So I’ve been playing around with the label ideas for my 2006 cabernet franc for way too long. At first I was going to name the wine after Jackson. But then I decided that because this wine was "born" in 2006 (with Jackson born in 2007) that didn’t make sense.

Of course, I wanted to have him mentioned somehow, but in a fun way. So, I’ve decided that my little negociant label will be named Jax Cellars. Any wine, beer, vinegar, etc. that I make will carry this name I think.

And, you can see what I’m working on for the label here as well. I have always liked black and white pictures with some small item in color. The wine name is red because, of course, this is a red wine. If I do a riesling someday, it might be yellow instead.

I’ve named this first Jax Cellars release Handcrank Red because after I picked the grapes by hand, the crusher/destemmer that was used was a handcrank model.

I’m still not sure that I want to be so self-centered as to put my own picture on the label (though those that know me might say that a certain level of ‘confidence’ is appropriate). But, that picture is me on harvest day, dumping the just-picked grapes into the hand-cranked crusher/destemmer.

Let me know what you think. And keep in mind that I’m a writer, not a designer.