Iconography
Our Printer's Mark
The oldest printer's marks in the west date from the mid 15th century. They truly flourished from the 17th and 18th centuries onward, with the burgeoning of printing and literacy in the Europe and its colonies, and the ensuing Western Enlightenment.
These marks are aslo a continuation of an earlier tradition of craft marks. An artisan would make a distinctive mark upon work to identify its creator. As Sylvanus wines are, themselves, distinctive, and hand-crafted, we thought it appropriate to have such an identifying symbol for our wines from the beginning.
Printer's marks sometimes contained a deeper and more mysterious meaning. They were not solely an early sort of printed "trademark". With the dawn of the Western Enlightenment, certain printers wished to convey messages beyond the printed text, and often used their unique marks to do so.
Dr. Lisa McDonald Eddleman, co-founder of Sylvanus Estate, and scholar of Enlightenment thought and philsophy, was no different from those 18th century printers in this desire. Our Printer's Mark contains within istelf our name "Praedium Sylvanus", or "Estate of The Forest", in Latin, and a message "Ad Gloriam Dei" - to the Glory of God.
Further Mysteries
Along with the "not-so secret meaning" of our printer's mark, Sylvanus Estate holds further mysteries. We believe we are the only wine producer in existence to offer a cipher, and secret message to be decoded on a bottle of wine.
The clues for discovery of that secret message exist on our bottling of "The Cipher" reserve pinot noir. Further clues may be found on this website. Thus far, no one has solved "The Cipher".
If we do receive a correct solution, we may offer further mysteries, more ciphers, or something equally recondite on further bottling.
Remember, in the spirit of the Enlightenment, do the thinking yourself!
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