‘LE BOX’
PAC Global Leadership Awards 2021 – Premium Luxury Class - WINNER CHÊNE BLEU
We are enormously appreciative to HAVE BEEN awarded first place in the 'BEST IN CLASS' PAC Global Leadership Awards for our 'Theatre Box'… such a labor of love to HAVE overcome innumerable obstacles and bring it to life ~ 3rd February 2021
“I first got the idea for a show-stopping display box about 8 years ago. It had to explain the story of our two flagship wines, Abélard & Héloïse, named after the famed medieval French lovers – the Romeo and Juliet of France. I wanted to showcase them as the protagonists at the heart of the story of our little vineyard through a unique and arresting piece of design. It took FOREVER to resolve one by one the innumerable production challenges to produce this limited-edition Gift Box, and I’m SO HAPPY that it’s finally seeing the light!”
Le Box was born of a collaboration between American-Italian Chêne Bleu Principal Nicole Rolet and New Zealand Designer and Paper Engineer Claire Middleton, and decorated by Jane Randfield, the English Illustrator and Linocut Artist who illustrated our award-winning label, who we originally met through Neil Tully MW, the only person in the world to be both a Master of Wine AND a graphic designer! The objective was a foldable, customizable gift box, part portable medieval-style mini theatre, part storytelling pop-up book, to create something truly unique that captured the whimsy and innocent charm of the creative toys and books of youth. Claire transformed Jane’s original illustrations on our wine labels into a pop-up proscenium framing our flagship wines, Héloïse & Abélard. In line with the winery’s medieval roots, allegorical characters were added around Le Box, then illustrated, linocut and printed by Jane.
Claire successfully found design and paper-engineering solutions for every aspect of Le Box. She also managed production of the many iterations and prototypes and daunting quest for the right materials and printer. One millimeter of error could have resulted in faulty registration and/or malfunction in the pop-up elements, for example. Hong Kong-based printers Evelyn Wang and Ivan Tong handled the complex printing. US-based winery partner Laura Iverson oversaw pricing, logistics and distribution. We worked with Carbonfootprint to offset travel and transport of the wines and Le Box. The cardboard is recyclable/compostable, but we conceived it as a keepsake that can be replenished, unlike most alcohol gift packaging.
Our flagship red wines, Héloïse & Abélard, are depicted on the box Skyping with one other (a fun twist on their famous Letters). This edgy take on history is part of our DNA and underscores our philosophy of bridging tradition and forward-thinking. Hidden symbols adorn each facet of the box. Around the sides and back, fantastical medieval-meet-modern characters line up to watch the show, sporting cellphones, iPads and other anachronisms. Others represent famous wine critics, standing at the front of the line to opine about the contents. There are also references to heroes from popular myths and literature, as one might encounter in Joseph Campbell’s Hero of a Thousand Faces; characters from epic adventure novels fill the back panel in the spirit of the Hobbit, Yoda, Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter... all of whom symbolize the proverbial “hero’s journey” that we all embark on, whether by choice or by necessity, when we venture out of our comfort zone on a quest to learn new skills and overcome challenges – again, a metaphor for our entire Project but also a universal experience.
For information on purchasing Le Box, please click here.
To watch a short video of how to assemble Le Box, click here.
