Natural Wine Brand Guidelines: Natural-Wine Labels and the Art on the Bottle
Thirty-five brand guides to natural wine — the growers and labels that made the bottle an art object.
Natural wine is known as much for its labels as for its methods. These guides look at how each grower designs its label, with honest caveats where the record is thin.
Restraint and art
Some labels are austere: Gravner’s near-monastic label, Radikon’s custom bottle, Frank Cornelissen’s typography and Jean Foillard’s classic restraint. Others are art projects: Gut Oggau’s family of hand-drawn portraits, Jolie-Laide’s art that changes every vintage, Las Jaras’ rotating artist commissions, and Christian Tschida’s Pop-art bottles.
How to use these guides
Each guide covers a label’s visual identity — its artwork, typography and voice — as design commentary, and notes where facts could not be fully confirmed. The table at the end gathers the essentials.
Natural wine, part 1
Gut Oggau, Testalonga, Partida Creus, Broc Cellars, Frank Cornelissen, Momento Mori and Milan Nestarec.
- Gut Oggau — The Austrian biodynamic estate whose labels are a hand-drawn family of portraits, with honest caveats.
- Testalonga — The Swartland natural-wine label whose covers are hand-lettered over personal photographs, with honest caveats.
- Partida Creus — The Catalan natural-wine label built on a two-letter grape-code system, with honest caveats.
- Broc Cellars — The Berkeley urban winery and its minimalist line-illustration labels, with honest caveats.
- Frank Cornelissen — The radical Etna natural-wine estate and its austere, typographic labels, with honest caveats.
- Momento Mori — The Australian natural-wine label and its art-forward, artist-collaboration design, with honest caveats.
- Milan Nestarec — The Moravian natural-wine label and its bold, irreverent typographic design, with honest caveats.
Natural wine, part 2
Radikon, Field Recordings, Meinklang, Intellego, Anders Frederik Steen, Wildman and Jolie-Laide.
- Radikon — The Friulian orange-wine pioneer whose austere labels and custom bottle are the design, with honest caveats.
- Field Recordings — The Paso Robles natural-wine label and its playful, graphic, pop design, with honest caveats.
- Meinklang — The Austrian biodynamic mixed-farm and its clean, iconographic labels, with honest caveats.
- Intellego — The Swartland natural-wine label and its playful illustrated characters, with honest caveats.
- Anders Frederik Steen — The Ardèche natural-wine label whose poetic sentences are the design, with honest caveats.
- Wildman — The Australian pét-nat label and its psychedelic pop-art characters, with honest caveats.
- Jolie-Laide — The Sonoma natural-leaning label whose art changes with every vintage, with honest caveats.
Natural wine, part 3
Gravner, COS, Christian Tschida, Matassa, Las Jaras, Scholium Project and 2Naturkinder.
- Gravner — The Friulian amphora pioneer whose austere, near-monastic label is a study in restraint, with honest caveats.
- COS — The Sicilian amphora estate founded by architects, whose squat bottle and modernist restraint are the design, with honest caveats.
- Christian Tschida — The Austrian natural-wine cult whose bottles carry Pop-art commissions, with honest caveats.
- Matassa — Tom Lubbe’s Roussillon domaine and its forest-kanji mark of nature and culture, with honest caveats.
- Las Jaras — Eric Wareheim’s California natural-wine label and its rotating contemporary-artist commissions, with honest caveats.
- Scholium Project — The philosopher-winemaker’s literary, text-led labels, with honest caveats about its revival.
- 2Naturkinder — The Franconian natural-wine estate and its named-illustrator, one-animal-per-wine linocut labels, with honest caveats.
Natural wine, part 4
Lucy Margaux, Martha Stoumen, Cruse Wine Co, Envínate, Sato, Claus Preisinger and Jean Foillard.
- Lucy Margaux — Anton van Klopper’s Basket Range label whose hand-drawn art is made at bottling, with honest caveats.
- Martha Stoumen — The California natural-wine label and its named collage artist, with honest caveats.
- Cruse Wine Co — The California sparkling label whose iridescent ultramarine design broke the mould, with honest caveats.
- Envínate — The Spanish Atlantic-wine collective and its place-first calligraphic label system, with honest caveats.
- Sato — The Japanese-New Zealand natural-wine label and its brush-calligraphy wordmark, with honest caveats.
- Claus Preisinger — The Austrian biodynamic estate and its minimalist, signature-led label system, with honest caveats.
- Jean Foillard — The Morgon natural-wine pioneer whose classic label is a study in restraint, with honest caveats.
Natural wine, part 5
Pheasant’s Tears, Patrick Sullivan, Christian Binner, Julien Sunier, Movia, Ruth Lewandowski and Judith Beck.
- Pheasant’s Tears — The Georgian qvevri estate whose labels won a Red Dot award, with honest caveats.
- Patrick Sullivan — The Gippsland natural-wine label and its named illustrator’s storybook art, with honest caveats.
- Christian Binner — The Alsace natural-wine estate and its irreverent collective labels, with honest caveats.
- Julien Sunier — The Beaujolais grower whose cream label carries a wild-grass line drawing, with honest caveats.
- Movia — The cross-border Slovenian estate whose packaging ritual is the design, with honest caveats.
- Ruth Lewandowski — The concept-driven natural-wine label with a die-cut Utah silhouette, with honest caveats.
- Judith Beck — The Austrian biodynamic estate whose playful naming carries the brand, with honest caveats.
At a glance: founding, base and signature
Taken from each guide’s fact panel. Follow the link for detail and caveats.
| Brand | Founded | Based | Signature |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2Naturkinder | See guide | Kitzingen, Franken | See guide |
| Anders Frederik Steen | 2013 (France) | Ardèche | See guide |
| Broc Cellars | 2004 (California) | See guide | See guide |
| Christian Binner | 1999 (Alsace) | Ammerschwihr | Irreverent |
| Christian Tschida | 2003 (Austria) | Illmitz, Burgenland | A rotating gallery |
| Claus Preisinger | 2000 / 2002 (Austria) | Gols, Burgenland | A scribble |
| COS | 1980 (Sicily) | See guide | The squat bottle |
| Cruse Wine Co | 2013 (California) | See guide | CF Napa |
| Envínate | 2005 / 2008 (Spain) | See guide | See guide |
| Field Recordings | 2007 (California) | See guide | Un-pretentious |
| Frank Cornelissen | 2001 (Italy) | Mount Etna | See guide |
| Gravner | 1901 / 1973 (Italy) | Oslavia, Collio | Restraint |
| Gut Oggau | 2007 (Austria) | See guide | A family tree |
| Intellego | c. 2008 (South Africa) | See guide | See guide |
| Jean Foillard | 1980 (France) | Morgon, Beaujolais | Restraint |
| Jolie-Laide | 2010 (California) | See guide | See guide |
| Judith Beck | See guide | Gols, Burgenland | See guide |
| Julien Sunier | 2008 (France) | Beaujolais | See guide |
| Las Jaras | c. 2014 (California) | See guide | Artist commissions |
| Lucy Margaux | 2002 / 2007 (Australia) | Basket Range, SA | Made at bottling |
| Martha Stoumen | 2014 (California) | See guide | See guide |
| Matassa | 2003 (France) | Calce, Roussillon | Forest & field |
| Meinklang | See guide | Burgenland | See guide |
| Milan Nestarec | See guide | See guide | Irreverent |
| Momento Mori | 2015 (Australia) | See guide | Art-forward |
| Movia | See guide | Goriška Brda | The ritual |
| Partida Creus | c. 2008 (Spain) | See guide | See guide |
| Patrick Sullivan | ~2010 (Australia) | Gippsland | See guide |
| Pheasant’s Tears | 2007 (Georgia) | Kakheti | Red Dot award |
| Radikon | 1980 (Italy) | Oslavia, Collio | The bottle |
| Ruth Lewandowski | 2012 (USA) | See guide | Book of Ruth |
| Sato | 2009 (New Zealand) | Central Otago | The brush name |
| Scholium Project | ~1999 (USA) | See guide | The name as text |
| Testalonga | 2008 (South Africa) | See guide | By hand |
| Wildman | 2014 (Australia) | See guide | Astro Bunny |
Frequently asked questions
Which natural-wine label changes its art every vintage?
Jolie-Laide, according to our guide.
Who is behind Las Jaras?
Eric Wareheim, according to our guide, which covers its rotating contemporary-artist commissions.
Part of our Food & Beverage brand guidelines. See also all collections.