The image of Pazo Baión, a metamorphosis with memory

More than a decade after the new image of Pazo Baión was launched, we take a look back at the history and meaning of an iconic design: metamorphosis

The great Galician artist and thinker Isaac Díaz Pardo said, by way of legacy, that “we have the need and the obligation to never lose our memory”. Precisely, this wiry man who seemed to come out of the Renaissance, symbol of the best of the 20th century in Galicia, was part, in 2009, of the jury that selected the image of Pazo Baión.

More than a decade later, the Pazo Baión brand has established itself as one of the most prestigious on the Spanish wine scene. As recognized by the prestigious Guía de Vinos Gourmet, which has just chosen it as the Best Young White Wine in Spain.

Taking advantage of this milestone in the history of Pazo Baión, we are going to take a little trip back in time to tell you about the birth of an icon.

Transformation, mutation, transition, change

The winning project of the Pazo Baión corporate image design competition was Metamorphosis by Lucas Gil-Turner. And still today it is the iconic image of Pazo Baión wine and its siblings, Gran a Gran and Vides de Fontán. The design is governed by four fundamental principles: transformation, mutation, transition, and change.

The five elements of the Pazo Baión label on the bottle symbolize the four principles. Through them, we observe the evolution that the gray square undergoes until it reaches the green circle. Thus, we go from the stone of the Pazo and the earth of the vineyard to the green of the grapes. From square to circular geometric shapes. The whole process of making wine is shown before our eyes, through a simple iconography but full of meaning.

The first of the principles of the image of Pazo Baión, transformation, marks the beginning of a new stage in a space with five centuries of history. The original Casa Fontán has been transformed into Pazo Baión. From the 16th century, we have jumped to the 21st century. From the noble roots of the Sarmiento family to Condes de Albarei, which in 2008 took over the reins of the property.

For its part, mutation refers us, irremediably, to the passage of the land in which the vines grow, to the grapes that are born from them. A natural process that is lovingly cared for by the Pazo Baión team, so that the grapes are in excellent condition for the harvest.

Indeed, the harvest is the most iconic stage in the winemaking process. When the grapes are harvested, the definitive transition takes place between origin and destination. Between the vineyard and the winery where you can buy the best Albariño wine. Who carries out this transition? The people who pick the grapes with great care.

Wine is made from grapes, but it is made by people. Pazo Baión’s viticulture and enology teams are responsible for turning the grapes into wine. This organic change is the final stage of a process that begins with planting the vines in the right soil. In our case, a 30-hectare estate in Vilanova de Arousa, in the heart of the Rías Baixas DO.

All these ideas are grounded in the image of Pazo Baión, just like the pazo itself on the land. An iconic design that looks to the past, to the origin, to project itself into the future.

Wine tourism and single-estate wines, the two pillars of Pazo Baión

The image of Pazo Baión is also characterized by establishing a visual interplay between the two main pillars of the project: the pazo and the wine, the estate, and the grape.

The pazo is the primordial element in the design of Metamorphosis. It is represented by the gray square that gradually turns into grapes. The stones of the pazo are the basis of the iconography of Pazo Baión and its project. The iconic battlements of the old Casa Fontán are the element that appears unaltered in the graphic sequence of the corporate image.

The design is based on a key idea. Condes de Albarei carried out a metamorphosis of the pazo when it bought it in 2008. This date marks a turning point in a history that continues to grow, enriched by milestones such as the inclusion of Pazo Baión in the Gourmet Guide to Spanish Wines.

This metamorphosis was physical and spiritual. The prestigious architect César Portela designed a comprehensive transformation project for the pazo and the estate. The remodeling combined respect for the historical heritage with avant-garde approaches, recovering space for the earth as opposed to concrete.

The result has been the transformation of Pazo Baión into a reference point for wine tourism in the Rías Baixas. A space that claims its memory in every stone and every vine and advocates for sustainable and quality tourism. For all this, in 2016 Pazo Baión was recognized as Best Wine Tourism Corner of Spain 2016.

The other central element of Pazo Baión’s image is, as it could not be otherwise, the grape. The green circle closes the graphic sequence. The protagonist of an exciting story through the centuries.

The magic of the albariños single-estate

The winery has brought together the commitment of more than 400 families for a unique project. And, in turn, has opted for the production of albariños single-estate, i.e., made solely and exclusively from grapes harvested in the vineyards of the pazo. The success has been resounding.

For this reason, the image of Pazo Baión, the iconic label that can be seen on all the bottles, not only speaks of the pazo and the grapes. It also does so in its middle sections of the vineyards that give meaning to this adventure.

Unlike other wineries, Pazo Baión claims the importance of the local and the memory. The kilos of grapes do not matter, every grain counts. That is why one of its single-estate wines is called Gran a Gran.

The land and the vines are guardians of memory and wisdom. That is why the third Pazo Baión wine was baptized Vides de Fontán, taking us back to the origins of our history.

Everything, absolutely everything, in the image of Pazo Baión responds to a purpose. To a message that connects with the past and the future.

So far, by the way, we had not pointed out a truism. The circle that closes the image of Pazo Baión symbolizes, since ancient times, the connection between present and past. The flow of history is similar to the flow of wine.

Both are charged with what Isaac Díaz Pardo asked us never to lose: our collective memory.