Picture perfect wine

Michael Wenzel, 12th generation winemaker from Rust, and his partner Sonja Priller make wine differently than most of their colleagues. The natural wine contains – as the name suggests – the very best of nature: organic cultivated grapes, exclusively natural yeast, spontaneously fermented grape juice from autochthonous varieties and of course a lot of instinct and understanding. This creates snapshots of the interplay between craft and nature. Captured in an extraordinary wine. In the packaging of the “Analogue” series, those wines should come together with a medium that can take such snapshots in a completely different way: photography. In cooperation with moodley, however, this unusual idea was turned into a completely new packaging concept for all Wenzel wines.

Together we developed the idea to combine natural wine and nature photography in a new wine series. Originally a concept idea for the bottles of the “Analogue” series, this ultimately resulted in a comprehensive redesign of the look of all Wenzel bottles. For this purpose, elements from nature, which determine the creation of this wine so profoundly, were put on the front labels, matching the respective character. The cloudy wines of the “Wild + Free” category, fermented with wild yeasts, are emblazoned with a cloud, while the “Autark” series, which is only made from autochthonous varieties, it’s the stork, that is so typical for Rust and Burgenland. The “Analogue” series, on the other hand, has changing motifs, which are also available in a limited edition as a print.

The photos can be found on the labels in homage to the Polaroid and thus build a bridge to the craft that connects photography and winemaking. The new labels are matched by a capsule in a special colour. The rose tone brings emotion and femininity, which are often missing in the wine-world into the design. This colour, which is unique in this context, was inspired by the term skin contact – another term for the maceration.