La Carte Des Vins 2003-2009

La Carte des Vins was a new winery concept founded by a mixed french and Spanish team of wine enthusiasts, wine producers and oenologists. The initial development of the brand was to be in Spain, to be later implemented in France.

For the Spanish market, the look and feel of the brand needed to be distanced from the traditional "bodegas", and wanted to be more of a wine boutique. However for the French market the premium look&feel needed to be moderate so the stores would not to be perceived as expensive.

Laurent Godel and Daniel Nassar based their concept on warm light and bright materials, as opposed to traditional french and Spanish wineries. As for the fixture program they chose to use natural plywood, a non-expensive and universal material found both in construction and in modular furniture.

The disposition of panels on the wall units for wine displays allowed however for a premium presentation of the product, as one single bottle would be showcased and visible to the customer from the entrance of the store, whilst the accessible sales floor stock bottles available on the same units would be hidden from view - but offered for self-service.

Special stainless steel hooks attachable to the plywood panels would hold the bottle in place, designed as an open spiral so as not to interrupt its slender proportion and give the impression that the bottle was floating in the air.

On mid floor racks the horizontal panels would be cut in a special shape, engineered so that the showcased bottle would lay on the racks at an exact angle of three degrees: At that angle the bottle's label would be more visible to the customer than if it were horizontal, and the liquid inside would still be in contact with the cork, ensuring maximum conservation of the wine. Stock bottles under the rack panel would be supported on a matrix of timber cylinders.

Custom suspension lamps were developed with Spanish manufacturer CARPYEN, to combine soft indirect ambient light on a classical lamp shade, and accent lighting produced with five QR-111 lamps on the bottom aluminium disk.

La Carte des Vin's singular and innovative wine display system intrigued customers and proved successful in organising and displaying the product. Copies of the system were later found in different wineries from Spain to the United States, and a version was even used Sergi López's Vinacoteca inside Isabel Coixet's movie Map of the Sounds of Tokyo. https://youtu.be/5SfxfgiLMSE?t=70