I have known and likely tried Borsao wines before. This one looked familiar and somehow new at the same time. That’s exactly what brands should aim for when they update packaging and that is the case here. This new Borsao Garnacha Selección label maintains a visual connection with its predecessor through colour and shape. The few orange triangles that appeared on the previous label seem to have been digitized, fragmented, pixelized and dropped into the background of a video game. The new abstract evolved into a fresh representation of the mountains that border the vineyards.
The white area of the design features one of the most striking elements of the composition. The use of metallic foil in complex patterns of very fine lines. Silver diamonds in the sky and orange triangles accent the mountain shapes. It’s like a kaleidoscope.
Perhaps interesting to note with this packaging update is that the capsule hasn’t changed. It could be a signal to their customer that this is the same wine or maybe they just have a stockpile of these to go through before introducing a new one.
On the new front label, all type is now concentrated at the top in a textbook example of typeface pairing. A unique serif face for the brand name contrasted with a simple sans serif for the descriptor.
The wine notes and all required information are presented on the back label. If a French and English label on a Spanish wine surprises you, welcome to Canada.
Robert Parker describes this wine as, “Possibly the single greatest dry red wine value in the world…”. I’m not sure I’d go that far but I would agree with The Guardian that this wine, “punches way above its weight”. It’s a steal at $12. It tastes closer to $18. The label might convince me it’s worth $20.
What do you think? Post your comments below.
