The Prologue

The New Zealand Wine Fund was formed in 2002, with the intention of purchasing three or four small production focused super premium New Zealand wineries and adding significant value by applying sales and marketing expertise to their operations.

In mid 2003 they acquired Vavasour Wines, which makes and markets wines under the Vavasour, Dashwood and Redwood Pass labels. It then bought Goldwater adding the Goldwater and Boatshed Bay labels to the growing portfolio, followed by equisition of Clifford Bay Estate, making it one of New Zealand's top wine producers.

Creating the Story

We researched the trends in wine drinking both nationally and globally, then developed a clear positioning for each brand/label so that New Zealand Wine Fund could grow the market across the price points without cannibalising one another.

Telling the Story

Once a clear direction was determined for each brand our design team worked on developing labels, selecting and designing bottles and collaterals for the market.

The Moral of the Story

Distribution arrangements were forged in the UK and the USA and new wines and labels saw excellent growth. In four years Vavasour, Goldwater and Clifford Bay went from aggregate annual sales of 50,000 cases to 330,000 cases.