The Art of Wine with Brancott Estate
How do you choose your bottle of wine when faced with a mystifying range of red, whites, roses, sparkling, organic, vegan with prices from bargain basement plonk to high end need-a-mortgage?
Same as me? Oooohhh, that’s a nice label. And it’s not too expensive, or too cheap to vie with vinegar and guarantee a hangover.
When you’re in a dash to pick a bottle for a party, or to pep up a simple supper it’s often shelf appeal that wins.
Those marketing people know a thing about using shape, colour, positioning to give their product the edge over competitors. Which is just why leading New Zealand wine brand, Brancott Estate, has teamed up with Yorkshire artist Benjamin Craven.
At 25 he’s a bright, emerging talent who looks a little like a very young version of 81 year old Hockney, fellow Yorkshireman, right down to the big spectacles. And he is as brave with colour, enlivening landscapes with zinging yellows and his favourite pinks.
Benjamin has designed four limited edition labels for its Brancott Estate Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2018, re-inventing the landscape of the South Island vineyards with bold geometric shapes and clashing colours.
‘It was a really fun challenge,’ Ben tells me over a glass of chilled, crisp Sauvignon Blanc. ‘And a learning curve,’ admits the lad from Leeds. ‘I tried to hit all the elements of design, abstract, angular, with mountains, clouds, the straight lines of the vineyards, combining the pinks and yellows of the wine with the greens of the landscape.
‘It was the best collaborative experience of my life
‘I wanted to bring the Brancott Estate personality to life with vibrant colours and my contemporary style, the geometric shapes.’
The winemakers wanted the limited edition labels, in the shops now, to reflect wine that’s ‘fresh, vivacious and bursting with flavour’. Make up your mind if Craven has fulfilled the brief when you’re next in the wine aisle.
Cheers!
