Fresno State’s student wine club, Unleashed, will feature three new “educationally themed” wines in its fall semester membership drive this month.
The three latest blends — Abstract Theory, Pythagorean Serum, and Depth Perception — were developed through a partnership between the Fresno State Winery and a senior graphic design class, which designed the wine bottle labels.
“They’re very good wines,” said Kevin Smith, winery business and marketing manager. “With blending it’s kind of fun because if you have a wine that is very fruity and has a lot of flavor that way, but maybe lacks, tannin or structure to it or complexity, you can add a different wine and blend it together and create this very well-balanced wine, and that’s the fun of blending.”
Students from the graphic design class each designed three wine bottle labels as part of a competition six months ago. Smith’s wine marketing class and viticulture and enology department staff then voted for a winner from the top designs.
Wineries can spend thousands of dollars for a vendor to design labels, Smith said.
“It would be a shame to go out and find a company to design labels for us when we have this class that works with the community to do real-time art projects,” he said. “Why not do one for the wineries? So, this is a symbiotic relationship.”
“I think it’s really cool that we’re integrating different parts of campus,” said Jody Gomes, a senior agricultural business major and president of Unleashed. “We’re getting the campus involved with the winery because a lot of people don’t even know we have a winery and that we’re bonded to sell wine. “
Senior graphic design student Lori Kirby’s work, which features similar color schemes of wine red and pastel green on each of the three wine selection labels, won the contest.
Smith said the three fruity blends are on par with some of the department’s award-winning wines like the 2011 California Syrah and 2007 Saviez Syrah. Faculty and senior students created the wines by first sampling tastes and comparing notes that determined the kind of flavor profiles they had.
Smith said through Unleashed students can be exposed to various kinds of wine and different blends.
“It is an opportunity for you, as a member, to really educate yourself on all the possibilities of wine out there,” he said. “We already make 24 different wines, but we’re constantly adding new varieties.”
Smith said the graduating student winemakers, some of who who will work at well-known wine hotspots like Napa, leave their style behind in their wines.
“The wine club is kind of going through an evolution,” Smith said.
Gomes also noted this was one of his favorite aspects about the club.
“That it’s always changing, we’re always getting new people, there’s always new ways to grow and every person that comes into the position I’m in right now has new ideas,” Gomes said. “Fresno State will always be benefitting from it.
“It’s a discovery into the world of wine. It’s not just wine at your doorstep, it’s an educational journey,” Smith said.
The three new wines will first be made exclusive for wine club members when they ship in October. For a $50 fee, club members receive shipments of four selected bottles each October, January and April.
The wines will be made available to the community at later dates. A public wine tasting is also scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday at the Fig Garden Wine Walk parking lot. Admission is $25.
