Edition builds a cohesive, crafted brand for a Napa Valley Winery

Ink Grade Estate is located on Howell Mountain in Napa Valley, nearly 1,800 feet above sea level. The landscape is rugged and volcanic, covered in eucalyptus trees and terraced vineyards that grow naturally in a setting that feels ancient and untouched. Even if you visit the winery’s tasting room in downtown St. Helena, far from the estate, you’ll still get a sense of the mountainous surroundings.

Edition, a design studio based in San Francisco and Portland, has been working on creating a unique brand experience for Ink Grade over the past few years. They have developed a sensory and visual language inspired by the estate’s natural beauty and designed to transport visitors to the mountainous landscape.

Katelyn Peterson, co-founder of Edition, emphasizes that everything about Ink Grade is rooted in the land, particularly the wildness of Howell Mountain. This reverence for the natural environment influenced the brand’s design, including the St. Helena tasting pavilion, which was designed to bridge the gap between the vineyard and the city with immersive elements.

The tasting pavilion features tactile finishes, natural materials, and thoughtful design details that evoke a sense of being transported to the mountain. Custom tasting materials, such as menus and vineyard notes, are crafted from textured paper with embossing that mimics the hillside’s contours, creating a cohesive and elegant experience.

The brand’s labels also reflect this attention to detail, featuring vintage lithographs of California wildlife sourced from historical archives. This archival approach extends to the physical space, where original lithographs are displayed in the tasting room to strengthen the connection between the product and its origins.

Overall, Edition has created a cohesive and tactile brand world for Ink Grade, where every element is thoughtfully designed to enhance the overall experience. This attention to detail has resulted in a brand that feels alive and connected to its natural surroundings, allowing visitors to feel like they have truly experienced the vineyard, even if they haven’t set foot on the mountain.