Lake serpent to grace FLCC’s next vintages

Matt Neininger's serpent design, inspired by the college's mascot, Flick, won first place in the wine label competition.

Wines that Finger Lakes Community College students will bottle next spring will bear the image of a serpent designed by Matthew Neininger of Canandaigua, a second-year graphic design student.

The serpent is a riff on FLCC’s lake monster mascot, Flick. His wrap-around label is designed to look like a faded historic drawing with a hand-drawn serpent about to bite down on a cluster of grapes an unwitting fisherman is using for bait.  

Neininger’s drawing was one of 16 entries in the annual contest, in which graphic design students use suggestions from viticulture and wine technology students to develop label concepts. The students present their work and their decisions for using certain colors, fonts and images at the end of the fall semester. The viticulture students then meet to discuss the entries and select a winner. Second place label by Madison Hobbs.

Neininger was humbled by the selection. “I couldn’t believe it. The competition was tough, and I knew if I was a judge the selection would be a difficult one,” he said.

The viticulture students provided 10 to 12 possible ideas for a label, yielding a wide variety of designs. Madison Hobbs of Penn Yan took second place with her “Alley Cat” design, inspired by a request for a lighthearted take. Victor resident Audrey Brown’s third-place entry, “Luminous,” was inspired by a suggestion to mimic vintage botanical drawings of grapes and vine. 

“The hardest part was just allowing myself time to hash out a bunch of dueling ideas,” Neininger said. “I received the initial, overarching concept from one of the viticulture students and then started the brainstorming process, which resulted in a variety of design paths. I ended up choosing this label because it was the most attractive to me and fit well with what the student was asking for.”

Neininger, a Canandaigua Academy graduate, did not begin to explore art as a career path until starting at FLCC. 

“I always was a doodler,” he said. “I love creating and expressing myself and interests through art and design. It just seems like I’m not even doing work. When I did the wine label, it wasn’t really like homework.” Third place label by Audrey Brown.

In less than a year, his wine label will begin showing up on two local store shelves. Students in the viticulture and wine technology two-year degree and one-year certificate programs produce commercial wines that are available at Ryan’s Wine and Spirits in Canandaigua and Pedulla’s Wine and Liquor in Geneva. Orders can also be arranged via online form on the FLCC website at flcc.edu/viticulture-center.