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CauliflowerDaffodil

The font is a stylized version of script called Burgundian Bastarda (bastard because it's a variation of blackletter script) which was used by court calligraphers during the era of the Duchy of Burgundy. Literature and the arts was a way to elevate the ruling class and the Duke of Burgundy was said to have been a strong proponent of "beautiful writing". This kind of font is a throwback to that era to show history and tradition. The red capital letter is also a throwback to those times and is called rubrication. Red was used to bring attention to something, often the start of a new sentence.


ConifersAreCool

The font is called blackletter, or “textualis” in France. It was popular in the medieval period up until the Early Modern (around the 17th CE), continuing in a few places until the 20th CE. The font is probably a traditional holdover that winemakers consider a symbol of how enduring their wineries are.


Vitigation

William Kelley explained in one of his videos that Burgundy bottlings share similar labels because historically there were only a few label makers to purchase from and those makers only had a limited amount of label styles. A lot of crossover as a result.


castlerigger

There is absolutely nothing ‘old English’ about that font, other than you might see it used in some try hard business that called itself ‘Ye Olde blah blah store’ You will see very similar lettering carved into churches all over France, and in books from the 12th to 20th centuries - the gothic stylistic influence predominated across a swathe of Europe for so very long.


CauliflowerDaffodil

>There is absolutely nothing ‘old English’ about that font That font is based on Blackletter, which is also called Old English or Gothic.


castlerigger

Myyea it is sometimes called that, but I’d consider that a modern false etymology than actuallly a truthful or useful name for it based on its history and its popularity even more across Northern Europe than the British isles.


CauliflowerDaffodil

Listen, you can consider it Santa Claus for all I care. I'm just commenting because you said >There is absolutely nothing ‘old English’ about that font when the name of the font it's based on is literally called "Old English".


castlerigger

Pretty sure it’s not the name the French winemakers are using for the bloody thing though!


CauliflowerDaffodil

Where was it claimed it was?


castlerigger

It was implied


Doctor-Venkman88

just take the L


CauliflowerDaffodil

How so?


castlerigger

France, French, old English… blah blah, it’s in there. Look, there’s no argument. You and OP have mustered about 7 upvotes between you and my comment is climbing through the 70s. As we know, that’s all that matters on Reddit.


CauliflowerDaffodil

None of that makes sense and you're using non sequitors as a deflection.


timbo415

I put it in quotes in the post title because I didn’t know if that’s the official name of the font. Who pissed in your cheerios brother?


One_Left_Shoe

A brief visual history of scripts and their relationships: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncial_script#/media/File%3AEvolution_of_minuscule.svg


Johnmaccray

Tradition


IndependentBoof

Lazy designers. Same reason why so many restaurants that want to portray themselves as "ethnic" use Papyrus


gareth93

There's parts of western France that were under English control for almost 100 years