Balzac Communications & Marketing

Balzac is expert at creating design materials that go beyond gorgeous and reach into the heart of the audience to get the needed response. Our goal is not to make the client look good to himself or herself. Our goal is to make sure that the message is clearly received by the client’s target audience.

Digital Design

When you’re a leading-edge marketing agency, your very own website darn well better lead, not follow. The proprietary innovations on our website begin right away, with slide-out submenus built directly into a fully responsive masonry grid. Once the visitor begins to scroll down past the opening grid, introductory copy magically morphs into a persistent traditional navigation bar. We gave the parallax site format a new twist by fusing homepage headers to their relevant sections so that they bleed and yet overlap previous sections simultaneously. Our “people”section features self- expanding bios in yet another dynamic masonry grid, our “events” gallery automagically grays out events that have already happened... Oh, enough already...you're here! Go look around!

Ed's Red, Napa Valley

We just have to trumpet about the bold and irreverent design we did for Ed's Red. It started with a rebranding that examined the finer aspects of their logo: defining just what makes a pachyderm look like a mammoth and not just any ol' elephant, using the fewest possible elements so that it communicates concept at the smallest of sizes. Logotype explorations followed: developing a custom typeface which aptly conveys prehistory in a style that's fun without being over-the-top corny. We then infused the design of their brand-new website with the very same style cues. It's as easy to navigate as it is fun to explore, with elegant, fully responsive design that rocks on any screen or device.

Oak Ridge Winery, Lodi

A more fully featured winery website you're not likely to find, and it doesn't hurt that it's so easy on the eyes. A persistent top menu of Oak Ridge's eight most important brands follows the user from page to page, allowing easy access to basic information on each brand no matter where you are on the site. From each brand page (or from the main menu) one can access that brand's collateral materials by way of a dead-simple, elegant Dropbox-based downloading engine. The wine retail location feature, the blog, wine club, accolades, calendar—there are just a ton of ways to let yourself get sucked into this website. Throughout it all is the fundamental appeal of a thriving family winery, which we've captured with visual elegance and vital, tasteful content both written and photographed. Did we mention that we did all that, too?

Taplin Cellars, Napa Valley

The website so nice, we designed it twice! When we originally designed the logo, wine labels, and website for the Taplin Family, who's agricultural history in the Napa Valley is long, we focused on a visual identity that conveyed the length and depth of that history. Yet the limitations of web design in the mid-2000s still limited our ability to convey the epic sweep which the subject demands. Not any more! Responsive design has changed the game, and we're now allowed the luxury of open, panoramic layouts that convey this sense-of-place with ease on any device. We're proud to support this local family and pleased beyond words that they chose to return to Balzac to update and future-proof their magnificent taplincellars.com website!

Tru-Cutt Precision Cutting Tool

Does Balzac Design handle projects outside of the wine industry? YES, WE DO! Doing so much work for wineries around the globe, it's nice to have the occasional "palate-cleanser." We had a blast designing the website for Tru-Cutt, a revolutionary new pipe cutting tool. While decidedly industrial, the website exhibits a clean, modern and uncluttered design that communicates clearly and raises the bar for industrial visual design. Just wait 'til you see the packaging...

Trinité/Acaibo Wine, Sonoma County

To launch their first American winemaking estate on Chalk Hill, Trinité Estate, and their first Bordeaux blend, Acaibo, esteemed chateaux stewards Claire and Gonzague Lurton wanted a look that was clean and direct, while still conveying the majestic sweep of their Sonoma County environs. At the same time, they needed an outside-the-box navigation system that allows persistent direct links to their five French chateaux, multiple "story" tabs within each content area, and an also-persistent vertical main menu that translates well on desktops, tablets, and mobile phones alike.

Experience Wines, Napa Valley

We grabbed all the appropriate style cues from Experience Wines' dark and rich—yet whimsical...label work and shot for the moon. Cohesive branding from packaging to website is the name of the game, and we love this sumptuous website that is intensely visual yet conveys information clearly and effectively. As always, responsive design insures a focused visitor experience, from your giant cinema displays all the way down to that smartphone.

Split Creek Farms Wines

We were thrilled to be able to broaden the existing visual identity of Split Creek Farms' knockout wine label and bottle design in a more three-dimensional photographic style...by way of their brand new website. The folksy, Steinbeck-esque appeal of their square-sided bottles with chunky hand-wrought typography gets adapted to the persistent menu logo, and expanded upon by way of some down-home photographic textures site-wide.  

Art Association Napa Valley

This website's not just a pretty face: beyond its open, easy-to-navigate aesthetic and intuitive menu design, there are a host of back-end features that allow AANV's administrators to handle all aspects of memberships, mailing lists, artists' galleries and the like with a minimum of redundancy. Simple one-click controls in the site's virtual "dashboard" allow administrators to categorize artists, hide or display their galleries and assign their profiles to various pages within the site simply by designating their level of membership. The same designations automagically feed into categorized mailing lists, making targeted communication with members a breeze. The logo is a collaboration between Balzac and AANV's Christine George. While the primary logo clearly implies the valley landscape and its artistic community in equal measure, it also offers robust branding flexibility by way of color cues used to invoke the identity of AANV's three sibling organizations.

Planet Bordeaux

The original Planet Bordeaux website was built by Balzac five years ago as the definitive source of information about the region for an American audience. With the advent of responsive design and content management, it was time for a facelift in 2014 that would make the website as visually dynamic as it is informative.

Il Fiorello Olive Oil Co.

It's not all wine around here! Il Fiorello has been a client for years (we designed their olive oil label and original website) and is one of the first wave of clients we've been lucky to work with on a totally responsive website redesign: a single site that automagically resizes and and reconfigures each page element to perfectly fill any screen from your big ol' monitor all the way down to your smart phone—future-proof!

Print Design

Packaging

Baci's Bin 32 Wine Label

Tudal Estate honors its Genoa-born patriarch, George “Baci” Cerutti, with this luscious blend that’s heavy on the Sangiovese. Balzac honors Baci with a label that we hope embraces his affection for all things old-school.

Elevation 868 Meritage, Virginia

It’s hard to do a bad design for Carl and Erin DiManno, owners of 868 Estate and Revolution Winery. They are visual thinkers, and we love that. As such, they always give their vineyard plots names that look as beautiful as they sound. 868 is the elevation of their estate property in Virginia, and we’ve expressed the concept of elevation with interlocking letterforms that seem to climb off the ground on a typographic ladder.

Frisson WIne Label

The core element of this label redesign is a finely-wrought new logotype which evokes confidence and quality. Centered in a large and almost totally unadorned (but gorgeously textured) label, the package evokes a cultish vibe that inspires immediate belief in the product without relying on busy, heavy-handed design elements.

Taplin Wine Cellars: Terra 9 WIne Label

It's amazing how a few simple changes can mean the difference between dull and stylish. Not wanting to dismiss existing brand equity, the Taplins requested we update their label in any ways we felt were effective. The core is a typographic reworking that balances, leads the eye, and oozes style. Top that off with debossed foil, luscious paper texture and custom color mixing, and you've got a compelling new package.

Ca’ Momi Winery: Ca’ Secco and Ca’ Rosa Sparkling White and Rosé Wines

A foil-stamped swirl forms the centerpiece of these clean and upbeat labels. Made effervescent with a bubbly reveal of the paper beneath, the swirl implies the shape of an ascending column of bubbles. The “Ca' Secco” and “Ca' Rosa” logotypes interlock the main swirl with their own little tendrils to boot!

True + Daring Wine Label, New Zealand

This label needed to reflect the attention-to-detail of a Riesling the winemaking of which rivals old-world faves, while at the same time conveying the iconoclastic attitude that allowed this Kiwi offering to thrive in the marketplace. A band embossed and printed in soft metallics creates a foundation to elevate modern typographic elements to the fore. The central grid implies both the International Riesling Sweetness scale and the somewhat less sweet Richter scale.

Switchback Ridge Anniversary Red Wine Label

We love it when our designs stand the test of time. We love it even more when we get the call for an update! Nearly 15 years after the original Switchback Ridge packaging hit the shelves, we were asked to design a revised lower label bout to signify special releases. At the same time, we took a look at how massive changes in print technology could yield a richer, more sumptuous finish. By far.

Ca' Momi Winery: Nica and Dado Wine Labels

Bold, playful type designs reflect the flavor characteristics of these wines and the personalities they were crafted to embody...Nica and Dado are nicknames of the proprietors' children! A textured, iridescent silver label stock brings a lovely glow to the whole affair, emblazoned with just a hint of mid-century pattern.

Mill River Wine Label

Located on the picturesque North Shore of Massachusetts, Mill River Winery asked Balzac to create a logo and label that reflect the unique regional allure of these picturesque coastal marshlands. Following a thorough visual research phase and a good many hand-drawn thumbnail sketches, the ubiquitous red-shouldered blackbird was chosen as Mill River's emissary. Cleverly paired with a mirror image in silver-green foil stamping, reflective and shimmering bodies of water are evoked in the negative space. Rugged WPA-era typography....with a common cattail "i" motif...completes the logo and speaks to the rural, working-class history of the area, including the winery site itself, formerly a cider mill.

Revolution Wine Label

Virginia-based Revolution Winery, working with Balzac, explored various methods for conveying the concept of revolution—both literal and abstract—before settling on an approach that plays more off the physical motion (as in a revolving object) rather than an act of civil revolt. The graceful arcing flourishes to the logotype suggest not only rotation but also a corkscrew. More modern by contrast is the word collage background, which perhaps pays more homage to our country’s most fondly remembered act of rebellion.

AX-1 Wine Label

AX-1 stands for "Altezza Experiment One" and represents the culmination of years of experimentation in creating Noceto's ultimate expression of a Tuscan blend. The label background is an image of the actual chalk-scribed notes and formulations of the winemaker on the cellar's concrete wall over the past few years. Front-and-center is Balzac's elegantly-crafted AX-1 stacked logotype.

Napa Cookie Co. Wine Snaps

A bright white cardstock paired with minimal illustration and type brings refinement. A viewing window brings the contrast and the handmade element, showing off these morsels and making mouths water better than any photo ever could.

Erle Wine Label

Sometimes all it takes to turn classic wine label design on its ear is to, um, actually turn it on its ear. It's all about simplicity with this timeless script logotype flipped sideways and bled slightly off the label's perimeter. The orientation implies a fusion of old world and new. Meanwhile, the flourish off the "e" gently cradles the support typography in an unobtrusive fashion.

Tudal Legacy Lot Wine Label

This sumptuous label design for Tudal Estates includes two visual elements that are strong enough to stand on their own as logotypes...and have. The Four Generations of Growing and Winemaking tagline was styled as a banner of woven, interconnected script that functions here as a visual divider and has been used on various Tudal collateral as a header or background image. Meanwhile the LL30 crest, which is embossed on the label, anchors the vintage/varietal/appellation while designating it as their 30th vintage. This crest has "legs" and can be changed for each new vintage.  The intentionally hazy and blurred leaf on the lower right, printed with a sumptuous "gold dust" metallic effect, balances and offsets the strong Tudal logotype on the upper right, while still very much functioning as a background element.

Red Lava Wine Label

The stylized curves of the vines and roots on Red Lava’s label seem anchored in Homeric antiquity, while the red roots play double duty as they suggest rivers of lava flowing down a volcano at night. These elements plus the use of foil stamping on the leaves and berries conspire to give the package a rather Vesuvial vibe as befits the brand.

Snows Lake Vineyard “One" and “Two,” Red Hills Lake County

The traditional engraver-style illustration atop the Snows Lake label…and the label itself…are built as a 360-degree panorama which connects to itself in a nearly invisible seam. The effect is meant to convey the mountaintop panorama that can be seen from the Snows Lake vineyard site itself. Most wraparound wine labels stop short of meeting themselves and leave a gap where the bottle shows through. The Snows Lake label beats the system by using hand-glued, hand-applied labels for accuracy of application.

Il Fiorello Artisan Olive Oil

Il Fiorello Olive Oil is unique among artisan producers in taking cues from the wine world and bringing their oil to market by varietal...each with its own distinct flavor profile. Balzac has fashioned packaging that helps leverage this uniqueness in several ways. We've used our depth of print knowledge to create a diagonal "sash" logo that is nearly indistinguishable in patina from the hand-made labels that proprietor Ann Sievers used to hand-apply at farmers' markets, and we've had it shaped to fit their bell-shaped bottles (imported from Italy) without a wrinkle! A secondary lower label is printed digitally on-demand to display not only varietal but actual mill date of the oil...a guarantee of the freshness and uniqueness of the product within.

Collateral

Saxco Wine Glass Hand-Out

In the age of online marketing, it's great to see this really sexy collateral printed in gorgeous real-world lithography. Slim and curvaceous fontography and border treatments set in green, white and black work with the (Balzac-penned) tagline to reinforce the concepts of clarity, choice, and acumen, while also reflecting and complementing the bottle shapes in the photography. We art directed all the photography and typeset the "select" portion of the logotype to boot.

Rhian Benson CD Invitation & Self-Mailer

This self-mailer contained a promotional music CD for R&B artist Rhian Benson, and was sent out to promote her show at the Napa Valley Opera House (now City Winery). The Jazz-cool look was inspired by Balzac’s existing image program for the Opera House, Rhian’s website, and a touch of Blue Note album cover style.

Jon Edwards WInery Summer Music Series Poster

A delicious retro design for aesthetes at Jonathan Edwards Winery, who really let us have our wings. The warm, rootsy vibe of this poster is a carefully balance of studied fontography, spatial choices and artistic style.

Napa Wine Co. “100 Harvests” Coffee Table Book

To celebrate its centennial, the Napa Wine Company commissioned local author Tony Kilgallin to research their history and create a book which ultimately became a genuinely entertaining read – as well as beautiful to look at. Actual historical documents, photographs, and illustrations were used throughout, and the design of the book reflects the family’s journey through a bygone era in the Napa Valley.

Lincoln Theater "Una Bella Notte" Event Invite

The invitation that keeps on giving: metallic copper stars on a velvety blue backdrop are only the first level of come-hither design in this sumptuous piece. The fastener tab is engineered into the sliver moon icon, and as the invite is unfolded it gives up more information with each motion…in the order that the invitee would most want to absorb it. Hidden inside are a reply card and return envelope.

Diageo Chateau & Estate: French Wine Region Sales Sheets

This was a series of giveaway brochures used by the Diageo sales force which served double duty as an educational piece. Each handout clearly defines the location and unique attributes of each French growing region, while at the same time displaying which of Diageo’s large portfolio of import brands resides in that appellation and what flavors are characteristic of the region. The set is a great tool for both convincing sales outlets to carry something new while simultaneously empowering their decision. Ring holes and staggered side tabs help keep the pieces organized by region in a binder.

Judy Schindler Design+Build Brochure

Design+Build+Furnish is the name of the game for this soup-to-nuts design firm that specializes in turnkey home and business remodels where everything from architecture to final interior design is covered by the same group of industry veterans. We began the design process by creating three simple yet sophisticated icons to represent those three phases, and then figured out a great way to apply them as a three-dimensional, unfolding concept piece by way of this brochure. The combination of an accordion fold combined with a diecut "reveal" exposes three apparent tabs that end up being the headers that introduce each concept.

Lincoln Theater Schedule

The schedule of performances for the Lincoln Theater certainly had to look fun, festive, and contemporary, no problem there. However, the real challenge was to do that while still making a very busy performance schedule 100% legible, with a flow that clearly indicates chronology of events, show times and prices at a glance. Check. Not only that but seating charts, caveats, addenda and ordering information all demanded more than lip service. We were able to include all without making it feel shoehorned in. Oh…and of course there’s a self-mailing panel to boot!

Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux "Millennium" Poster

An oversized poster celebrating a year 2000 celebration of Bordeaux winemaking: Millennium Magnums. This future-traditional look incorporates a listing of the 100 participating vintners into the central bottle image.

Napa Valley Opera House Grand Opening Celebration Invitation

This invitation to the grand re-opening of our beloved local opera house got the appropriate level of pomp and gravitas by way of an (also very mechanically-functional) interlocking gatefold that beautifully mimics the look and feel of unfolding proscenium curtains. A little gold foil paired with a translucent red vellum envelope makes this piece off-the-charts lush.

Trefethen Vineyards Aerial Map

This project for Trefethen Vineyards combined the unmistakably genuine look and feel of a hand-drawn map with the project flexibility of the computer. After a final aerial point of view was chosen via Google Earth, individual elements of that map were hand drawn on layers of transparent vellum using graphite pencils. These elements (vineyards, structures, hills, trees, etc.) were scanned into the computer separately and layered one atop the other digitally in Photoshop. Not only did this allow us to make multiple changes to the illustrative design over the long editorial arc of the project (without redrawing the entire map!), but it allowed individual control of each element in terms of intensity, transparency, and scale so the client was able to subtly shift emphasis to where it was most needed. Additionally, color was added in Photoshop rather than by true watercolor for expediency, though in combination with the hand-sketched outlines the compromise is minimal.

Publishing

Napa Valley Life Magazine Redesign

We’re quite proud of the makeover we gave our long-time “locals-inclusive” periodical Napa Valley Life in 2012. As a publication that straddles a fine line by catering equally to both locals and tourists, it became important to the publisher (and us) to create a stylish magazine that recognizes our local constituency as having (at least) as much style as our visitors. No “Penny Saver” aesthetic, please. The new look served as an encouragement for high-end advertisers to get on board, and the whole thing was just plain easier to read and navigate. Unfortunately, in our view, it has recently been replaced itself. We also managed the production of the magazine for four-and-a-half years.

Napa Valley Life Magazine Redesign

Napa Valley Guidebook Production

Not all our work is that foo-foo design stuff—we have a left side of the brain, too. That's why we include here something we did NOT design. We DO manage the layout and production of this annual visitor guide from checking for low-rez images to creating final, publication-ready PDFs of pages to upload to the printer.

"In Sixteen Hands of Shadow" Book of Poetry

We designed this cover for poet Dave Howell. While several of the poems included horses and life in the country, the themes explored by the poet were much broader and more human than that. We wanted to make sure the cover did not look like the chapbook contained a bunch of horse poems, but also wanted to recognize their presence, especially in the title poem. The main photograph—which bleeds as a duotone reverse image into the dark area and the top and bottom—was cropped just below the eyes of the horse to keep the focus on the nose blaze and the set of the hand that spoke of the relationship, light and dark, between human and horse and life.

Jordan Winery

In addition to design and illustrative work, Balzac is no stranger to photographic art direction, either. The food shot in this ad (and most photographic elements seen in the projects throughout this portfolio) was coordinated, directed, and overseen by Balzac. Be it prop dressing, food styling, and all the important decisions about lighting, angle, and focus, we’ve got it covered. We have in-house solutions and a copious roster of vendors to take it to the next level as needed, too. This ad appeared in several wine industry publications.

Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter Campaign, Napa County Agricultural Commissioner (1)

Our work for perhaps the most fun ag-oriented public information campaign in California – the Agricultural Commissioner of Napa County’s glassy-winged sharpshooter campaign – continued with the NIMBY (Not in My Backyard) campaign. Armed with the theme, we came up with four humorous backyard situations that had been invaded by the GWSS. These images and the NIMBY logotype appeared on posters (shown here), brochures, rackcards, magnets and other collateral, including trading cards.

Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter Campaign, Napa County Agricultural Commissioner (2)

The 2010 Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter campaign continued with the blatant, gratuitous, and intentionally-corny Photoshop shenanegans. Watch your back, Mr. Spielberg: we have arrived.

Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter Campaign, Napa County Agricultural Commissioner (3)

Here's an ad from the 2015 awareness campaign for the Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter. Each year we grab attention with a new tagline and visual theme. This year's is inspired by the motivational "We Can Do It" style propaganda posters of World War II. The illustration was done by hand in vintage silkscreen style right here at Balzac.

Sandeman Port "Perfect Partners" Recipe Contest Advertisement

In honor of our favorite concentrated grapey apertif, here's a fabulous full-page magazine spread we created for Sandeman Porto to promote their "Perfect Partners" recipe contest. This design still holds up like it was created yesterday, in part due to its solid and timeless Bauhaus-school structuring, but also complements the warm color palette, font selections, and sumptuous photographic art direction. Now who has the chocolate...?

Identity

NapaLearns Logo

NapaLearns is an organization committed to putting forward-thinking methodologies in education into immediate action. How to embody this in a logotype most simply? We feel that the simple border that emanates directly from the ascenders and descenders of the typeface, wraps the type as an aperture, and terminates as two dots is not easily misinterpreted. Two simple lines paired with a font choice/color choice that both have strong subliminal connotations of "friendly high tech.” Sorry, but we’re nailin’ it here. Because we didn’t have to tell you it looks like a circuit board, right?

Take Hunger Off The Menu Logo, Gasser Foundation, Napa

Who says big business should get all the world-class design? We love a good cause, and love to give 'em the tools they need to change the world...or at least our hometown.  This logo for the Gasser Foundation's campaign to end hunger in Napa exhibits clean design that's evocative and to-the-point. It's clearly a menu, and hunger is clearly "missing" from it. All without being overtly illustrative and staying quite stylish.

Maverick Bottle Top Logo

Logos are always a challenge, and this one was no exception. The goal was threefold: to start, the overall look needed to be rather clean and high tech to convey the cutting-edge service and technology offered by the company. Secondly, the logo had to include some kind of visual reference to the specific technology —“ bottle encapsulation"—that is being sold, along with a sense of movement, both physical and conceptual. Lastly, the initials of the company should be referenced to create a logo that also works as a stand-alone trademark.

Revolution WInery Logo

Sonoma Ecology Center Logo

The two best things a client can say: "Everyone here still loves it three years later." "Other organizations we speak to have 'Logo Envy.'" This logo gets both compliments a lot. Beyond its elegant, simple forms, it implies a balance between land and water with the yin-yang fish-and-leaf. This year we've done an update for them to celebrate their 25th anniversary as well!

Encompass Human Resources Logo

Who says a great logo needs to be complicated? Not us! This logo’s bracketed motif quickly says, “We think of everything!” while at the same time conveying an aura of professionalism and efficiency with its clean lines and earnest color palette.

868 Estate Winery Logo

When you start with a great name, great design gets a lot easier, and longtime Balzac clients Carl and Erin DiManno always pick great names for their brands. If you read this eNewsletter, you've seen proof of this before in the logotype we created for their former brand, Revolution. Marketing acumen strikes again in their first series of estate offerings, hailing from their very own art, tasting and dining destination property in the up-and-coming winemaking haven of Virginia (wait for it). 868 Estate is the place, and the branding was developed with ordained iterations for vertical and horizontal usage that carry equal elegance and weight. Each year Balzac works with their gallery curator to pick pieces by local fine artists most reflective of the 868 aesthetic, and adjust color cues accordingly.

Premiere Viticulture Logo

Premiere Viticulture designs online software to help winemakers track and manage all aspects of their annual crop. The primary visual goal of their logo as they envisioned it would be to convey a sense of nurturing and growth, which implies not only the relationship of winemaker to wine, but also the relationship between Premiere and its clients.

Mill River WInery Logo

Located on the picturesque North Shore of Massachusetts, Mill River Winery asked Balzac to create a logo and label that reflect the unique regional allure of these picturesque coastal marshlands. Following a thorough visual research phase and many hand-drawn thumbnail sketches, the ubiquitous red-winged blackbird was chosen as Mill River's emissary. By cleverly pairing the bird with a mirror image in silver-green foil stamping, we are able to create the perception of reflective and shimmering bodies of water in the negative space. Rugged WPA-era typography, with a common cattail "i" motif, completes the logo and speaks to the rural, working-class history of the area including the winery site itself, which was previously a Cider Mill.

Napa Magnet Schools, Napa Valley Unified School District

It’s hard to find ways to say “Napa” without resorting to trite visual elements like grape clusters, etc. It’s even harder to fuse that sense-of-place with another completely different message, all inside a logo that remains clean and uncluttered. The directive for Napa Magnet Schools was firstly to convey such concepts of aspiration, education, self-betterment, and achievement. Anything beyond that was, as they say, gravy. Pour it on: the magnet icon was certainly a gimme, but fusing the concept behind magnet schools with the aforementioned directives and adding a sense of locale (we love our hot air balloons around here) was a slam-dunk. Generally simple, rounded-off forms and loping curves throughout yield a vibe of childlike wonderment to boot.

Courtney Custom Boots Logo

In all fairness, this subject matter simply begs for a logo treatment, and it’s not hard to tell folks that you make cowboy boots given the easily-identifiable nature of the central icon. That said, we wanted to convey a sophisticated aesthetic in keeping with this Napa Valley company that makes boots for the Beverly Hills set, with prices reaching quadruple digits…and we think we’ve done just that. The clean-yet-accessible sans-serif font and icon pairing definitely buck (pun intended) the typical “gee-howdy” vibe that similar manufacturers seem dig their heels into.

Taplin Cellars Logo

The Taplin family wanted their logo to exemplify both the old-world, slow-and-careful methodology that defines great winemaking as well as a more modern twist that speaks to state-of-the-art practices. The old-world part? they made that easy: we obtained from the family a fantastic old “milk book” from the 1920s that had page after page of delivery notations written by hand by actual Taplin family members. The calligraphy was gorgeous, personal, and unique. We pilfered the finest examples of each letter in the “Taplin” name and typeset it to suit. For the new-world part, we did a lot of in-depth type studies and eventually settled on a hand-modified version of At Sackers that nests under the ascender of the “p” in “Taplin” nicely without unbalancing the logo as a whole.

Napa Valley Life Magazine Logo

When rebranding Napa Valley Life Magazine—and redesigning its logo—the goal was to reach a sophisticated demographic while not ignoring the local element or losing a sense of playfulness. After all, the magazine is meant for enjoyment by locals AND visitors. So, while the “spell out” logotype is urban-yet-approachable, the “NVL” icon drops just a hint of viticulture in its leafy, interlocked forms.

BOB Wine Bottle Closure Logo

This logo is as effective as it is simple. The BOB name is an acronym for ”Best of Both Worlds," a product that serves as both a traditional-looking/behaving wine capsule and a forward-looking/thinking resealable wine bottle closure. The logotype’s color-separated arrows forming the “O” imply this duality of function. As a bonus, it’s bold and simple enough to reproduce quite small on the capsule itself.

Napa Valley 360 Logo

Napa 360 is an online auction and the title suggests that the Napa Valley is not just about wine, its about a complete and varied experience.

Drink Local Wine Logo

Well, we can’t always take credit for every good idea. We’re lucky to have some pretty smart clients. The push pin thing was DLW’s idea, and after trying out a bunch of other concepts, it was pretty clear that this was the simplest, most elegant way to embody “going local” by way of web-based tools. We’ll take credit for the map in the drop shadow, though.

Balzac Communications & Marketing is the largest marketing communications firm in the wine industry. Over the past 25 years, it has earned a reputation for working with top quality clients, providing cost-effective solutions, and developing long-term relationships with key influencers across the spectrum, from producers, regional associations, and media to the distribution network, consumers and the general public. These relationships, and the credibility and effectiveness upon which they are based, make Balzac particularly well suited to manage a campaign aimed at these target audiences.

Philosophy

Have fun and get it done.

We know the complete spectrum of what can be done and how to do it. Even more important, we can determine what will make sense for you. Our goal is to make your company more successful, not just use up your budget, and that means we focus on results, not promises.

The ultimate goal is to sell your products or services, and we hope you will judge our efforts by that criterion. We do.

In the long run, your success is our success. We want you to grow so that we can grow, and we want to be working with you five years from now—when we’re both where we want to be.

People

Our people are not the most important part of Balzac. They are Balzac. Period.

They are bright, determined, and experts in our field. From top to bottom, our people know their business and take pride in showing you the kind of results they can achieve.

Michael Wangbickler

Mike is a Balzac veteran with more than twenty years of experience building and executing communications strategies for clients in the wine and technology industries. He came west from Michigan to work in the dot-com boom and while he was here became knowledgeable about wine. After leaving Silicon Valley, Mike decided to make wine his career, and ended up at Balzac. Not surprisingly, Mike is Balzac’s digital strategies expert, in addition to overseeing the day-to-day operations of the company, including client management.

“At Balzac we want our clients to feel good about the results of our projects with them,” says Mike, “and just as important, to enjoy participating in the process.”

Mike is also a Certified Wine Educator (CWE) through the Society of Wine Educators and a WSET Certified Educator through the Wine and Spirits Education Trust. He is also lead instructor at Discover Wine & Spirits Academy.

Since 2004

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Paul Wagner

As the agency founder, Paul is the drive behind Balzac’s uncompromising approach to marketing communications. He has conceived and managed public relations programs for some of the most critical audiences in the world.

“This business combines the intellectual challenges of chess with the reaction speeds of whitewater rafting,” he says. “There are a phenomenal number of possibilities at every step. Our job is to make the right decisions and make those decisions work. We not only have to win the race – we have to look good doing it.”

Paul is also a founding member of the Academy of Wine Communications and a leading member of the American Wine Society. He regularly lectures on wine throughout the world, and was awarded the “Vida Dedicada Al Vino” prize at FENAVIN in 2009. He was honored as a Spadarino della Castellania de Soave in 2005, and his book, co-authored with Liz Thach and Janeen Olsen, won the Gourmand International award as the best wine book for professionals in 2008. He is also an instructor at the Culinary Institute of America and Napa Valley College.

Since 1992

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Tiffany van Gorder

Tiffany has one speed: fast forward, and we mean that in a good way. Her clients love her energy and professionalism, and she gets a lot done in a short period of time. She is a strong resource for her team when it comes to client/media relations, strategic counsel and issues management.

“I love brainstorming and dealing with evolving communication plans – adjusting on the fly to the client’s new needs,” she says.

Prior to joining Balzac, Tiffany held supervisory and account lead positions in corporate marketing and communications firms, including Ketchum in San Francisco as the IBM account lead handling all media relations on the West Coast. Other positions were held at Visa, Charles Schwab and Hewlett-Packard.

Since 2004

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Mark Feinberg

With more than twenty-five years of alcoholic beverage experience, ranging from his own craft brewery, Devil Mountain Brewery, to still, sparkling and fortified wines at some of the best-known and most respected domestic and international wineries, Mark adds significant wine and craft beer marketing knowledge to Balzac Communications & Marketing.

As a wine marketing executive he has managed brands for Sebastiani Vineyards, Seagram Chateau Estate & Wines Company, Constellation Wines, White Rocket Wine Company (Kendall-Jackson), Vintage Wine Estates, and most recently, King Estate in Oregon. He has worked from ideation to name generation to package design to marketing, launch and winemaking and production for multiple wine brands both domestic and international, over a range of price points ($5 – $150) and packaging formats (glass, BIB, Tetra Pak).

“Whether you are launching a new brand, revitalizing an existing one or exploring new categories,” says Mark, “I have been in that room. I love to sit down and talk out real-life strategies and then get to work on making it all come true.”

Since 2016

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Robin Lewis

After a Bachelor’s in Journalism from Cal Poly SLO, Robin earned a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. He started layout design while working on newspapers and journals in the old paste-up days, and taught himself how to lay it all out on a Mac Classic after that. “I am one of the original Mac Boys,” he says.

He has moved since on from the Classic to a large, screaming iMac, and is tops at project management from websites to magazines to advertising to logos. He’s also one of the few layout designers who can edit copy on the fly in the middle of layout while making it all fit right. He writes the copy, if needed, takes photographs, and drops it into the project.

“What’s great at Balzac is I get to do a lot of different things, and take advantage of a lot of different interests I have,” says Robin. “I pull it all together to keep our part of the projects running at optimum speed.”

Since 1997

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Adam Sullivan

Simply put, Adam makes our design department one of the best in California. His designs for websites (he did ours, for one), wine labels and packaging, logos and other work give Balzac a distinct edge over other agencies.

Adam’s broad education, focused by his studies in graphic design at Santa Rosa College, gives him the ability to combine excellent design with fine art – he’s an illustrator as well as an expert with digital design. It makes his work memorable: striking, effective, and fun. He loves having copywriters right in the next office to keep things moving along. And he knows way too much about TTB requirements for wine labels.

“What makes Balzac fun is our range of resources. We’re able to put ideas to work in very creative and distinctive ways – that’s what gives us the edge over other agencies.”

Please visit the Balzac Communications design portfolio to view his work.

Since 2001

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Margaret Clark

Start with a degree in literature from U.C. Santa Cruz, and another one from the California Culinary Academy, add twelve years as a professional chef and culinary consultant and season to taste with experience cooking in France and Great Britain. Stir briskly and professionally, and you get Margaret Clark.

She brings that food and wine knowledge to her work here at Balzac as copywriter, proofreader and able protector of the English language and its use in clear expression.

“My job is to make sure our message is communicated quickly, directly and completely,” Margaret says. “Whether you’re cooking, writing, or marketing, the answer to the question is always the same – the details matter.”

Since 1994

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Emma Thomas

Emma’s path to wine expertise was inspired by her Mom’s gourmet meals paired with amazing wines, and then by a semester on a homestay in western Spain. She loved the way people there enjoyed wine, and she loved Spanish culture.

On her return her mother suggested a career in wine rather than political science, which she was finishing at Gettysburg College, and things took off from there: For graduation she received a trip to Napa Valley and the Culinary Institute of America’s Wine Lover’s Boot Camp. While there, Emma landed an internship with famed wine writer Karen MacNeil, whom she assisted in the production of the second edition of The Wine Bible.

A year into her internship, Emma returned to the CIA for the rigorous seven-month Accelerated Wine and Beverage Program, where one of her lecturers was our own Paul Wagner. After passing both the CIA program and the Court of Master Sommeliers’ Certified Sommelier exam with flying colors, she followed up with a really impressive job interview at Balzac and was invited to join our staff.

“I feel most wine consumers love wine for the story that goes with it, whether that’s the history of a winery or the memory of how wine became a part of their own lives,” says Emma. “What we do at Balzac plays a big part in helping consumers build that connection.”

Since 2015

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Paul Rogers

Paul has been a part of Balzac from the very beginning. At first he was a freelancer we called on for a wide variety of activities; eventually we needed his help all the time, and made him an official part of the family. From client management and design to media contact, Paul does what needs to be done.

Over our 25-year history he has always been resourceful, smart, and enthusiastic, and in some ways we couldn’t live without him. And it helps that he knows how to do it all – his background includes stints at major magazines like Forbes and Motor Trend, and for many years he has volunteered his free time to run the parking for the massive Napa Valley Wine Auction. He does know how to get things done.

At the annual Balzac campout, Paul is in charge of cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. He takes the role very seriously.

Since 1992

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Ema Ripley

At an early age Ema lived with her family in Belgium, and there, with her father’s indefatigable enthusiasm, she began a lifelong exploration of culture, food and wine as an expression and celebration of place.

She brings that appreciation to her work here at Balzac as part of a marketing and public relations team that captures the imagination of wine enthusiasts while achieving our clients’ goals.

Prior to Balzac, Ema worked in marketing and non-profit development for more than fifteen years as a fund raiser, strategic planner and events manager. She also holds an MBA from San Francisco State University, a Wine Business Management Certificate / Level 1 from Sonoma State, and studied sensory wine evaluation at UC Davis.

Since 2016

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Maggie

Every family needs a pet, and Maggie is ours. She is Mark’s six-year-old Labrador and she loves coming to work every day. She bounds into Balzac, races around to the different offices to say hello, and then settles in for the daily grind—on the rug at Mark’s feet. From there, she can see everyone who comes and goes, and greet them as needed. Though her work ethic is questionable (for instance, she sleeps on the job daily), her enthusiasm is contagious and she’s an integral part of the Balzac family.

Since 2016

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Clients

BALZAC COMMUNICATIONS CURRENT CLIENTS

International Regional Wine Associations
Association de Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Emilion (France)

Camara de Comercio e Industria de Alava (Spain)

Consorzio del Vino Nobile di Montepulciano (Italy)

Furmint USA (Hungary)

Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux (France)

International Winery Clients
Carpene Malvolti (Italy)

Château Malartic-Lagraviere (France)

Gradis’ciutta (Italy)

Salentein Family of Brands (Argentina)

Sogevinus Fine Wines (Portugal)
Kopke, Burmester, Calem, Barros,and Sogevinus Family Wines

Villa Trasqua (Italy)

Domestic Winery Clients
Acaibo/Trinite Estate (Sonoma)

Arcudi Wines (Napa Valley)

Aril Wines (Napa Valley)

Beaulieu Vineyard (Napa Valley)

Experience Wines (Napa Valley)

Mendocino Wine Company (Mendocino County)
parducci pauldolan sketchbooklogo Print

Miner Family Winery (Napa Valley)

Murrieta’s Well (Livermore Valley)

Oak Farm Vineyard (Lodi)

Taplin Cellars (Napa Valley)

Vino Noceto (Amador County)

Wagner Family of Wine (Napa Valley)
caymus mersoleil conundrum emmolo

Warren Winiarski (Napa Valley)

Wente Family Estates (Livermore Valley)

Other Clients
American Vineyard Foundation

Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas

The Culinary Institute of America, St. Helena, CA

ETS Laboratories

Wine Scholar Guild

Lake County Winegrape Commission

Il Fiorello Olive Oil

Napa Valley Guidebook

Pure Tin Capsules

San Francisco Wine School

Sunset Magazine

TEXSOM

The County of Napa, California—
Office of the Agricultural Commissioner of Napa County
Public Information Programs: Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter
and European Grapevine Moth

Who Was Balzac?

We chose the name of our agency as a tribute to French novelist Honoré de Balzac. A true character, he was manic and a workaholic, and he drank way too much coffee (up to fifty cups a day). He speculated wildly in several businesses, and he pursued the woman of his dreams for years before finally marrying her, only to die of ill health five months later at age fifty-one.

He was also a remarkable chronicler of his times, and wrote more than eighty novels and sociological studies of post-Napoleonic France, which he called The Human Comedy. Among literature’s outstanding achievements, these works portray the nitty-gritty, real-life loves and disappointments of everyday French people, and because they were written in the form of novels rather than academic papers, they not only come to life for the reader; they have also enshrined the author for posterity.

In some ways, this is what we try to do for our clients: We try to bring their stories to life in a way that goes beyond the simple facts, and create stories and emotional connection with the readers. But we drink way less coffee.

Then the fun begins

Communications

Design

Balzac Communications & Marketing

Ed's Red, Napa Valley

Oak Ridge Winery, Lodi

Taplin Cellars, Napa Valley

Tru-Cutt Precision Cutting Tool

Trinité/Acaibo Wine, Sonoma County

Experience Wines, Napa Valley

Split Creek Farms Wines

Art Association Napa Valley

Planet Bordeaux

Il Fiorello Olive Oil Co.

Baci's Bin 32 Wine Label

Elevation 868 Meritage, Virginia

Frisson WIne Label

Taplin Wine Cellars: Terra 9 WIne Label

Ca’ Momi Winery: Ca’ Secco and Ca’ Rosa Sparkling White and Rosé Wines

True + Daring Wine Label, New Zealand

Switchback Ridge Anniversary Red Wine Label

Ca' Momi Winery: Nica and Dado Wine Labels

Mill River Wine Label

Revolution Wine Label

AX-1 Wine Label

Napa Cookie Co. Wine Snaps

Erle Wine Label

Tudal Legacy Lot Wine Label

Red Lava Wine Label

Snows Lake Vineyard “One" and “Two,” Red Hills Lake County

Il Fiorello Artisan Olive Oil

Saxco Wine Glass Hand-Out

Rhian Benson CD Invitation & Self-Mailer

Jon Edwards WInery Summer Music Series Poster

Napa Wine Co. “100 Harvests” Coffee Table Book

Lincoln Theater "Una Bella Notte" Event Invite

Diageo Chateau & Estate: French Wine Region Sales Sheets

Judy Schindler Design+Build Brochure

Lincoln Theater Schedule

Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux "Millennium" Poster

Napa Valley Opera House Grand Opening Celebration Invitation

Trefethen Vineyards Aerial Map

Napa Valley Life Magazine Redesign

Napa Valley Life Magazine Redesign

Napa Valley Life Magazine Redesign

Napa Valley Life Magazine Redesign

Napa Valley Life Magazine Redesign

Napa Valley Guidebook Production

"In Sixteen Hands of Shadow" Book of Poetry

Jordan Winery

Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter Campaign, Napa County Agricultural Commissioner (1)

Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter Campaign, Napa County Agricultural Commissioner (2)

Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter Campaign, Napa County Agricultural Commissioner (3)

Sandeman Port "Perfect Partners" Recipe Contest Advertisement

NapaLearns Logo

Take Hunger Off The Menu Logo, Gasser Foundation, Napa

Maverick Bottle Top Logo

Revolution WInery Logo

Sonoma Ecology Center Logo

Encompass Human Resources Logo

868 Estate Winery Logo

Premiere Viticulture Logo

Mill River WInery Logo

Napa Magnet Schools, Napa Valley Unified School District

Courtney Custom Boots Logo

Taplin Cellars Logo

Napa Valley Life Magazine Logo

BOB Wine Bottle Closure Logo

Napa Valley 360 Logo

Drink Local Wine Logo

Events

24 January, 2017

30 May, 2016

24 April, 2016

21 April, 2016

20 April, 2016

14 April, 2016

Strategy

About Us

Michael Wangbickler