I was born in 1973 and so the title of this blog is alluding to work my mother did in 1970 which I, in a way, continued 54 years later. I was genetically predisposed to make these labels in the artistic manner my mother practiced. Art was the only subject that I got a F for at school so sometimes you have to wait long to find your artistic expression to manifest.
My mother’s Masters degree in History of Art was focused on bronze work and so after university she went to the UK where she made the brass rubbings below that hung in our family home on the farm where we grew up. In her later years she discovered felting.
When we thought about designing the wine label we thought what do we like most about our other packaging and is there a way to use that language on a wine label. The pig cutout stands out. (Not that we are not proud of being the only folk in South Africa (enabled by our friends at Gastro Foods) to cure our outdoor raised pork without added nitrates, nitrites or phosphates.)
Having a cutout of a vine leaf did not work in the first design. Then we tried images of vine leaves which did not work either and finally I had a rare bright idea and thought to make an image of the actual vine leaves from each individual vineyard. My friend, the artist Michele B, has experience of rubbing and the photos below are of how we have created the labels with vine leaves I harvested earlier that morning.
There are currently 3 wines in the range. A Chenin Blanc. A Red Blend which is a Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon blend and a Rose made from Shiraz. We will be releasing a standalone Merlot in time. Hence 4 leaves for the labels.
The magicians at Spier Wines (my collaborators in bringing you these fine wines) then took my artwork and produced the labels below.
What we have also done is tasted the wines with our charcuterie and come up with what we think is the best pairing. This as well as the tasting notes (both nose and palate) are on the back label.
These wines have been organically certified since 2015.
Finally when you see the box below know that you are in for a treat.
Angus
15 July 2024
