Barcelona design and creative-direction studio Clase was tasked with producing the new image for Vinyes de Barcelona, a wine that has been revamped inside and out for the new 2016 vintage.

Vinyes de Barcelona is the only wine produced in the city of Barcelona, specifically at the Can Calopa de Dalt farmhouse on the western side of the Collserola mountain range. That is where the grapes are grown and the wine made in a small, refurbished winery, managed by L’Olivera since 2010.

The Vinyes de Barcelona labels have long been a hallmark of the brand. Clase founder Claret Serrahima, one of Spain’s leading designers and with close ties to L’Olivera, designed the first labels, known for the letter ‘B’ by artists such as Ràfols Casamada, Perico Pastor, Antoni Tàpies and Frederic Amat. The 2016 vintage has now come to market with a new identity, the work of Clase partner and creative director Daniel Ayuso, who gave the label an unconventional image focused on a more social and visual strategy of recovering the grapes.

“It is not only about representing the wine but also the people that make it possible”- Dani Ayuso, Clase bcn

“The new identity, and therefore the label, aims to be more than a static or aesthetic communication piece and to become a portrait/story that can evolve and engage in a more dynamic and ongoing way,” Ayuso said. “It is not only about representing the wine but also the people that make it possible”. The studio came up with and worked on a fresh and direct photographic work, free of clichés and disguises, capturing the environment, the people, the nature, the suburban landscape, the tools and the processes, along with the ambiance in which the project is developed. A living document of the processes that go into making the wine and the people behind it.

In search of a new wine profile

With the 2016 vintage we are entering a new stage at Vinyes de Barcelona, a new image concept and a new, more contemporary identity related to the story behind the wine. It is also a new stage in the renewed and fresh profile of the product, retaining the suppleness and sharpness of a young wine and the complexity of a year of ageing in oak barrels. Harvested by hand, each grape variety is fermented separately, with a daily deléstage for the Syrah and pigeage twice a day in the case of the Grenache through to mid-fermentation. The wine is then aged in semi-new French oak barrels for 12 months.

Around 5,000 bottles have been released from Can Calopa, initially for the Barcelona City Council but since 2017 straight to the public under the brand Vinyes de Barcelona.