If you’re struggling to name your winery, don’t worry. You’re in the right place. In this article, I cover some of the top tips for naming your new business, as well as how to make sure the name is legally available for you to use.
Check out this industry overview if you’re starting a winery
Tips For Naming A Winery
Naming a business is hard, especially if you don’t have any ideas or a place to start. So, before diving in, grab a piece of paper and a pen or open a blank spreadsheet.
Then, use it as a place to brainstorm ideas and write down words or phrases that come to mind as you go through the tips below.
From there, we’ll talk about narrowing things down and landing on the perfect name.
1. Keep It as Short as Possible
Short business names are usually snappier, catchier, and easier to remember. Ideally, you want to stick to two to five syllables and hopefully no more than 25 characters total.
However, the shorter the name, the better.
With that said, there are exceptions to this and it’s not a hard rule. But when you think about huge, notable brands, which ones come to mind?
Nike. Apple. Ikea. Febreeze. Target. Honeywell.
They’re easy to remember because they’re short, simple, and brandable.
Obviously, there are exceptions to these rules. But typically, the shorter and simpler your name, the easier it is for everyone to remember.
2. Avoid Words That Are Hard to Hear and Pronounce
Voice-to-text and voice search is more popular now than ever before. So, it’s important to consider making your name easy to pronounce and hear.
To do this, avoid using:
- Commonly misspelled words
- Complex terms that are hard to spell
- Words that have several pronunciations
- Homophones like to, too, and two
Try to keep things as concise and simple as possible.
3. Consider Wine-Related Terms
Since you’re opening a winery, it might make sense to use wine, grape, or alcohol-related terms in the name. It may help just to start brainstorming terms, phrases, and words to get all your ideas down on paper.
A few examples of this could include; 30 Brix Winery, Carboy Winery, o Royal Hunt Cellars.
For a boost of creativity, expand use the thesaurus to find synonyms around the words of what your business does. You can use the thesaurus function from your word processor or thesaurus.com to develop additional synonyms.
From there, you can cross off bad ideas or any terms you don’t like.
4. Phrases Your Audience and Competition Uses
Your business exists for your target audience, so it’s important to consider phrases and terms they use when talking about wine.
There are quite a few places you can look to see what your customers (and competitors) are saying, including:
- Facebook groups, posts, and stories
- Forums related to the wine industry
- Competitor websites, brochures, and flyers
- Trade journals
- Magazines or blogs
Alternatively, you can ask friends or relatives in your target audience. Hearing it directly from them may help you brainstorm and narrow down your choices.
Remember to avoid anything limiting your business’s future growth if you decide to go in another direction down the road.
5. Neighborhoods, Cities, and Nicknames
Including the name of your city, street, or neighborhood is an excellent way to encourage local shopping and create a strong sense of community in your area.
You can also think about nicknames for your city or neighborhood. Here are some examples to use as inspiration:
- 57th Street Wines
- Coal Creek Vineyard & Winery
- Hawk Ridge Winery
- West Coast Cellars
List of Catchy Winery Business Names
Here is a list of existing winery names that may help give you some creative ideas. While many of these names may be available for you to use, be sure to check first to be sure the name you want can be used.
- 12 Hands Winery
- 30 Brix Winery
- 3rd Bottle Wines
- 45th Parallel Wines
- 51 Weeks Winemaking
- 57th Street Wines
- Adirondack Winery
- Allegory Cellars
- Alma Rosa Winery
- American Vines
- Anchor Wines
- Ancient Peak Winery
- Armanino Family Cellars
- Astrodynamic Wines
- Backcountry Winery
- Backyard Vine & Wine
- Baker Family Wines
- Baldassari Family Wines
- Bells Up Winery
- Blanchard Family Wines
- Blue Monster Wines
- Blue Sky Vineyards
- Bogle Winery
- Bond Street Wines
- Boring Winery & Tap Room
- Brick Barn Winery
- Buffalo Jump Winery
- Campus Hill Winery
- Carboy Winery
- Casa Cassara Winery & Vineyard
- Cathedral Ridge Winery
- Cellardoor Winery
- Chateau Maplewood
- Civic Winery & Wines
- Coal Creek Vineyard & Winery
- Continental Divide Winery
- Cougar Crest Estate Winery
- Covered Bridges Winery
- Cricket Hill Winery
- Crosshatch Winery
- Deep Creek Winery
- Deep Roots Winery
- Diamond Ridge Cellars
- Down Time Wines
- Drops Of Jupiter Winery
- Five Sons Winery
- Flourishing Palm Cellars
- Forlorn Hope Wines
- Four Bears Winery
- Four Eight Wineworks
- Four Graces Winery
- Goddess Winery
- Goldback Wines
- Grand Island Vineyards
- Grandma’s Fruit Juice Winery
- Grape Escape
- Graveyard Vineyards
- Great Smoky Mountains Winery
- Handcrafted Wines – Oregon
- Harbor Point Wines
- Hawk Ridge Winery
- Heritage Wines
- Hermes Wines & Spirits
- Hitching Post Wines
- Hofmann Vineyards
- Idlewild Wines
- Indie Wineries
- Into The Woods Wines
- Iron Gate Wines
- Iron Oaks Winery
- Laguna Cellar
- Lucky Duck Winery
- Luminous Hills Winery
- Madson Winery
- McIntyre Fine Wines
- Meadery Steamworks
- Miners Leap Winery & Vineyards
- Mission Bell Winery
- Monochrome Wines
- More Than Grapes
- Naked Winery
- Northern Lights Vineyard
- Oak Ridge Craft & Vine
- Oaktown Cellars
- Old Silo Winery
- Patoka Lake Winery
- Perfection Winery
- Potter Wines
- Purgatory Cellars
- Purple Wine & Spirits
- Queen Of Wines
- Reverence Wine Co
- Riche Wines
- Rickety Bridge Winery
- Ridgetop Cellars
- Rockfish Creek Winery
- Rock’s Wine & Cider Studio
- Rogue Winery
- Rosenson Wine Creations
- Royal Hunt Cellars
- Rusty Ridge Winery
- Sacred Church Vineyard
- Seven Oxen Winery
- Shadow Run Vineyard & Winery
- Short Walk Wines
- Six Peaks Winery
- Sleeping Tiger Winery
- Smartvine Wine
- So Good Winery
- Soma Wines & Spirits
- Sonoma Collection Wines
- Sour Grapes
- South Slope Wines
- Spectral Cellars
- Stable Gate Winery
- Stave & Stone Winery
- Stella Wines & Spirits
- Superstition Meadery
- Tangled Vine Winery & Tasting Room
- Terra Cotta Vineyards
- The Ojai Vineyard Tasting Room
- Thin Vine Wines
- Thistle Wines
- Throwback Wines
- Topa Mountain Winery
- Trinchero Napa Valley Winery
- True Story Wines
- Two Wine Guyz
- Unknown Cellars
- Urban Forge Winery
- Utopia Wines
- Victorian City Winery
- Village Of Elgin Winery
- Vineyard 29
- Walnut Ridge Winery
- Warrior Wines
- We Believe Wines
- West Coast Cellars
- West Edge Wines
- Western Cider Co
- Whiskey Hill Winery
- White Bear Meadery
- Wild Horse Winery
- Wine & Roses Winery
Is Your Winery Name Available to Use?
At this point, you should have several top considerations to choose from. And the best way to narrow it down further is to check each one for availability.
This step is vital because using a name that someone else is using could be very costly, time-consuming to rebrand your business, and possibly embarrassing. There are several places to look to check whether a name is available to use, so let’s walk through each one.
Can the business name be registered in your state?
If you plan to use a specific business name, you may be required by the state to verify it’s available to use.
Related: How to check business name availability in your state
Is your name already trademarked?
When searching for a name for your new business, you should check that your new name isn’t trademarked by someone else. If it is, you may not be allowed to use it legally.
Thankfully, the United States Patent Trademark Office (USPTO) makes trademark searching a breeze through their Trademark Database.
A name isn’t necessarily available if it doesn’t appear in this search. Every business has some limited protection through a common law trademark. This means another business can’t open up down the street with the same name, as this creates confusion for customers. Also, be sure to check local competitors by doing a Google search and looking through the Yellow Pages.
If your name is available and you want to protect it from being used by anyone else, you can register it with the USPTO.
Related: How to check for a trademark
Finding the Perfect Name: Putting It All Together
By now, you should have a lengthy list of words, phrases, and terms you can use in your business name. At this point, I highly recommend going through and removing any that are hard to spell or pronounce.
Now, you can start combining pieces together until something stands out. It may help to create a list of potential names you can use. From there, you can narrow things down to your favorites.
But before you make your final decision, it’s important that your new name passes a few tests.
Say It Out Loud
Make sure you say your new name out loud. It may look great as a logo, domain name, and on a business card. But it also needs to sound good when you say it out loud.
You can also sit down with someone and talk about your business. Does saying the name in casual conversation sound natural? If not, you may want to consider something simpler or easier to say.
Logo Design
Lastly, think about how to incorporate your new name into a logo. Logos should be simple, memorable, and indicative of your brand.
Take Apple, for example. Their business name is easily incorporated into a logo. And today, it’s a household symbol that everyone immediately recognizes.
A logo is an important part of your brand identity, so don’t forget to consider turning your name into a memorable logo as you make your final decision.
Related: How to create a logo for your business.
Hopefully, you now have some name ideas for your winery. Once you have narrowed this list to just a few and researched that they are all available, start asking friends, family, and potential customers their thoughts to get feedback, and then pick your perfect winery name!
