The assignment on the brief was to create a new wine label. But the real assignment was to create a new brand. The client was very familiar with the world of wine marketing and wanted us to push the envelope. So we took a good look at the story behind the name and found a tale as rich and complex as the wine itself. In the label we wanted to tell that story by using nuanced visuals and iconography. It became clear that these visual representations were far more intriguing than a standard wine label synopsis could ever be.

Les Grand Vins de Colette is a Chardonnay named after the winemaker’s grandmother. She was born and raised in Vietnam, and during the 1930’s she operated a fleet of Mercedes-Benz shipping trucks. These trucks would haul things like coffee and rice from Saigon to her hometown of Dalat.

If trucking was her business, reading was her passion. And her favorite author was Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette. Colette was a French writer – a feminist who had a flair for adventure and controversy. Our proprietor’s grandmother became so taken with Colette that she not only adopted her passion for living, but she also took on her name. She became enamored with Sidonie’s outlook on life and the French way of life as a whole.

So this was the story we wanted the label to convey. On the label you’ll find 28 separate and sometimes hidden icons that tell the story of a wine born in Napa with Vietnamese roots and inspired by the heritage and winemaking of France. Even the colors chosen for the type employ the Vietnamese and French flags as inspiration.

The hope is that the consumer spends time with the label and discovers its hidden gems – much in the way Colette discovered adventure and inspiration in Sidonie’s work. We want the label to stand out from the crowd and from across the room at a crowded restaurant. With 28 icons, elegant typography with a variety of colors, a quote from the author, and a brief description of the product, we think this label tells the story of the wine the way Colette would have wanted.