NEW LOOK, SAME GREAT TASTE: River Bend Winery’s New Labels a Community Effort
released in January, the winery worked in collaboration with After Ten Agency and UWEC
River Bend Winery & Distillery was founded in Chippewa Falls in 2009, creating a legacy of delicious wines and spirits while quickly becoming a facet of the community. In 2016, Antonson and Fleishauer families purchased the 6-acre vineyard (10439 33rd Ave., Chippewa Falls), wanting to continue its traditions. In January of this year, the families rebranded their image, including their logo and bottle labels, hoping to add their own flair to the brand.
“We didn’t want to do it right away because, of course, we had to come in and learn and
really honor what was being done here,” said co-owner Sara Antonson. “So we waited until we really had a good understanding of how we were going to proceed with the business.”
Each decision for the new branding was intentionally taken with the community and their loyal customer base in mind. The owners wanted the new designs to honor the parts of River Bend that the community looked for, which is why the new label still depicts the same animals – eagle, deer, flamingo, owl, geese, a firefly, and more – that the previous labels did, just in a newly drawn style. “I can’t even tell you how many people walk in here and say, ‘I want the deer wine,’ because there were animals on the labels,” Antonson said.
“I can’t even tell you how many people walk in here and say, ‘I want the deer wine,’ because there were animals on the labels.”
Other design components were thoughtfully crafted as well: The river depicted on the old label was a public domain river that anyone could use, and on the new labels the Chippewa River image was taken directly from a map of the winery and is represented on the labels as a subtle gold bar. The new labels also now have the state of Wisconsin with Chippewa Falls written on the backs of bottles, an ode to the company’s valued home.
“We're so proud to be from Chippewa Falls and because our wine is distributed in stores across the state, we want people to know that this wine is from Chippewa Falls,” Antonson said.
Wines and spirits that have a grayish-white background with dark text are River Bend’s distributed products, while the inverted dark background and white logo labels are their tasting room-only products. This makes it easy for consumers visiting the vineyard to know where to find the drinks they try and love.
River Bend owners went to After Ten Agency, a marketing firm in Chippewa Falls owned by Mike and Allie Neary, who brought their ideas to life with the new branding. After getting feedback from their Barrel Club, the owners were then approached by Dr. Trond Bergestuen from UW-Eau Claire’s Marketing Supply Chain Management Department, whose class then got involved in the project.
The class helped the owners of River Bend put out a survey asking for feedback about their new ideas, and after receiving over 800 responses, the class helped narrow down the community’s best-liked ideas. Their final project was to present in groups to share their findings and give additional ideas to River Bend’s owners for refreshing the brand.
“I actually graduated from the university of Eau Claire, so it was kind of exciting to go back and work with students,” said co-owner Andrea Fleishauer. “The research that they provided us was really invaluable.”
River Bend has now settled into its new look, with 13 all-new wine and spirit labels, new online branding, and a new sign right outside the vineyard. With more releases coming this summer, four new labels will be dropped with new animals suggested by customers.
“The River Bend brand itself was so well-known we didn’t want to do anything to harm that, so we really wanted to honor the history and to take those elements and elevate them to bring them into a new era as new owners,” Fleishauer said.
Learn more about Riverbend Winery & Distillery at riverbendwinery.com.
