Description:

Sauvignon Blanc is one of the fastest growing varietals in the U.S. wine market, presenting a significant growth opportunity for Constellation Brands, especially in the Ultra Premium segmentation. With speed to market essential, the decision was made to revive Drylands, a brand that had been retired from the global Constellation portfolio but was still owned and trademarked.

The Drylands Home Block vineyard is located in Marlborough’s esteemed Golden Triangle of the Wairau Valley — a special area that claims the most hours of sunshine and a lower-than-average rainfall, delivering small yields of excellent fruit. The name, vineyard history and growing environment provided strong cues from which to build a new brand identity.

Our strategy was simple: position Drylands as a premium exemplar of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc by creating a brand strongly rooted in the geography and history of the region.

Drylands Estate is in the heart of the ‘original Marlborough’, Raupaura, and one of the first vineyards where the world famous region’s first Sauvignons Blancs were grown. The Drylands vineyard has some of the oldest vines in Marlborough, giving the wine a depth and complexity that can only develop with time.

Celebrating the heritage and storytelling potential of these old vines became our central design idea.

We wanted the old vines to be the hero, with strong contemporary imagery that would set Drylands apart from its more traditional counterparts. A bespoke illustration of a gnarled creeping grape vine wraps around the cap and the 6-bottle carton, immediately invoking a deep and old connection to the land.

Additional graphic elements were created, including a contemporary crest representing three stately trees that border the vineyard, the orderly rows of vines and the curving flow of the Wairau River. These contemporary elements were paired with a more traditional layout approach, to provide heritage and prestige cues.

Premium printing techniques were employed for the label, including sculptural embossing to give it a luxurious tactile quality.

To further invoke the raw beauty behind the Drylands name, we commissioned striking black and white photography of the old Drylands grape vines and the rugged Marlborough landscape.

The new Drylands brand tells a powerful story with elegant simplicity. The old vine illustration communicates core elements of the story: experience, providence and sustainability. The supporting elements build on that to celebrate the geography and history of Marlborough, New Zealand’s most important winemaking region. From the perspective of the client’s business, this project was a smart solution for seizing a market opportunity quickly — the repurposing of an owned trademark to create a distinctive new offering.