Almost every time I write about a new wine brand’s packaging, I find myself describing it as a “more approachable” or “less pretentious” take on wine design we’ve been accustomed to.
Where wine packaging classically leans on crests, vineyard etchings, ornate borders, and barely legible typography, more and more brands now look like they belong right next to beer. Script wordmarks are getting bigger, and labels are getting simpler. The messaging is no longer about heritage and gravitas; it’s now about being easy to understand without being intimidating.
The way people are discovering wine has shifted, and the old design language is struggling to keep up. Previously, wine’s visual codes were built for slow consumption, like restaurant wine lists, in-store browsing, and the expectation that buyers would stand in front of a shelf and read the entire label. Now, wine is discovered in places where attention is fleeting, and images are small—very small. A bottle might be first seen as a thumbnail in a social feed.
