Sunstone California
Taking a wine-country estate from tasting room to national shelf
Brand identity · Packaging · Product development · Shopify design & build
A heritage estate, a modern launch
Sunstone is a family-run estate in Santa Ynez: a working winery, a private villa, and a tasting room in Montecito. I spent five years as their creative director, stewarding a brand people already loved while the business grew around it.
The ambition was to extend the estate into SOLIS, a functional sparkling beverage built around Lion's Mane, Cordyceps, and L-Theanine, positioned for calm, sustained focus, and sold on Shopify alongside estate wine and the club.
The tension was obvious. A modern CPG launch could dilute decades of luxury equity. The work below is that tension, managed: one brand stretched from tasting room to national shelf without snapping.
Brand & identity system
One identity has to hold a winery, a villa, a Montecito tasting room, and a canned functional beverage. I built the system around the estate itself, sun, stone, and Santa Ynez light, so every extension reads as Sunstone before you ever find a logo.
Packaging & product development
SOLIS went from concept to shelf. I collaborated on naming and formulation direction and owned the structural and label design. The visual language sits where wellness meets luxury: Think Clearer. Live Brighter.
Shopify design & build
One storefront serves two very different purchases: a functional beverage subscription and estate wine with club membership. I designed and built the Shopify experience end to end: merchandising, product pages, checkout flow, and wine club integration.
Brand in motion
Lifestyle art direction and photography direction carried the system into campaigns: estate light, real settings, no stock. The same frames work for a wine release and a SOLIS drop.
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