There’s something distinctly different about Marked Tree Vineyard. These aren’t expected varietals in stately crest-adorned bottles, blending in with others on the shelf. From the first sip and at first sight, you’re drawn to the refreshing, whimsical simplicity of the graphic art on the label and the liquid art inside the bottle. Marked Tree wines invite you into a story—one with a surprising twist.
“A ‘marked tree’ is one of the ways that Native Americans would navigate the wilderness,” reveals Lance Hiatt, one of the Flat Rock, NC, vineyard’s founders and the artist behind the labels. “They would take a sapling and tie it to the ground, and it would grow into an L-shape that would point you down a certain path. An oak tree might show you the way to a hunting ground; an ash might help you find a watering hole. Tim and I were at a point in our lives where we were trying to find a new path—and this vineyard was our marked tree.”
When Hiatt first started sketching out ideas for bottle art in 2014, he and partner Tim Parks had already been dreaming of starting a winery for years. “I was looking at the artist Carew Rice, who is famous for his simple, beautiful black-and-white silhouette pieces,” says Hiatt. “We knew we wanted the art to have something to do with the place where the vines will grow. All of our labels are rooted in the story of this property—and the art started to fall into place when we found the land.”
Liquid Dreams into Paper Reality
Even though Hiatt and Parks had a vision, transforming the sketches into final bottle art was a challenge. That’s when the team brought on design agency Fuzzco, helmed by Josh Nissenboim and Helen Rice out of Charleston. “We went through several exercises together to hone down exactly what direction we were going in. I’m an architect by trade, so I can draw all day—but that doesn’t mean half of it won’t be junk,” Hiatt laughs. “The design team helped us refine the work and get the brand where we wanted to be.”
Here’s the uncanny coincidence: not only did the founders of Fuzzco live right down the road in Flat Rock, but it turns out that Helen Rice’s grandfather is the very same artist that initially inspired Hiatt’s sketches, Carew Rice. The partnership felt “meant to be,” says Hiatt—and the influence is clear in the final product, which features Hiatt’s black-and-white illustrations.
“If you look at our different varietals, they make up the ‘branch’ you see across our labels, because they’re all part of one story.” Like puzzle pieces, the art unfolds across each bottle, from the reds, watched over by red-tailed hawks, to the whites dotted with springtime songbirds, and finally to an after-dinner wine, complete with a hummingbird. Each is a reflection of the real flora and fauna that can be seen throughout the property. “We have another group of wines, mainly blends, that when you line up the bottles, they become a picture of place: our ‘Ghost House;’ Otto the ancient oak tree; the dogs, Ellie Mae and Chloe,” adds Hiatt.
“It was always about storytelling,” Hiatt reflects, surrounded by both his own sketches and sweeping views from the tasting room he designed. “I think that when you try to create a place where you can sit and talk, and create a history of your own, you do that by telling stories about it—which is such a rich Appalachian tradition already—and I hope we’ve done that here.”
Photography provided by Marked Tree.
