A Perfect Match: ANDREW Wines
Nostalgia is a siren’s song. Who doesn’t fondly remember the sense of anticipation they felt upon hearing the crackle of a turntable needle hitting an LP, say, or the joy of speeding around the neighborhood on a Razor scooter? That’s the force Chris Noll and Barb Stavrinos hope to appeal to with the spring launch of ANDREW Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, a pair of single-vineyard wines whose evocative branding is sure to tug on many a consumer’s heartstrings.
Noll and Stavrinos are already well versed in marrying the gustatory with the aesthetic; when co-founding the STEL + MAR wine line, they sought out Toronto artist Stephanie Cheng to design custom labels that are as key to the brand as the juice inside the bottle. With ANDREW, the husband-and-wife team opted for sentimental art they expect to capture buyers’ attention. “I’m very big into vintage shopping and consignment,” says Stavrinos. “Collections of matchbooks have started popping up in these stores.” When she stumbled upon the work of photographer Cody Greco, who often utilizes vintage technology and toys in his work (his website boasts images of Guns N’ Roses’ 1987 debut Appetite for Destruction on cassette tape, View-Master stereoscopes, and a ticket stub from a 1975 Rolling Stones gig-face value $8), he seemed a natural fit to capture a series of vintage matchbooks for the wines’ labels. Designer Jose Garcia of Zoca Studio Inc. finalized the images with ANDREW’s branding; the result is both sleek and retro.
Noll and Stavrinos plan on sharing their design concept directly with customers by having bartenders distribute custom ANDREW-branded matchbooks to guests who order the wine at on-premise accounts (much as they would a branded coaster with a pint of beer)-a throwback to the days when matches were a ubiquitous gratuity at bars and restaurants. “After a good meeting or a good date … what can I take with me from this moment?” explains Stavrinos of the idea, recalling that when she was a child, her father often attended business dinners, and “it would be a good day … if he came home with a matchbook.” Adds Noll, “In 15 years in the alcohol industry, I’ve never seen something with as much impact as handing someone a matchbook. People get a really good glass of wine, a label that’s thick and luscious when they feel it, and they can take home a matchbook that’s cool to set on their table and light their candle with.”
The wine inside the bottle is no less special: Crafted with organic grapes from the aforementioned single vineyards in the Paso Robles AVA, both the Cabernet and Syrah will be released in ten states to independent retailers and on-premise accounts-no chain businesses. With 800 cases of the 2023 vintage of each expression available at an SRP of $30, “it will be a great value, and a killer wine for an excellent price point … that’s a beautiful thing to have, beautiful to look at, beautiful to talk about,” asserts Stavrinos. “You [can] expect better from ANDREW.” – Amy Antonation, Tasting Panel Magazine January / February 2025
Click here to read the full article
Click here to learn more about ANDREW Cabernet Sauvignon and ANDREW Syrah
