Augmented Reality Wine Label Brings Wine Drinkers to Space

Imagine opening a bottle of wine and instantly being transported to space. You can look up and view constellations, but all from the comfort of your home.  

Calamus Estate Winery has created a new experience for wine drinkers with an augmented reality wine label and they’re the first Canadian winery to use this technology. 

“Our plan was to create a unique experience,” says Peter Van Helsdingen, President of Calamus. “An experience only offered by Calamus and one that sets us apart from other wineries.”

The Jordan, Ontario winery has a large telescope on their third level deck and host stargazing and wine tastings regularly. They partnered with Brock University’s Goodman School of Business Master’s Marketing program to develop this one of a kind wine label to share their unique story and experience with customers. 

“When you open up the AR experience it takes you into our century-old barn,” Van Helsdingen explains. “Through the barn, you enter through the constellations, you are basically holding your phone up to the sky, and then you are asked to highlight a constellation and we have installed 4,000 inspirational quotes.”

The idea is that consumers will never get tired of the bottle, even after the wine is gone because there are so many different constellations and quotes to explore. 

They got the idea to use the AR technology from Australian winery 19 Crimes, which invites customers to use their phones to learn the stories of the criminals featured on their wine bottle labels. 

But it’s not just the label that makes this wine special, Van Helsdingen’s passion was to make a true Appassimento wine where the grapes are naturally dried prior to pressing, a process that concentrates the colours, aromas, and flavours in the wine. 

It’s been close to a three-year project, the grapes were handpicked in 2018 and were dried for just over two months, while their sugar content was monitored daily until it was time to press them and ferment the juice into wine.  

“When we put it in the barrel and did our first tasting a few months later, we knew we were creating something special,” he says.  “We are very proud of this wine.” 

This is their first Appassimento style wine, but it is now something they will be doing yearly.  

They’ve only made around 100 cases of the wine and don’t expect it to last long. It’s available through their website or retail store and sells for $69.00.

Share:
Written by Britt Dixon
Britt Dixon is a digital creator & social media marketer and loves telling stories about Ontario wine. She teaches others about local wine through her regular #SippingOntario video series, and interviews with winemakers and producers on her social media channels.  Britt also works with wineries producing video content to help them share their stories and grow their brands on social media. She’s a TV expert, freelance writer and contributor, and also loves hosting events and tastings. Britt’s passion for the Ontario wine industry started young. Growing up in Niagara she would pick grapes and make wine with her Papa. She has a Certificate in Ontario Wine through Brock University’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute.