Bottled Spirit

During LMU’s centennial celebrations of 2011, Steve Brutocao ’86, owner and CEO of Brutocao Cellars, and Christopher Silva ’86, CEO at St. Francis Winery & Vineyards, produced editions of their wines as a way to donate to their alma mater and celebrate the historic occasion. Now the winemakers are carrying on the tradition through Loyola Marymount University Private Label Wines.

Brutocao Cellars, which is producing a chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, pinot noir and cabernet sauvignon for the project (see sidebar), makes its wines from vineyards in southern Mendocino County that trace their roots to the family’s purchase of land in 1943. St. Francis Winery & Vineyards, which is contributing a merlot and zinfandel, owns vineyards in the Sonoma Valley and the Russian River Valley, and produces an “Old Vines” Zinfandel from vines that are more than 100 years old.

The wines’ labels were designed by students in the graphic design program of the Department of Studio Arts: Courtney Chun ’13, who designed the Brutocao labels, and Meghan Toomayan ’13, who designed for St. Francis.

“The main thing I wanted to show was a sophisticated and elegant side of LMU,” Chun said, “while still keeping some of the spirit of the school. The wine labels feature traditional fonts but also incorporate traditional LMU themes, such as the image of the lion.”

“Both of my designs use a warm color palette,” Toomayan said. “Because the wines represent LMU, I wanted to include iconic scenes like the bluff and the chapel tower that make LMU a special place.”