Mira Winery tasked CF Napa with creating the packaging for their Estate Wines. The design needed to have a more traditional feel and honor the winery co-founder, Jim Dyke nicknamed “Bear”, and the exceptional talent of the winemaker and co-founder, Gustavo A. Gonzales nicknamed “Goose”.

Mira’s journey began one spring evening in 2005, when Gustavo and Jim walked into the Off the Record bar at DC’s Hay Adams hotel. “The two struck up a conversation and discovered a shared love of wine while Gustavo discussed his fascination with mathematics, in particular the perfect beauty of the Golden Ratio and its relationship to the Fibonnacci sequence, a mathematical concept used at least since the ancient Greeks and Egyptians that is expressed in nature, architecture, art and even the stock market.”

“Gustavo noted that while he was happy as the head red winemaker at Robert Mondavi Winery, he dreamt of having his own little side project like a lot of winemakers. He explained how it doesn’t take infrastructure or a big investment to get started, just relationships that give you access to high quality fruit and a nearby custom crush facility. While Jim heard stories about how difficult the wine business could be, he found Gustavo’s perspective to be surprising. A few hours and a few glasses of wine later, the two new friends parted with the idea of starting a winery together someday.”

CF Napa commissioned an illustration of an ornate crest surrounded by elaborate filigree. Within the shield of the crest is an illustration of a bear and a goose against a backdrop of vineyards and Napa Valley hillside. A scroll with the words, “Gentem”, “Vinum”, and “Terra” – Latin for “People”, “Wine”, and “Earth” – wraps around the crest as a reminder of the key elements that go into every bottle of their exceptional wine. The back label features the co-founders’ signatures as well as the wine’s vintage and barrel production.