Taking its name from one of the original vineyards, which runs next to the small Bethany Church (est. 1854) across the road from Wirra Wirra’s century old ironstone cellars, Church Block is an Australian favourite, synonymous with the McLaren Vale Region and the epitome of the district’s red wine blends.

Tucker Creative was briefed to explore bottle design options for Church Block after Wirra Wirra had been approached by major bottle manufacturers with proprietary bottle propositions. The new bottle needed to be consistent with the current Church Block branding and tone; enhance and integrate with current label design; be distinctly unique and identifiable in the long term while significantly increasing shelf presence; reflect ‘serious fun’. It also had to meet production and logistics restrictions and designed for future implementation across other ranges in Wirra Wirra’s portfolio.

We worked closely with the O-I Adelaide plant, utilising their expertise and glass manufacturing technology to produce a high-quality 750mL glass wine bottle that features strong branding highlighted by embossing. The bottle label is positioned in a sunken panel framed with firm ridges that highlight the label and echo the brand’s edging. The Wirra Wirra brand is debossed into the lower third of the bottle and the year of establishment sunk into the glass within the screw top that is revealed once the cap is removed.

O-I was able to achieve the bottle’s premium cues and embellishments while reducing the environmental impact of the new Church Block bottle. With a reduction in weight of 33 grams, the new bottle design created a drop in CO2 emissions and water usage in manufacture of 1.3% per container.