Downing - Creative Marketing

Allan Scott Family Winemakers wanted to do something no one else in New Zealand was doing: age Méthode Traditionnelle wine on the ocean floor. For nine years, bottles of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay rested 13 metres deep in the Marlborough Sounds. The result was a wine shaped not just by tradition, but by the cold, salty, unpredictable environment of the sea. Over time, the bottles developed layers of natural build-up — salt, shell, and coral-like textures. The sea didn’t just store the wine, it helped create it. The packaging needed to honour this process, tell the story clearly, and give weight to the patience, craft, and uniqueness of the wine.

We named the wine Effervesce—a word that captured both the bubbles of Méthode Traditionnelle and a sense of energy and discovery. The concept was built around the duality of land and sea. The New Zealand scallop became the icon with the grapevines intertwining around it, bringing these two worlds together on the packaging. Spot gloss, gold foil and embossing created texture and light play, referencing the way light moves underwater. Inside, a handcrafted leather neck cuff, made by local Whakatū Nelson leatherworker Xavier Napoleon adds a tactile, human detail. It wraps the bottle like a strap on a piece of dive gear or an old keepsake. The bottle itself is left untouched—covered in the salt and growth that naturally formed over time. The packaging frames the bottle rather than hiding or cleaning it.

Photography by Dan Allen.

Meet SideCar! The bestest mayo ever made in New Zealand!

This incredible condiment is made by the talented people at Springbrook Foods. They came to us because they wanted to flip the tables on mayonnaise. They had an ambitious and delicious new recipe, and they needed an exciting brand to go along with it. They had one goal: start a revolution in refrigerators across New Zealand and put fun back on the table.

See the full project over on our website:
downing.nz/project/sidecar-creating-a-mayo-brand-with-personality