# Meet the critters: why our wines are animals By Dan Person, winemaker and co-founder at Carboniste. Published 2026-10-30. Canonical page: https://carboniste.com/blog/meet-the-critters ![Bottles of Carboniste Octopus, Crab and Urchin sparkling wine standing on a driftwood log on a California beach at golden hour, with glasses of sparkling wine and a snack board](https://carboniste.com/images/blog/p17-critters-beach-2400.webp) **The short answer:** every Carboniste critter wine has an animal on the label for two reasons. First, a playful picture is a lot easier to remember than a name. Second, each critter is the wine's spirit animal: the animal tells you something about how the wine tastes before you ever open the bottle. ## A picture you remember The big reason, to me, is to give you a visual mascot for the wine. Something you can remember and hold onto, instead of just a name. Names are easy to forget. Playful imagery, especially something that triggers a little nostalgia, is much more durable. That's what I'm after: a durable connection with the people who drink our wine. You see something playful on the shelf or the table, and you remember it. And when you go back for another bottle, you're not trying to recall a vineyard name or a vintage. You're looking for the octopus. ## A spirit animal for the wine The other reason is a little more subliminal. The critter isn't just a fun picture. Ideally, it makes sense in the context of the wine. I'm trying to create a visual representation of how the wine tastes, and that makes the animal the wine's spirit animal. Here's how that plays out across the lineup: - **Octopus:** our sparkling Albariño is high-acid, high-energy, vibrant and juicy. To me, the colors and the movement in the octopus are what that wine tastes like. [The Octopus story](/blog/the-octopus-sparkling-albario-sipping-on-sunshine). - **Whale:** big and powerful, with a certain fattiness. That's the unctuous side of California Chardonnay. [The Whale story](/blog/sparkling-chardonnay-vs-blanc-de-blancs). - **Crab:** it starts out all elbows, prickly and a little wild, and winemaking makes it tender, like cooking a crab. [The Crab story](/blog/sparkling-orange-wine). - **Urchin:** some of the best food in the world is fresh uni, and it goes beautifully with rosé. [The Urchin story](/blog/the-sea-urchin-sparkling-rose). - **Mackerel:** Pinot Grigio has a richness and weight that remind me of a fresh, oily fish, and the mackerel's colors fit the wine. [The Mackerel story](/blog/what-is-pet-nat). - **Rouge Brute:** a mudskipper, a fish that walks on land, for a wine that crosses over from sparkling to red. [The Rouge Brute story](/blog/sparkling-red-wine-rouge-brute). - **Beta:** a small fish with a big personality, for a light red with a lot of flavor. [The Beta story](/blog/the-beta-a-chillable-red-wine). - **Clown:** a clownfish, because that wine goofed around with me. I had an idea for it, and it had other ideas. [The Clown story](/blog/clown-chenin-blanc). ## Why not just a nice label? Look down the Champagne aisle sometime. In the end, a lot of those labels look the same. We're not trying to be that. Our wines are colors of the rainbow, not shades of gray. Every one is meant to be distinct, and the critters make that visible. One look and you know you're holding something different from the bottle next to it. ## The Reserve wines don't get critters Our Reserve wines carry place names instead: Corralitos, Marin, Bald Mountain, La Vida Bella. That's on purpose. Those wines are about expressing the terroir of a specific place, so the place gets the name. [More on what makes a Reserve wine](/blog/reserve-sparkling-wine). ## Are there more critters coming? There are other animals we've played with. Some of those wines aren't finished yet, and for some we haven't figured out exactly how to use them. I'm not going to give away the future ideas. You'll meet them when the wines are ready. ## How to use the critters Pick the animal that matches your night. It's an Octopus night when you want something bright and fresh while you cook. It's a Whale night when you're catching up with old friends. Once you know a few critters, you know what you're in the mood for without reading a single tasting note. **The one thing to remember:** the critter is the wine's spirit animal. If you remember the animal, you'll remember the wine, and you'll have a pretty good idea of what's in the glass. [Meet the critters](/shop) ## Quick answers **Why does Carboniste put animals on its labels?** The critters are memorable mascots, and each one hints at the personality and flavor of the wine inside. **Which Carboniste wines are critters?** Octopus, Whale, Crab, Urchin, Mackerel, Rouge Brute, Beta, Clown and Koi. Our Reserve wines use place names instead. **What is a spirit animal for a wine?** It's our way of saying the animal on the label matches the wine's character, like the energetic Octopus for our high-acid sparkling Albariño. --- Wines in this post: [Octopus Sparkling Albariño](https://carboniste.com/products/octopus-sparkling-albarino), [Crab Extra Brut](https://carboniste.com/products/crab-extra-brut), [Urchin Sparkling Rosé](https://carboniste.com/products/urchin-rose-sparkling)