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Edinburgh is a long way from the hot red earth of the Barossa, but it’s great to see some classy understated print work for Penfolds by The Touch Agency.
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Peter Lehmann is one of the Bartossa’s – and Australia’s – biggest wine legends. Now, Interbrand Australia have paid tribute to him by using his silhouette across his the range of Peter Lehmann wines. From the entry level Art Series ink blots (we love ink blots!) to the premium Masters Series foil-blocked labels, all the way up to the iconic Stonewall Shiraz, this is an elegant answer to tidying-up the Peter Lehmann packaging and creating a recognisable, overarching brand.
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Cool Christmas gift for Hudson Gavin Martin, a boutique legal practice formed by three partners who advise on Intellectual Property and Technology Law. Designed by Alt Group, who also have created their super cool graphic identity.
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Oh for fuck’s sake, if we’d have know we could charge $169 for a pair of Nike SB Stefan Janowski ‘Wino’ trainers, we’d have sold our booze-sodden footwear ages ago.
$100 for a pair of Buckfast-stained Dunlops, minor scuffing, slight hint of Port Salut, anyone?
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We’ve had this sitting in our Drafts box for ages, trying to think of something to say other than just ‘coooooool’.
CommentsA tasting bar for a Swiss winery. The “woven” facade is a pixelated grape leaf.
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This is cool. Is this cool? I don’t know anymore. When I was a hip young teen, I saved up all my pocket money to travel to London to buy a Stüssy belt from the intimidating skate shop behind Seven Dials. I felt like a shit-hot skater dude, in spite of not being able to skate – no amount of skate wear could hide the fact I was still a fat nerd.
So are Stüssy-branded wine glasses cool? As a rent-paying, job-owning ‘adult’ would I really want to serve wine in these glasses when tucking in to my M&S Meal-for-Two? Well, no, but like the belt, they were never really intended for guys like me. But for you skater dudes out there, we drink to you, cheers!
(Source: daseleven)
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A great advertising/design article by Quaffable Design (who make us look bad by doing the words properly) about one of our favourite wines, which looks even better now the label design has been cleaned up and simplified.
Jaboulet, Parallele 45 2009 Côtes du Rhône
How do you make a commodity item stand out from the crowd?
Wait, I hear you exclaim, wine is not a commodity! Well maybe not to you, but to a great many wine buyers perusing the shelves of their local supermarket it is. Put a glass of Merlot and Shiraz under their nose and they wouldn’t be able to distinguish the two.
Wine is wine - end of.
All of which brings me to the American TV Drama, Mad Men. In one of the early episodes entitled, “Smoke get’s in your eyes”, Don Draper, the creative director for the Sterling Cooper advertising agency, has to dream up a new campaign for Lucky Strike cigarettes. After struggling with creative block and the fear that he is going to lose this prestigious account, Don has his ‘ah-ha’ moment (and not in an Alan Partridge way I should add). He pitches the idea that Lucky Strike is different from all the other indistinguishable brands because “it’s toasted!” The fact that all cigarettes are toasted is irrelevant, Lucky Strike is the first to make “toasted” an explicit benefit and in the minds of the consumer, whoever is first wins.
It’s a stroke of genius and it’s one of the reasons why Mad Men is essential viewing in my industry.
Now I want to be unequivocal here, I’m not drawing any parallels here between cigarettes, this wine or the health considerations of drinking – so call off the lawyers. Where I do see a parallel however is in the chosen name for this wine - Parallelle 45.
This Côtes du Rhône takes its name from the 45th North parallel which runs two kilometres from the cellars of Maison Paul Jaboulet. I have absolutely no idea if this halfway point between the Equator and the North Pole means this location leads to the creation of a superior wine but hey, they made an issue out of it in large 150pt type so I’m inclined to think it must mean something special.
Therein lies the marketing genius.
Even though I know this is probably just marketing, I still had to pop this wine in my basket. Proof, if ever you need it, that to differentiate and sell wine in a crowded market it requires more than just great product. You need a story. It also helps to have a beautiful label and a product that’s at least better tasting than the usual supermarket plonk.
This wine certainly doesn’t disappoint. Whilst not the most complex wine I’ve tasted, it is a wonderful combination of red fruits, liquorice, cloves and a touch of chocolate. I drank this one along with a very agreeable Beef Wellington and watched my box set of Mad Men.
If we toasted anything that evening it was to great advertising and great wine!
Enjoy with confidence.
The previous label design, below.
Distinguishing Marques
Phew, it’s over two months since the G’rogger team relocated Down Under and in that time we have drunk an absolute shitload of $8 clearskin chardonnay (we’ll do a proper clearskin review in the near future).
However, to celebrate our anniversary we booked into Marque restaurant for the testing menu and matched wines – a sumptuous ‘fahn dahning’ experience of delicious, distinct flavours and delectable wines. We won’t go into a full review, but suffice to we have never before had to distinguish between bone marrow and sea urchin on the same plate.
Of the wines, all but one were European and the exception was from New Zealand. And exceptional it was. Paired with lightly curry-spiced sea bream, polenta and a bitter lemon/grapefruit curd, the 2009 Marlborough pinot blanc from Pyramid Valley Vineyards was rich, floral with a hint of sherry-ish oxidisation that belied its young age.
The label was our favourite of the evening, the simple type and illustration reminding us of the i-Spy books that accompanied many of us on trips around the British countryside.
We can thoroughly recommend a trip to Marque for a special occasion. However, having been, we will now have to downgrade to the $6 clearskins.
Thanks to Mise en Bouteille for the images. Different wine, but the label’s the same.
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Painty-arty labelling idea for Meeker ‘Handprint’ wines.
Each label is unique to the bottle—a handprint of the winemaker and the owners— ensuring both wine and bottle are works of art.
Great idea, and credit to hem for following it thorough from idea to realisation, although it’s a shame that the accompanying paper label is a bit underwhelming.
CommentsMEEKERHandprint Merlot 2006
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Today we went to an exhibition of graffiti and street art. In fact it was a whole island of derelict shipyards and warehouses given over to spray can art, paste-ups and Banksy-a-likes. We had no idea there were so many possible permutations of grinning skull + Disney character + police = yeah, police and Disney are bad n’shit.
We’re hip-and-hapnin’ young tings, but by the time the ferry was leaving for home, all we wanted was a Turner seascape or Norman Rockwell postcard, and sometimes it’s like that with wine. Amidst the minimalist and maximalist labels, and the obscure grapes and revolutionary techniques, all you crave is a wine that has the assurance not to yell. These Hermann J. Wiemer labels have class and poise. Sure, they’re a bit boring, but on occasion we like boring, especially when the alternative is Banksy.
CommentsHermann Wiemer Collection
