Dutch Design: Feeling blue a winner for wine

The beautiful Delft Blue design for the label of a South African sparkling wine from Robertson Winery was named one of Forbes's 2014 coolest wine designs.

The No House Wine sparkling wine is exported to the Netherlands from grapes grown in the Namaqualand area of the Western Cape and Viljoensdrift near Robertson.

''Delft" refers to the blue and white design on Dutch pottery traditionally made in and around Delft in the Netherlands.

The Delft Blue label was designed and donated by the Dutch design house Studio Boot.

Proceeds from the wine supports housing projects for deprived communities, especially children affected by Aids in KwaZulu-Natal.

"We came up with the name No House Wine because of our commitment to support people with no houses," said the initiator of the project, Jeroen Tebbe.

He said 55 houses have been built, thanks to the project, and more are planned .

"We want to support South African jobs by selling a South African product to raise awareness about the country, and by teaming it with Dutch design ."

Edwin Vollebergh of Studio Boot described the label as a simple and beautiful design inspired by traditional Dutch iconography that describes the collaboration between the Netherlands and South Africa.

The label was one of 14 to make the Forbes list for 2014.

Katie Kelly Bell, who made the selection, said: ''I look for wine labels that go above and beyond, delivering a 'wow' factor that makes them as much fun to look at as they are to consume."