If you’re a wine enthusiast, you’ve likely enjoyed a perfect bottle of wine but have yet to learn exactly how that great wine came to be.
The DuMOL Dirt, a quarterly publication from Russian River Valley winemakers DuMOL takes you deep into the world of winemaking—from the vineyard, through the earth, into the bottle, and onto your table. DuMOL believes everything, from the soil underfoot to the oak in the barrels, shapes the wine you love. And the more you know, the more you’ll appreciate not just DuMOL but all wines and the dedicated people and land that cultivates them.
I wanted to learn more about the process behind The DuMOL Dirt, created by writer and chief curiosity officer Simone Silverstein and designer/illustrator Craig Frazier. Frazier was kind enough to indulge me on their behalf. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
The DuMOL Dirt is a refreshing departure from traditional wine marketing. What inspired you to take an educational approach, and how has the audience responded?
I’ve been working with DuMOL for eight years since I redesigned their label. DuMOL is considered a “luxury” brand and is only available to allocation members, high-end restaurants, and a select few wine shops. The luxury market tends to be a bit braggy and promotes scarcity of product (and information). The winemakers at DuMOL are farmers and scientists striving to make excellent wines. Their practices are both exact and authentic—they make what they like—not what they think the market will like. I brought the original concept of The Dirt well-formed. Our idea was to create a series of print tabloids that micro-dose fine winemaking’s myriad complexities and processes. We wanted to create a repository of information for the everyday wine drinker that would have staying power on desks and in libraries. While a finished bottle of wine is discarded and no longer in view, The Dirt can hang around like a good book or magazine.
Consumers love to know the backstory of the methods and discipline of art and finely made things—especially the artisan commitments. This was a hole in the industry we could fill—the opposite of exclusivity. We, simply and humbly, wanted to bring readers into our world and share the joy. The response is overwhelmingly positive. People are learning and appreciating at the same time. DuMOL is talking to its customers in ways they never have.
The Dirt demystifies winemaking for readers. How do you ensure accessibility for a broad audience of wine enthusiasts?
It’s all in the writing and design. Simone writes with an unpretentious and witty voice and goes just deep enough not to lose a reader. We also have a couple of tiers of information, from a conversational main narrative to technical data on the diagram and even a “Did you know?” panel. You can consume as much as you are thirsty for. The readability of the typography and the hand-drawn illustrations make it accessible and interesting. As Milton Glaser says, our job is to inform and entertain—those are not mutually exclusive.
Also, the name. Dirt stands for everything the publication is about—the nitty gritty, the basics, the facts. It’s a fun double-entendre that also points to farming. You can’t get any more basic than dirt. “Getting down in the dirt” is an idiom that speaks to seeking understanding. It’s also the opposite of the traditional boasting about critic’s scores and wine notes on your palate.
The decision to have one independent voice in Simone Silverstein is quite innovative. How has this approach impacted engagement and the community around The Dirt?
I agree; this novel approach has made a tremendous difference. We announce to the reader that these are not committee/consensus-generated pieces. We also give Simone complete ownership of her words. She is not a DuMOL employee but essentially a guest writer. The title we gave her, Chief Curiosity Officer, further promotes that she and The Dirt are here to expand people’s knowledge of a complex and fascinating practice. The Dirt features an illustration of Simone—not unlike what you might see in The Wall Street Journal or New York Times. We also published her email to field questions like “Ask Heloise” (originated in 1959)—the opposite of automated chatbots and AI-generated response mechanisms. The reader responses have proved our hunch right.
The tone is the heart of the project, so we operate from that premise. Simone and her conversational writing style deserve credit for this. She has a test that asks the question, “Who gives a f@##?” If she doesn’t find the messaging inviting, friendly, or helpful, she won’t include it. She takes great pains to ensure that the reader isn’t being marketed to.
How do you balance visual storytelling with written content, and what unique challenges or joys does this collaboration bring to the project?
A big part of our successful collaboration is respecting each other’s roles. Once we pick a topic, Simone and I interview the winemaker and hear the stories together—a pivotal moment for each Dirt. A certain energy happens for us as we acquire new knowledge—and we become excited to share it. As for our process, we quickly arrive at an angle for the piece that directs the main visuals and steers the narrative. I’ll give Simone a rough design so she can work her text into the layout very early. I finish up the illustrations while she continues to refine the copy. It’s a sort of ping-pong. We never show it to the client until it’s 95% there. The editorial input we need is generally factual and technical. It’s important to keep the client from their tendency to be transactional and sell wine. We believe that creating interest and goodwill sells wine—not boasting about quality.
Why did you focus on print as the primary medium for The Dirt? How does the tactile experience enhance the reader’s engagement with the content?
This was yet another hole in the industry we saw. While everyone has gone digital, most of the remaining print communications are shlocky direct mail. Print was the most fitting way to create a timeless library of information. We still feature The Dirt on the company website, but it doesn’t compare to the experience of holding it in your hands. Making print communications is a natural extension of the craft of making wine. The Dirt is beautiful and well-suited to being left on the coffee table or desk. The tabloid size allows them to carry a lot of information without binding multiple pages (each issue is four pages).
The Dirt’s design approach is part infographic, part art. What role does illustration play in shaping the publication’s aesthetic?
My intention is to make information beautiful to look at. It’s a fine line but one I’m comfortable defining. The secret to illustrations and diagrams that are understandable, is making them attractive and fun. The tone must always be accessible and compelling, not stiff or technical. I draw according to the nature of the information we want to convey. Usually, simpler is better. There are also subtle touches, such as the icons and rough sketches of tools that appear ghosted behind the cover masthead. I also draw the cartoons that we have featured in caption contests in several of the issues.
How do you select the themes for each issue, and what can readers expect in future editions of this series?
Given the name of the publication, it was only natural to make the premiere issue about soil. It set the stage for the depth (pardon the pun) that we wanted to take readers into farming and vineyards. All the topics are fundamental to all winemaking and offer the opportunity to describe DuMOL’s distinct approach. All the topics could easily lend themselves to 2.0 versions in the future—they are that complex. We want to do one on the life of a grape and move on to talking about the stories of key people—the winemakers and the work required in the vineyards. It’s endless— it’s an evergreen subject.
Could you share a specific topic that was particularly challenging to translate into both visually engaging and informative content? How did you approach this challenge?
Issue #4, The Bottle issue, was particularly challenging because—unlike harvest, barrels, or soil—there is less of a process to describe. We had to examine the bottle and look at every detail as part of the puzzle supporting the kind of wines that DuMOL makes. I created a cross-section of a bottle and identified every nuance I could find interesting and relevant. The thickness of the glass has an eco message, and the corks do as well, not to mention a taste and preservation component. The label says so much about the brand. The hierarchy of the label’s typography is very important from both a design and regulatory perspective. The challenge of the story involves integrating the bottling decisions that affect the final wine from year to year. Our job is to discover and express the tiny choices and distinctions that DuMOL makes. The message is that every detail matters and there is a price to pay for cutting corners—which DuMol doesn’t. We want the reader to come away arriving at their own conclusions about the integrity of their wine because they gained a new understanding of DuMOL’s practice.
