Global brand consultancy, The Partners, has created a new visual identity for London’s first and only winery, London Cru. Drawing on the winery’s local story, the consultancy developed bespoke bottle labels and names for the new LDN SW6 wine range, rooted in its urban London location.
Each of the different wine varieties’ labels outlines a map of London with the contours of the distinctive vine leaf for that particular grape variety, with the River Thames running through the map of the city acting as the stem of the leaf. The different leaf shapes allowed for differentiating the individual wines whilst visually referencing their origin.
The Partners also devised the new vintage name, LDN SW6, representing the postcode where the winery is based. Further, each wine variety has been given the name of a London street that has a phonetic link to the grape variety of that specific wine – for example the Cabernet Sauvignon became Cabot Sq, the Chardonnay was named Charlotte St and Barbican represents the Barbera.
The Partners were tasked with enhancing the local story of London Cru and creating a visual identity that resonates with their proposition as London’s first and only winery. The greater London map outline and River Thames has always been a part of the brand’s visual signature, but the new identity takes the London twist a step further, at the same time as the wine itself is celebrated, giving the brand icon an extra level of meaning.
Kath Tudball, Design Director at The Partners said: “London Cru is the perfect example of the ‘Made in London’ movement. We wanted this to inform every aspect of the visual brand, at the same time as putting the wine itself in focus. The discovery that the London map resembles a vine leaf skeleton allowed us to create a unique and meaningful visual signature with an idiosyncratic London twist”.
Lindsey Marden at London Cru, added: “Collaborating with The Partners on this project has been a delight! They immediately understood our mission: to bring fruit from beautiful vineyards in Europe to London and make wines full of natural acidity and freshness that reflect their country of origin and London, their city of fruition. The new LDN SW6 vintage wines reflect the art of winemaking in the heart of the city.”