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Bodega Cuatro Rayas adds braille to wine label
An organic Verdejo produced by Rueda wine cooperative Cuatro Rayas now features braille lettering to help people with visual impairments read its label.
The front label on Cuatro Rayas’ Green & Social (G&S) Verdejo uses lettering from the Braille alphabet to communicate details about the winery, grape variety and vintage to visually impaired people.
According to Cuatro Rayas the decision to include braille was made because the wine cooperative “represents the livelihood of 383 families in rural areas and is actively engaged in the effective promotion of equality between women and men in that environment.”
The featured braille also includes information on the Rueda DO.
Braille beginnings
An early iteration of braille was established in 1819 by Charles Barbier, a former French soldier in Napoleon’s army, when he developed raised point writing. Also known as ‘night writing’, it was a system that allowed the military to communicate in the dark without using candles, by instead cutting notches into paper with a knife to indicate the placement of letters.
This system was then adapted by Louis Braille a decade or so later to create a reading and writing system for the blind. Louis Braille, who was himself blind, added extra symbols for numbers and music, and published the first guide to using braille in 1829.
In November 2024 opera star Andrea Bocelli, who lost his eyesight completely aged 12, told db that he wasn’t sure whether his blindness had made his palate more precise.
“What I can say is that what we often call ‘limitations’ can be transformed into opportunities – paths for growth,” he said. “Every human being must come to terms with the tools given to them, whatever they may be, and our communication channels with the world are numerous, powerful and intricate.
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“All it takes is the willingness to cultivate them. It’s no coincidence that some see everything but understand nothing, while others, without even looking, manage to perceive it all.”
The singer launched his own wine range Bocelli1831 earlier this year in collaboration with Italian wine company Zonin.
Sustainable label
G&S Verdejo, released in 2020, uses organic grapes harvested mechanically at night and fermented in stainless steel vats. The wine, which has “fresh and balanced citric and balsamic aromas” typical of the variety, is also vegan friendly.
Besides the writing in braille, the paper used for the Verdejo’s label is recycled and FSC-certified, while the capsule is 100% recyclable aluminium and free of plastic, and the closure has a zero carbon footprint.
VR pruning tool
The Rueda cooperative has never been afraid to pioneer new innovations. Last year, db reported that Cuatro Rayas was using cutting-edge virtual reality (VR) to train staff how to prune vines. The VR simulates a number of different challenges faced by viticulturists in a real vineyard, and staff are given virtual reality goggles and “sensorised pruning shears” with which to practice.
Using VR allows team member to get the hang of the complex procedure without risking the health of real vines, which are vulnerable to contracting trunk diseases such as Eutypa dieback during pruning.
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