It’s time the Old World caught up with the New

I read with interest David Benady’s article on wine label branding (DW 20 March). Wine, as a subject, has slightly stuffy connotations about it, conjuring up images of the upper classes sniffing, swilling and spitting and commenting on the ‘delightful bouquets’.

Confusing messaging, coats of arms, sepia colouring and gold foils all go towards making wines look scary and too expensive for an evening in with a takeaway. However, these images are fast becoming outdated and the New World wines are leading the revolution. Their labelling is making wines far more accessible and understandable to the average consumer who may still feel intimidated by the traditional wine presentations.

New World labelling demystifies wine and presents it with clear messaging about flavours and food pairings in a language that is easily understood. Coupled with bold graphics, it makes for an altogether more attractive package.

Like Elmwood’s graphic flavour signposting, the Footsteps range offers a typographic navigation through both Old and New World wines. The range was designed as an introduction to the wine world, which was young and approachable with good back-of-bar shelf standout. The varietals were broken down into syllabic sounds and formed the main element on the label, so a novice in a crowded bar or pub could easily select them without fear of getting the pronunciation wrong. Again this made them feel more confident in ordering the wine of choice, whether it be Old or New World.

It’s positive that the old clarets and Bordeaux are taking note of this trend, as it opens them up to a new generation of wine fans who would have previously just passed them on the way to the younger Pinot Grigios.

It goes a little way to ensuring that they won’t be left on the shelf while the youngsters get taken out for the evening.

Mark Robinson, Lead creative, Tag Brand, Cottenham CB24 8QY