18° North x Qrious
Crafting a Wine Brand That Tastes Like Home. And Thinks Like the Future.
The Ask
18° North came to us with more than a product. It was a philosophy bottled — of purity, origin, and conscious indulgence. A boutique winery from Pune, it was making wines not from grapes alone, but from fruits native to the subcontinent: custard apple, jamun, orange, and more. All organic. No nitrites. No sulfites. No nonsense.
But they weren’t just selling wine. They were telling a story about India’s terroir, reimagined. Our job was to help them show the world that this wasn’t just a wine brand — it was a movement.
The Challenge
India’s wine market is still largely aspirational, built on imported cues. Terms like “organic,” “fruit wine,” and “native varietals” often face skepticism or get lost in translation. The challenge was three-fold:
Legitimize the category — without sounding preachy.
Build a distinctive identity — rooted in India, without being rustic or cliched.
Balance purity with pleasure — and make it desirable to a younger, urban audience.
What we did
We began by aligning the brand’s core philosophy — “Latitude Meets Attitude” — into a full-funnel narrative strategy that spanned identity, storytelling, and content systems.
1. Brand Soul & Narrative Architecture
Mapped the brand origin to its coordinates — Pune sits on the 18° North latitude. From this emerged the foundational metaphor of “Crafted at a Higher Degree”.
Positioned the brand as India’s first native-fruit, no-additive wine label.
Developed language frameworks around “clean indulgence,” “radical purity,” and “subcontinental terroir.”
2. Visual Identity & Packaging Direction
Inspired by vintage cartography and botanical illustrations, we conceptualised label systems that reflected the fruit’s origin, seasonality, and soil story.
Designed a modular bottle storytelling format that changed with every varietal.
Suggested packaging materials aligned to the brand’s sustainability ethos.
3. Proposed a Web + Digital + Film Strategy
Built out an experience-led website structure: think tasting notes as poetry, pairing guides with local food, and short films on farmer-origin stories.
Developed a 3-part content series:
a. “Made of the Land” – mini-docs about the fruits and farmers
b. “Bottled Conversations” – urban tastings & interviews
c. “Drink Differently” – Instagram Reels celebrating unexpected pairings
The Wines
Each fruit had a story. We gave it a voice.
Jamun – Deep, dusky, and a little rebellious. Like a noir that bites back.
Custard Apple – Smooth, surprising, and totally ungrape.
Orange – Sharp, sparkling, and citrus-forward. The anti-wine.
Shiraz & Sauvignon – The bridge between the expected and the experimental.
Green & Red Table Grapes – Familiar, but with a cleaner, lighter finish.
Sometimes the simplest message lands best.
What this taught us
A bottle isn’t just a vessel. It’s a carrier of meaning.
And in a market obsessed with aspiration, sometimes authenticity hits harder.
Especially when it tastes like home — just reimagined.
