Jackson-Triggs, the venerable Canadian winery producing wines in both Niagara and the Okanagan Valley, has undergone a major facelift to its bottle packaging through all the tiers.
Jackson Triggs, along with the other former Vincor Canada wineries, including Inniskillin and Le Clos Jordanne, changed its name to the parent company Constellation Brands (dropping Vincor Canada) earlier this year and has wasted no time in changing the look of the core brand.
Franco Timpano, JT’s marketing director, said: “Jackson-Triggs is Canada’s most awarded winery and we want everything to reflect that — from the wine itself, to its packaging and aesthetic. The new Jackson-Triggs label design is contemporary and bold, conveying the heritage of the brand while speaking to the quality and value of our VQA wines.”
The new labels, produced by San Francisco-based HKA Design, were designed to complement the now complete family of Jackson-Triggs labels — which began with the re-introduction to its Proprietors’ Selection packaging in October 2011. The entire family of labels includes new packaging for Jackson-Triggs Reserve, Grand Reserve, SunRock (Okanagan), Delaine, Icewine, and Entourage Sparkling.
“Together, the family of labels builds upon the legacy of the brand, featuring the award winning Jackson-Triggs medallion, a centred architecture of information, and a vertical design element accenting each label,” said Lynn Keller of HKA. “Despite a unified brand appeal, we crafted the design keeping in mind a clearly differentiated aesthetic to help each wine compete in its own tier.”
Reserve Tier:
The newly designed label for Jackson-Triggs Reserve is reminiscent of the original Reserve label, featuring a lush, textural black paper accented with Reserve printed in a graceful script, said Keller. The word itself, although nostalgic of past design, is styled in a contemporary sophisticated pewter colour, with an ultra matte varnish printed over and debossed, further enhancing the label’s quality — a testament to the quality of the wine.
Grand Reserve Tier:
The new Grand Reserve label offers a luxe, understated elegance with a rich, tobacco-bronze background to match the deep flavours of the wines. “Grand Reserve” is printed in an elegant, black script with gloss silkscreen and embosses, said Keller.
SunRock Tier:
The design features an intense yellow to depict the landmark SunRock of the Okanagan Valley, which produces warmth across the vineyard, according to Keller. The label’s artwork is set against a background of dark, warm, rock gray, and the texturing was inspired by photographs of the actual SunRock.
Delaine Tier:
A deep brown, earthy background sets the stage for a picturesque label depicting the blue of the Niagara River and the warm colours of the Delaine vineyard soil. The label’s texturing in the art and background of the design is based on photographs of the actual vineyard soil, Keller explained.
Icewine Label:
The Icewine label and gift tube were printed on a proprietary shimmery stock to represent the ice crystals that form in the grapes during harvest. Notes of silver and gold stamping reflect the brilliant flavours of the wine, said Keller. The Reserve Icewine is presented in a black, silver, and anthracite gift tube; The Grand Reserve Icewine packaging includes luxe bronze and gold colours.
Entourage Sparkling Label:
Staged on a shimmering, effervescent, light gold background, the new Entourage label was designed to convey an enhanced sense of celebration. To emphasize a sense of elegance, a graceful “E” is used as a watermark behind the primary Entourage branding. A delicate gold and silver border completes the label with a touch of sparkle, Keller said.
The first wines released under the new labels are from the reserve tier. Here’s three that have just been released:
Jackson-Triggs Reserve Rich and Robust Red 2010 ($14, only in Wine Rack stores, 87 points) — Reserve is really the entry-level wine in the VQA portfolio made by Marco Piccoli in Niagara. They offer good value in any vintage, but certainly in a ripe vintage such as 2010, offer outstanding value from the myriad vineyards at Jackson-Triggs’ disposal. The Rich and Robust is a blend of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon and shows some meaty-earthy fruits on the nose to go with currants, cassis, black pepper and other spices. It has decent structure on the palate, evident tannins and displays good varietal fruit, lovely spice accents and decent length through the finish.
Jackson-Triggs Reserve Merlot 2010 ($14, LCBO, winery, Wine Rack, 86 points) — The Merlot is sourced from vineyards in Niagara-on-the-Lake sub-appellations. A short amount of oak aging was used to add just a touch of spice. The nose shows pure black cherry fruit, with some plum and vanilla spice. On the palate look for robust red fruits, cocoa, toasted vanilla and just a hint of pepper spice.
Jackson-Triggs Reserve Crisp and Lively 2011 ($14, Wine Rack only, 86 points) — The blending of Gewurztraminer and Riesling is becoming more and more popular with the entry-level brands of wineries in Niagara. In this price category, it often works, creating a blend that is more appealing to a greater number people. This shows zippy lime-citrus, lychee, grapefruit and subtle notes of nutmeg and clove. There is some sweetness on the palate (but not overly) and ends up being a fairly balanced likeable summer sipper.
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