LORING WINE COMPANY
The Wines
Remember, happiness doesn't depend upon who you are or what you have, it depends solely upon what you drink!

People often ask me, "how did you come up with the label concept?". Of course, I know what they really want to ask is, "are you on crack?". OK, so the labels are a bit eccentric. I like to think that they're FUN! One thing is for sure... they're different.

The first year Norman at Cottonwood allowed me to hang out during harvest was 1997. Norman was kind enough to sell me a couple of barrels of Pinot to play around with. And in the course of "playing", I basically messed up the wine. Being the enterprising young man that I was, I found a use for the wine nonetheless - it became Christmas presents for my friends and family! The problem was I needed to come up with some "fancy" label to hide the fact that the wine was crap. Basically, I needed to make each bottle seem so special that no one would ever think of opening it. How I acheived this was to find photos from magazines that were specific to the people receiving the wine. My Mom and Sister like cats, so I got pictures of kittens. A picture of a dancer worked for my ballroom dance instructor. My buddies at work got helicopters and missiles. And so forth, and so on. But I needed something more than just the photos, something to identify the wine as being from the Loring Wine Company. So I decided to stencil LWC over them - since I was stenciling everything else (barrels, picking bins, etc). But after the stenciling, the photos still didn't seem dynamic enough. So I tore the edges. That was it!! I had my label design.

Each vintage that I produce has a different theme. While the background photos will change, as will the shape of the labels, the LWC stencil will remain constant. And hopefully you'll think they're fun!

2004 Vintage
The theme of 2004 is the "Vineyard Pets". I asked each grower to supply me with a photo of a pet or pets that they'd like to be used on the label.

Garys' 700 cases
Rosella's 750 cases
Keefer Ranch 300 cases
Rancho Ontiveros 600 cases
Brosseau 200 cases
Naylor Dry Hole 75 cases
Cargasacchi 125 cases
Durell 300 cases
Clos Pepe 700 cases
Llama Farm 200 cases

2003 Vintage
The theme of 2003 is the "Vineyard Family Portrait". I asked each grower to supply me with a family photo that they'd like to be used on the label.

2002 Vintage
The theme of 2002 is the "Vineyard Tractor". My hommage to the unsung hero of the American Vineyard.

2002 Garys' Vineyard Pinot Noir	2002 Clos Pepe Vineyard Pinot Noir	2002 Rancho Ontiveros Vineyard Pinot Noir
Santa Lucia Highlands	Santa Rita Hills	Santa Maria Valley
340 Cases	110 Cases	150 Cases

2002 Brosseau Vineyard Pinot Noir	2002 Rosella's Vineyard Pinot Noir
Chalone AVA	Santa Lucia Highlands
200 Cases	150 Cases

2001 Vintage
The theme of 2001 is the "people that were responsible for growing the grapes". I wanted all of you to get to "know" the guys behind the great fruit that I buy. I do have to apologize to Chanda Hagen, Steve Pepe, Jeff Pisoni, and Mark Pisoni - since I know they play a major day to day role in the vineyards. I'll be sure to make that up to them with the 2004 vintage.

2001 Garys' Vineyard Pinot Noir	2001 Clos Pepe Vineyard Pinot Noir	2001 Rancho Ontiveros Vineyard Pinot Noir
Santa Lucia Highlands	Santa Rita Hills	Santa Maria Valley
120 Cases	200 Cases	120 Cases
The two gentlemen on the label are none other than the two Garys. That's Gary Franscioni on the left and Gary Pisoni on the right. The photo was taken by Becky Savell at Pisoni Weekend I. The background is the cooking area at Camp Pisoni.	That's Wes Hagen, vineyard manager at Clos Pepe, on the label. He's holding his pug, Winston. The photo was taken a few years ago in the (then) newly planted Clos Pepe Vineyard. The photo was taken by Wes' friend, John Fitzpatrick.	That's James Ontiveros on the label. I took this photo in James' vineyard a few months before harvest. And yes, that is an oil well in the background. The vines share space not only with oil wells, but with cows as well. Three of my favorite things - gas for my car, and wine and beef for my belly!

2000 Vintage
The theme of 2000 is "The Vineyard". I know, it's a repeat of 1999 - but I was new to this, so give me a break.

2000 Garys' Vineyard Pinot Noir	2000 Clos Pepe Vineyard Pinot Noir
Santa Lucia Highlands	Santa Rita Hills
135 Cases	135 Cases
The photo was taken the morning that I picked the fruit. It's kinda dark and hazy because we pick so freaking early in the morning - and the fog is still hugging the foothills (basically where I was standing).	The front gate at Clos Pepe is seen in the photo. This is the landmark you can make out when you're driving between Buellton and Lompoc on Highway 246. Wave to Wes and Chanda next time you drive by!

1999 Vintage
The theme of 1999 is "The Vineyard". I wanted people to get a feel for where the fruit came from. Plus, I thought it was a pretty spiffy photo, so I went with it.

1999 Sharon's Vineyard Pinot Noir

Santa Maria Valley

150 Cases

The background photo shows Sharon's Vineyard at Cottonwood Canyon. This was the source of the first "real" wine I ever made. The vineyard is named after Norman's wife, Sharon. Without the help of these two amazing people, there would be no Loring Wine Company today.