What does it take to get a consumer to pluck a bottle of wine from the shelf? Outstanding packaging helps. Using great artwork is one approach to that. Piquing curiosity is another. Imagine combining those strategies and multiplying the impact by three. That’s the effect of the packaging for Kindred wines but you won’t know anything about them unless you pick up a bottle.
The label front features only a full-frame piece of artwork on its face with no brand or content information. Three different pieces of artwork are used. Each is a graphic portrait of women from various backgrounds. Including the red wine from the same series, there are six unique portraits. This packaging proclaims equality and inclusion without words.
Labels like this one are the reason I include 360° videos. Turning the label is the only way to discover this wine’s identity. All of the type on this label runs vertically upward. Kindred, in a scratchy, hand-drawn typeface appears to the left of the artwork. The “white blend” wine identification in the same typeface, is on the right side. All other information flows to the right on the same axis on the single-panel wrapping label—a format I highly recommend.
The descriptive copy is a well-crafted blend of ethereal expression and tasting notes. “Whether by blood or by spirit, you have a kindred soul in your life. If they are your moon, you are their sun, unequivocally. This wine celebrates that harmonious connection by blending together grapes that are similar in intention, yet alluring in their differences. Aromatic. Full of flavour + finely balanced. Expressively fruit-driven, this wine showcases crisp apple, fleshy citrus + tropical fruit flavours. Sip with like-minded souls.”
Tasting notes and lofty reviews often leave me bewildered. Flavours of what? The Kindred white blend description above pretty much nails it. This Chardonnay/Riesling blend is very smooth and easy drinking. It works with food and as a sipper. Great value too.
Kindred wines are produced by Front Road Cellars. It’s a small operation in an emerging wine region on Lake Erie’s north shore. Consider the audacity of producing a retail product and not branding the primary panel. It takes a lot of confidence to believe in the power of art, image, and human curiosity. As the saying goes, “No guts. No glory.”
