Where does one start to develop a fully-integrated image for such an unusual product such as a limited-edition wine, a Franciacorta Pas Dose´? From the winery of course, through to, at the end, understanding to the fullest the characteristics that make up that particular wine.
A winery dedicated with passion, like many others, to the production of wine, but one that surprises with its aristocratic Franciacorta DOCG wines, the fruit of years of magisterial care focused on a growing area uniquely suited for high-quality winegrowing by so many producers, but by one woman in particular, Emanuela Barboglio. In the 1960s, she took her winery in a new direction, adopting great respect for the environment, as well as high-density plantings and low yield per vine to ensure the highest-quality fruit. Of crucial importance is the sentence that completes all the winery’s labels: “from 1836 time and experience have taught us how to transform our grapes into emotions.”
A custom-designed packaging completes the dressing of these two bottles. They are similar in their structural contours and in the graphic interpretation on their surfaces, but they clearly differ in size and in small details that make them close sisters in the same impressive family. A simple cardboard container coupled to a lesser graphic syntax inside. With double flaps held by two small magnets, so that the act of opening conjures up the image of a precious jewel box that reveals the refined bead of bubbles it therein contained. White is the primary colour in both versions, with the sides and interior surfaces in gold. The two sides display the QdE logo, together with the name Riserva 2004 and the Mosnel trademark logo, while the back repeats the graphic image on the label. On the 750ml version, the image is reproduced on the front together with the wine label, without its border, in gold and ivory, creating an effect of cradling the words in a wave of pearls, consistently suggesting a refined perlage of bubbles, precisely that of a Franciacorta Pas Dose´. A real wine label is affixed to the 1.5 litre container, however; this small manual procedure reinforces the exclusive character of the limited, numbered edition. On the top, functioning as a seal for these small but great treasures of taste is Mosnel’s complete trademark logo. Inside the flaps in both versions is displayed the winery’s dedicatory motif: emotions to be tasted and enjoyed, as with the Riserva 2004 QdE, an emotional declaration that greets you before the precious bead of pin-point bubbles is unveiled to the eye. And then you can satisfy your curiosity about the various characteristics of the wine, rare, compelling, in a prestigious cuve´e, produced in the severely-limited quantity of 400 magnums and 4,000 standard bottles. The name itself holds the magic of its terroir and of its uncommon Pas Dose´ procedure, which creates its long-lasting bead of pin-point bubbles. After striving to coax out the finest quality traits from a judicious partnering of Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco, and Pinot Nero, fermented in stainless steel and a small part in oak barriques, the next challenge was to showcase its most hidden quality, which one can appreciate only in the act of enjoying this noble beverage, its perlage, or bead of bubbles. And such is an homage to the feminine spirit of Emanuela Barboglio. This image of tiny pearls always fascinates me, these jewels that enclose within themselves the quintessence of the exacting process of vinification, and precisely because they are small, all of them almost of the same size and persistence in the glass. So it is natural to associate them with a string of rare pearls adorning the bottle, which is itself a gem because of its precious contents. The label reveals itself within a framed space traversed by a decorative motif made up of a string of golden pearls, all of the same diameter, which brings to mind a rare and delicate perlage, printed in gold. The font used for the wording on the label is ITC Blair MT, and instead of lower case letters is utilises small caps to convey a majestic impression, but one that is at the same time sober and elegant. The gold colour is that of the logo printed on the neck label of the bottle, together with an orange tone that echoes the capsule’s bright, metallic hue. The paper is ivory, that repeats the classic paper type used by Mosnel too. For these labels, I suggested a laid, pure non-chlorinated cellulose, with wet strength, such as 80 gr/m.sq. Laid Corolla Ivory Fredrigoni. The label is the same shape for the two bottle sizes, but with proportions appropriate to each, and printed in relief to allow the decorative elements to snap out from the paper. The bottle number can be added by hand to the 1.5 litre label to underscore the exclusivity of the limited series.
biography
Designer Francalma Nieddu was born in Sorrento, in the province of Naples, in 1963. She studied goldsmithing there, then Industrial Design at ISIA Roma, Design Direction at Domus Academy Milano, and has a Masters in Industrial Design from IED Torino and in Strategic Design from the Politecnico di Milano. Together with German designer Olav Ju¨nke, she has directed since 2002 ondesign, an Italian-German design and communications studio in Hamburg. She divides her time between Italy and Germany. For her own pleasure and passion, she designs jewellery (awards from the Accademia di Moda, Rome), fashion accessories (awards from L’accessorio di domani, Milan), and art objects from recycled materials. She designs for companies such as B.Bbover, Cleto Munari, Alessi, Caimi, Motorola, and Autogrill. She teaches jewellery design in goldsmith schools. For SDI she surveys outstanding European design studios (the EVAN project). She has exhibited at shows including Nuovo bel design at the Studio Mendini, Milan 1992; Plant for Plant, Tokyo 1995; Under 35 at Opos Milano, 1996; Message on the bottle, of Ondesign at Triennale Design Museum, Milan 2008; Design Mediterraneo at Istanbul 2009. Her awards have included Eulda, EDAwards, Mediastars and Pentawards for her design work; she was nominated for the Designpreis Deutschland 2011. She writes about design, packaging, and trends.