Vojteks Kalamajka wine label

Kalamajka (“glorious mess”) is a special edition wine label made for Glug Wine Club, Scotland. Their concept is to feature small-batch wines from new countries every month, with modern and exciting labels. For the Hungarian edition, I was assigned to design a label for Vojtek, a tiny, inventive family winery from Villány, best known for their big reds. Their main goal is to make unique wines, therefore always adding a twist to make it a bit different, whether through blending, aging in old barrels for a longer period, or sometimes experimenting with oak staves. They mix technologies and techniques with excellent grapes, and that yields something really special.

This fruitful, velvety, and harmonious wine is made almost exclusively in the Villány wine region in Hungary. Kalamajka Portugieser is light in robe, yet scintillatingly spicy. It has a dark ruby color with a black core, blackcurrant nose, damson fruit, and sweet black cherry in abundance on the palate. The label design was inspired by the unique name of the wine which refers to a glorious mess. I wanted to create an intriguing look using contrasting visual elements. Arranged to achieve perfect harmony, the fine lines of the illustration balance out the strong typography with extra tight line spacing. Reflecting on this dynamic contrast, the light pastel lilac label complemented with navy blue lettering creates an invitation to explore the fresh, fruity, and bold notes of Vojtek’s Kalamajka Portugieser.

ToY is used in all caps, with some of its discretionary ligatures. Illustration by Zita Beke.