The Stories

THE STORIES BEHIND THE LABELS

Every Stoker Wines label is more than a piece of art – it’s a chapter drawn from the world of Dracula. Some capture the moments you know; others resurrect lost endings, hidden symbols, and overlooked details buried deep in Bram Stoker’s notes.

Follow the links below to uncover the full tale behind each label, from familiar legends to forgotten secrets.

THE CASTLE

At the Castle, the Count waits with wine, dark as his shadow...

At Stoker Wines, we follow in the tradition of Bram Stoker, who in 1897 produced a mysterious blend of his own, to create his Castle Dracula. Bram used three distinct features: the exterior, the interior, and the location. He used a sketch of Bran Castle in Romania for his exterior description and Slains Castle in Cruden Bay Scotland for his internal octagonal room where Count Dracula welcomes Jonathan Harker and enjoys two glasses of wine. Bram placed his supernatural Count's lair on Mount Izvorul, an extinct volcano near the Borgo Pass amid the flickering blue flames in the Calimani National Park of the Carpathian Mountains, in Northern Transylvania.

THE INVITE

Welcome to my house! Enter freely and of your own will…

5 May, The Castle: Bram Stoker's pen paints the scene of Dracula's first encounter with Jonathan Harker, illuminated only by the eerie glow of an antique silver lamp flickering in the draught of the open door. Harker recounts his unsettling impression: a tall, moustached man with extraordinary pallor clad in black, a thin, high-bridged nose, pale, pointed ears, and a notably cruel-looking mouth with peculiarly sharp, white teeth that protruded over his lips. This…man – yet to be revealed as a vampire – invites Harker in with a cold smile, and goblets filled with blood-red wine swirling in the darkness.

THE BRIDE

A Bride awaits Dracula with a rosé, crisp as the night's air...

An original typescript for Bram Stoker's Dracula revealed a deleted chapter that makes reference to an inscription on an Austrian crypt. It reads: "Countess Dolingen von Gratz in Styria Sought and Found Death in 1801." This crypt was discovered in a region outside of Munich where superstitions claim suicide victims transform into vampires. Could Bram have used the Countess as the inspiration for Dracula's Brides? The scenery in this label also pays homage to the town of Whitby, where Bram spent three weeks in 1890 on holiday and conducting a lot of his early research. He was so awe-struck by the Gothic atmosphere that chapters six through eight are set in this Yorkshire seaside town.

THE VOLCANO

The lost ending: Castle Dracula perishes with The Count himself…

A deleted ending was discovered in the only remaining original typescript of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. It revealed a volcanic eruption during the final battle scene between the Band of Heroes and Count Dracula. Bram intentionally placed this battle scene close to the fictional Castle Dracula, which was located on Mount Izvorul, an extinct volcano in the Carpathian Mountains. But the mystery remains – was it Bram himself or his publisher who edited out this definitive ending to Count Dracula?

IS HE DEAD?

Are we certain The Count is dead…?

The novel’s final battle scene with the Band of Heroes and Dracula culminates with him crumbling into a cloud of dust. Jonathan Harker, desperate to free his beloved Mina from the persuasions of the vampire, slices Dracula’s throat with his Kukri knife, and Quincey Morris thrusts his Bowie knife into his chest. Bram Stoker unearthed the lore that suggests a wooden stake must be used to kill a vampire, so why the Bowie knife? Can we really be certain that this was truly Dracula’s demise, or is there yet another chapter of this immortal’s life yet to be revealed…?