BEHIND THE DESIGN: Taylors Wakefield The Legacy

Denomination's Global Creative Director Margaret Nolan (left) and CEO Rowena Curlewis (right) from Denomination, with their three PACKWINE Design Awards trophies.

Denomination’s Global Creative Director Margaret Nolan (left) and CEO Rowena Curlewis (right) from Denomination, with their three PACKWINE Design Awards trophies.

To celebrate 50 years of winemaking, Taylors wanted to release a rare, ultra-premium wine from the exceptional 2014 vintage. Taylors Wakefield The Legacy needed to represent the very pinnacle: not only in its winemaking but also in its presentation.

Inspired by the three generations of family, Denomination’s design solution was to create a customised highly polished metal sculpture which would house a sleek, reverse tapered bottle. Three slightly twisting pillars, engraved with the signature from each generation of the Taylors family, represented the upward growth of vines cradling the bottle. When eventually the wine has been enjoyed, the sculpture remains as a stunning object of art. “We wanted to create a design that was a legacy as much as the wine would be and so came up with the idea of creating an artwork of wine,” said Denomination co-founder and CEO Rowena Curlewis.

Glimpsed through the sculpture is the bottle adorned with the Taylors/ Wakefield logo of entwined seahorses, which were crafted by a master jeweller, in sterling silver and rhodium. An innovative tamper-proof NFC label has been applied to every bottle to reassure collectors of authenticity as well as to record and track each individual bottle’s cellaring history. This device has been carefully concealed and protected by a bespoke over-cap which can be removed when a hidden pin is released. The entire package has been encompassed in a Japanned timber case, complete with information booklet and a certificate of authentication, signed and hand-numbered to emphasise the limited quantity.

Judges’ comments “The Legacy stands proud and solid with the product commanding the attention of the room. A well thought-out design that uses quality materials, with attention to alignment and orientation that enables style and elegance to radiate. The clearly defined lines focus the legacy of Taylors being one of Australia’s first families of wine, with the moniker and signature centred at the packaged product’s heart as the hero of the overall story.”

As Taylors had already bottled the wine five years before release, Denomination needed to be creative with how it dressed the bottle in order to compete head-on with other luxury offerings, whilst ensuring that the precious contents of the wine would be protected. Taylors Wakefield The Legacy needed to appeal to consumers that have a high involvement with wine. Therefore, the packaging needed to promote the premium quality of the wine impactfully to this discerning audience. Taylors managing director Mitchell Taylor was ecstatic with the final design. “Denomination’s work communicates that we are producers of some of the finest wines in the world,” he said. “The care and craftsmanship – engineering details, solving incredibly complex problems with elements that, to the eye, seem so refined – has been a great challenge, but the results speak for themselves.”

Curlewis declared that there had been many, many obstacles that needed to be overcome during the four-year project, from briefing to launch, with the execution taking many hours to trial and perfect. Thus she expressed that receiving the Della Toffola Best Luxury Package Design Award was a great reward for Denomination’s resilient and patient staff, particularly head of production Anita Burrough who had been instrumental in driving the project.

Post adapted from the Grapegrower & Winemaker June 2021 edition, reporting by Stephen O’Loughlin.

WATCH THE FULL 2021 PACKWINE DESIGN AWARDS PRESENTATION

 

Della Toffola Best Luxury Package Design

Open to any packaging format that retails for $50 and higher at a 750ml equivalent, whose packages are designed to compete and succeed on high-end restaurant wine lists and in fine wine shops against luxury wines from around the world. Packages will be judged on their visual appeal, design functionality, appropriateness for the price segment and quality of packaging materials used.

 

SPONSORED BY DELLA TOFFOLA PACIFIC

With 50 years of experience and proven technological capability, Della Toffola Pacific is a supplier of packaging machinery and bottling equipment used for every link within the entire chain of production, right through to final bottling and labelling phases.

Through AVE Technologies, OMB and Z-Italia, Della Toffola designs and constructs one of the world’s widest ranges of complete, innovative and technologically advanced systems for wines, spirits, beer, soft drinks, dairy or juices.

As demonstrated by its many patents and exclusive solutions, the company’s packaging and equipment division is distinctively characterised by continuous research and innovation, which makes the Della Toffola Group unique in the international market. The company strives to ensure easy control and complete safety, guaranteed by its commitment to a customer support service that readily assists during the start-up phase and for the rest of its products’ working life.