Denomination crafts new identity for French wine brand La Noblesse

Loire Valley wine brand La Noblesse is set for its international launch with a fresh, modern look created with the drinks design specialists at Denomination.

The brand's owner Fourth Wave Wine approached Denomination wanting to entice consumers to try wines from the Loire Valley - a region which it felt was under-represented among French wines and dominated by old-fashioned and uninspiring brands and packaging.

The resulting work for La Noblesse attempts to present a serious wine, from a region rich in aristocratic heritage, to consumers in a more light-hearted and modern way.

Rowena Curlewis, CEO of Denomination, said: "We needed to find a way to represent the aristocratic Loire in a way that didn't resort to depicting the ubiquitous chateaux that are so common on French labels. It was important that this brand stood out from the crowd and was distinctive, personality-led and disruptive, whilst being respectful of its origins." 

In its resdesign for La Noblesse, Denomination replaced illustrations of chateaux with playfully cropped images of nobility and used a chalk pen effect for the brand name typeface, designed to be reminiscent of the way bottles are priced up in French wine shops.

Curlewis continues: "It's unmistakably French and high quality, but with stacks of attitude to open it up to new demographics and make it more relevant to modern consumers. The engraving style and subject matter lend the project a degree of seriousness. And humour is achieved with the 'off with their heads' cropping and yellow capsules."

Nicholas Crampton, director of Fourth Wave Wine, said: "We believe it's time for the Loire Valley to stand up and be counted as a wine region. It has such strong consumer awareness as a place to visit, but just lacked that same awareness for its wines. We knew that, with Denomination's expertise, they would be able to make a statement without compromising history, integrity and Old World legacy.

"La Noblesse is brave, it pushes boundaries, it makes a statement. We're excited to take the brand to market and see what the traditional French consumer base, as well as new-comers, have to say about it."

La Noblesse is set to launch in Australia in November 2020 and in Europe from March 2021.

9 November 2020 - Bethany Whymark