Wayne Gretzky returns to his roots with the launch of Wayne Gretzky Estates, an Ontario winery initiative just a few hockey stick-lengths away from his hometown of Brampton, Ontario. WGE’s primary mission is philanthropic in nature : to aid the Wayne Gretzky Foundation (all sales proceeds go to the foundation, whose mission is to give “less-fortunate youths the opportunity to participate in playing, watching and learning from the world’s best game” -WG). However, his goal to help others discover great Canadian winemaking and offer them to world markets is also a core goal.

Mr. Gretzky and his winemaking partners approached strategic partner studio Resonance in Vancouver to collaborate on the creation of the brand. Dynamo was brought in to collaborate on the brand identity, and drove the CMS–driven winery website, as well as all wine packaging and merchandising for the new brand through to the launch.

The strategic challenges bringing this brand to life were multiple, but primarily: How to impart the notions of quality, authenticity and refinement traditionally associated with winemaking to a celebrity in a sports industry with a culture as rough and beer-driven as ice hockey.

Our primary solution was not to leverageany hockey iconography at all, focussing instead on Wayne’s natural ability to impart the notion of finesse and style upon the product, as these are his personal trademarks. Very clean, simple and elegant typography combine with traditional elements such as sophisticated industry standard cream colored stocks and regal, heritage foil stamps to produce a design that is a mix of modern and traditional wine design vocabularies.

Secondly, we chose to assign each varietal with the “No.99” prefix, allowing us to capitalize on his infamous number, while simultaneously retaining a communications read of new world wine associations such as those found in Australian products containing bin or barrel numbers, helping the wine remain very approachable with mass market appeal.

The designs have won acclaim and have been recognized by the Ontario Wine Awards as one of the best packaging designs of the year with a bronze medal. Also, sales have catapulted past expectations – and that’s saying a lot backed by the Gretzky name. Within the first two months of it’s release, Gretzky’s merlot was the top selling VQA wine at the LCBO. Production this year is expected to hit 55,000 cases (initially forecast at 15,000 for year one – a typical VQA launch target) and soar to up to 80,000 next year.

Gretzky said he has learned about the business of wine in the last year and the power of the No. 99 label. “First and foremost, people are curious about the wine; the label really jumps out at people,” the four-time Stanley Cup winner said.

“We’ve had nothing but praise for the label design – well done!” Co-Founder & Winery President, Peter Jensen, Wayne Gretzky Estates. 

Bob - Bob is Dynamo's Creative Director, a mutlidisciplinary director / designer responsible for ensuring that our work hits strategic targets, demonstrates creative innovation and compels our client's audiences to take action. He firmly believes good design can enrich experiences, enhance communication and ultimately change the world.