Oil, all sourced from the property. In honor of Felix Borreo, Silverado renamed the vineyard Borreo Ranch, and wanted a brand and label design to evoke the story of Felix and the property.

Affinity Creative Group’s mission was to respectfully reference Borreo’s rich heritage without resorting to the typical and expected wine label visual cliches. Additionally, the new brand needed to acknowledge Silverado’s stewardship of this unique vineyard and its unexpected varietals.

“When the Atlas fire in 2017 destroyed the historic ghost winery on this historic property, we knew we needed to do something special to honor the legacy of Felix and the site,” noted Silverado Vineyards president Russell Weis, “So we decided to mark our anniversary by renaming our Soda Canyon Ranch in honor of Borreo; producing wine bearing his name, reflective of the quality of the fruit, and bottled in a package inspired by his era.”

Affinity gladly accepted the challenge, creating a highly distinctive label design system. The Borreo branding is bold, splashed across the label in an upward sweeping band that nicely bridges the classic and contemporary worlds of typographic design. Unexpected, vintage-inspired colors change by varietal, providing contrast and patina to a range of beautiful drawings with a retro vibe.

In close collaboration with Affinity, the illustrations on the label feature the property’s botanicals, designed by Annabelle Rey Miller, fourth generation winery owner and great granddaughter of Walt Disney. Her realistic depiction of grapes, lemons, pomegranates, and other fruits serve as a focal point for the label and provides a natural ‘stage’ for the Borreo brand name.