We were approached to rebrand, rename and relaunch the entry level of Bethany Wines. This tier of wines were just named the 'Estate Range' which in the sea of wines at this level was considered too generic, did not stand out on shelf and failed to tell any specific heritage and history of Bethany Wines in an engaging way.

We renamed the range 'First Village' to celebrate that Bethany was in fact the first settlement in the famous wine region of Barossa Valley, back in 1842.

All the Shrapel family's history and that of the early settlers is told visually with vignettes of village life, drawing inspiration from traditional folk motifs and silhouettes as a continuing, connected narrative. The wrap label with its illustration treated with a tactile matt high build effect, wraps around the bottle and accented with the warm gold foil stamped branding.

The tableaux is illustrated in folkloric ‘scherenschnitte’ style (the art of paper cutting). It traces the story of the Schrapel family from their journey across the oceans from Europe to South Australia, bringing their traditions and culture along with agricultural and wine knowledge - through to their village life in the Barossa Valley. With the bluestone hewn from the local quarry run by the Schrapel family, the villagers built the church and established the township surrounding Bethany Creek. In 1852 the first vines were planted on the Schrapel Family Vineyards in Bethany, igniting a passion that continues on today, six generations later.

Engagement and response was immediate gaining Bethany new distribution and retailers around Australia and internationally. The new packaging connected the wines to a 'place' and the narrative style captured the attention of consumers as well with over 25% increase in sales.