Recently, Rădăcini Winery launched a very distinct wine range that includes the first DOP wines in Moldova. With DOP, a wine’s place of origin becomes a precise, traceable and protected part of its identity. It is an important step for the country’s wine culture, so being invited to design a series that includes these pioneering wines was both flattering and a serious responsibility.

The series is called APARTÉ. In theatre, an aparté is a line addressed to the audience that the other characters on stage are not supposed to hear. For Rădăcini, it became a metaphor for a wine deliberately set apart from its other ranges – created for HoReCa and aiming for more depth, character and value.

That idea shaped the labels. Each one is physically split, so the sense of being “apart” is built into the design itself.

Each wine takes the idea in a different direction. Sauvignon Blanc refers directly to the real vineyard at Dealul Craveț. Chardonnay turns the amphitheatre-like vineyard landscape into a stage, with light and attention focused on the wine. Ancellotta draws on Northern Italy and the visual world of Commedia dell’arte. Bastardo Magarach, selection No. 217, looks instead to lscience, precision and patience behind creating something genuinely distinctive.

Good wine branding is not decoration, and it is never the work of one side alone. It starts with a client who really knows the product, the place and what they want it to become; a studio that knows how to listen and turn that into design; and a printing partner willing to solve the difficult practical details.

APARTÉ was a genuinely complex project, and that is exactly why we are so happy with the result. It worked because everyone involved knew their part and trusted the others to do theirs. We are proud of where it ended up — not because it was easy, but because it wasn’t.