Vintage science: Vineyard gets experimental

Founded by Iranian Kamal Azari, Corkscrew calls its approach to winemaking ‘one part science, two parts art and 12.75 parts curiosity’. Its online visual toolkit comes complete with vintage textbooks and beakers of blood red wine, while a multi-faceted web lab outlines the vineyard’s operations through quirky scientific terminology.

The vineyard offers two varieties of pinot noir, a syrah and a chardonnay, each displayed as an anatomical subject, with crisp lines and cold typefaces delineating qualities such as aroma, source and appropriate food pairings. Descriptions are intentionally witty and cavalier – urging customers to savour a red reminiscent of ‘Hemingway arm-wrestling Brando’, best coupled with a ‘brave cheese’.

Corkscrew is a ripe example of the beverage industry’s increasing appetite for playful, science-inspired branding – seizing the dynamism and natural innovation that arise from trial and error.