Winemakers Adopt nanocork, Innovative Eco-Friendly Cork Wine Closure

Winemakers are adopting nanocork™, an innovative cork wine closure from ACI Cork USA, for its consistent oxygen transfer, eco-friendliness and cost-effectiveness features.

From California to Pennsylvania, winemakers are choosing Nanocork™ as their wine closure of choice because it offers a cost-effective and eco-friendly means to retain fresh fruit flavours and a long finish in white, rosé, and non-reductive red wines without concern about TCA contamination. An alternative to synthetic closures and screwcap, ACI Cork USA offers the innovative nanocork to the US market where it is currently used by Winterhawk, Roland Rosario, Big White House and Tamanend Wineries. The big Portuguese wine company, Avelada, uses nanocork for its vinho verde.

Nanocork features the Bacchus barrier, a specially developed coating with an oxygen transfer barrier, which is adhered to the top and tail of an all-natural colmated cork. “Nano” quantities of oxygen are consistently delivered to wines via the barrier coating, and this feature provides better shelf life for aromatic, fresh and delicate wines than does screw cap and plastic corks.

“I decided to use nanocork on my ’08 vintage because it is truly a breakthrough product that gave me all the benefits I needed for my artisanal wines,” said Martha Rueca-Gustafsson, winemaker and owner of Roland Rosasio Cellars, Copperopolis, CA in the Calaveras AVA. “Now I am bottling all of my red wines with nanocork, and a Calaveras County viognier too. What really convinced me at first was ACI’s excellent service and nanocork’s appealing prices, but I’m happy I tried nanocork. There have been no instances of flawed wines or TCA (“cork taint”) and I have a real cork on my wines, not screw cap or plastic.”

Nanocork is ideal for wines that require low oxygen transfer, and wines with a low reduction potential. Nanocork’s O₂ permeability is the same as a high quality cork, about 0.0005 cc’s per day. Once bonded to the cork using a highly moisture-resistant polymer, the barrier material used on nanocork is completely inert. The film material is thermoformable so it molds perfectly to cork ends, thus completely covering the curved cork edge and obviating any irregularities.

Because nanocork closures use colmated corks, the environmental footprint for nanocork is excellent: this product is one way to use as much as possible of the bark of the Cork oak, a completely renewable and sustainable tree. Nanocork is a closure that is recyclable, has a low-carbon footprint compared to synthetic closures. Other advantages of nanocork are improvement in seal between cork and bottle, elimination of ‘off’ flavors attributed to cork, strengthening of the cork end, and reduction in cork dust. Nanocork is ready for immediate use in bottling after the shipping bag of nanocorks is opened; it is consistent from cork to cork, and nanocork requires no further treatment.

Nanocork was developed by UK innovation company Bacchus Wine Closures in partnership with Alvaro Coelho & Irmãos (ACI), the second largest cork producer in the world. ACI has been testing this technology since 2005 both in-house and with customers before commercializing the product in late 2009. The Nanocork technology will also work well on sparkling wine corks and corks for spirits.

For more information on Roland Rosario wines, contact Martha Rueca-Gustafsson at coffeebnqn@comcast.net or call (707) 428-6977. http://www.rolandrosariocellars.com/

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Disclosure: As part of my portfolio of writing and marketing communications skills, I also do press release writing for a few wineries and a few suppliers to the wine industry for pay. This blogpost originated as a press release for this client.

Nanocork™, Innovative Cork Wine Closure, offers Winemakers An Alternative

Nanocork™, Innovative Cork Wine Closure, offers Winemakers An Alternative;

Newly Introduced to North American Market by ACI Cork USA

Nanocork™, the newest product in the wine closure market worldwide, offers wine producers the means to retain fresh fruit flavours and a long finish in white, rosé, and non-reductive red wines without concern about TCA contamination. An alternative to synthetic closures and screwcap, ACI Cork USA brings the innovative nanocork to the US market at an attractive price that makes it perfect for use in wines selling at today’s sweet spot of $8 to $15 per bottle.

Nanocork is a natural cork that has a specially developed coating with an oxygen transfer barrier that’s adhered to the cork’s top and tail. This extremely thin barrier film meets all EU and FDA requirements for materials intended to be in contact with food products, and is similar in structure to bag-in-box oxygen barrier materials already in wide use. With the nanocork, “nano” quantities of oxygen are consistently delivered to wines via the barrier coating, thus meeting the requirement for the optimal aging of aromatic, fresh and delicate wines.

Nanocork is perfect for winemakers who want to retain cork wine stoppers as their wine closure of choice but have packaging cost constraints. Nanocork provides an option other than lower grade cork and synthetic or screwcap closure systems. It is ideal for wines that require low oxygen transfer, and wines with a low reduction potential. Nanocork’s O₂ permeability is the same as a high quality cork, about 0.0005 cc’s per day. Once bonded to the cork using a highly moisture-resistant polymer, the barrier material used on nanocork is completely inert. The film material is thermoformable so it molds perfectly to cork ends, thus completely covering the curved cork edge and obviating any irregularities.

The results of several years of rigorous and controlled testing with by the Australian Wine Research Institute of a 2007 Clare Valley Semillon (unoaked, around 11% alcohol, relatively neutral with some fresh citrus, tropical notes, taint and fault free) gives ACI Cork USA complete confidence in nanocork’s performance and reliability for American and Canadian wines. In comparison to three other closures (Reference Two natural cork, Reference Synthetic closure, and Reference Screwcap) over 24 months of storage, The AWRI report notes that nanocork was “found to produce a fresh, intense, fruity wine with long persistence on the palate”. The wines bottled with the alternative closures displayed more honeyed notes and oxidized characteristics.

Shelf life of wines using nanocork is excellent. The AWRI research indicates that, even after 24 months, the 2007 Clare Valley Semillon tested “has further to go before reaching its shelf life” versus the other closures tested on this wine. The wines in the research trial which used other closures did show definite signs of nearing the end of their shelf lives at 24 months. The professional taste panel in Australia agreed that nanocorked wines presented an intense and persistent fresh fruit on the nose and palate.

Other advantages of nanocork are improvement in seal between cork and bottle, elimination of ‘off’ flavors attributed to cork, strengthening of the cork end, and reduction in cork dust. In terms of environmental friendliness, nanocork is a closure that is recyclable, has a low-carbon footprint compared to synthetic closures, and its major component – cork – comes from the completely renewable and sustainable Cork oak. Nanocork is ready for immediate use in bottling after the shipping bag of nanocorks is opened; nanocork requires no further treatment.

Nanocork was developed by UK innovation company Bacchus Wine Closures in partnership with Alvaro Coelho & Irmãos (ACI), the second largest cork producer in the world. ACI has been testing this technology since 2005 both in-house and with customers before commercializing the product in late 2009. The Nanocork technology will also work well on sparkling wine corks and corks for spirits.

The first US customer for nanocork is Big White House Winery and John Evan Cellars, Livermore, CA. They have just bottled their 2008 Roussanne, Ripken Vineyards (Lodi), using this newest closure in the wine industry. Big White House Winery and John Evan Cellars is located at 6800 Greenville Rd., Livermore, CA 94550. Contact John Marion at (925) 449-1976. http://www.bigwhitehouse.com/

USA Company Contact:
Armando Andrade, General Manager
ACI CORK USA
2870 Cordelia Road, Suite 150
Fairfield, CA 94534 USA

sales@acicorkusa.com
Tel: 707-426-3566
http://www.acicorkusa.com/

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Disclosure: As part of my portfolio of writing and marketing communications skills, I also do press release writing for a few wineries and a few suppliers to the wine industry for pay. This blogpost originated as a press release for this client.

Finally, a Good Corrugated Shipper

Hats off to Gundlach Bundschu for its role in the development of a corrugated shipper that eliminates the need for Styrofoam.

“We could not find a reliable, environmentally-friendly alternative to the 12-pack Styrofoam shipper,” said Chris Holman, operations manager for Gundlach Bundschu. He adds, “We partnered with Unisource Worldwide, Inc., and are pleased to have been part of a solution to help remove Styrofoam from land fills.”

As a result, Unisource is now producing a shipper that is made of 100% corrugated material with 20 to 40% post-consumer recycled content; 100% biodegradable and recyclable, has a minimal increase in weight over Styrofoam and a decrease from other cardboard designs, and meets United Parcel Service standards.

A recent press release noted that this was an element in Gundlach Bundschu's work to earn the distinguished Green Business Certification from Sonoma County. Gundlach Bundschu began to work towards certification shortly after the pilot program was launched just over a year ago and received its certification this summer. California’s oldest family-owned winery, it is one of only 12 wineries to earn the certification from Sonoma County.

Green Business Certification requires adhering to a strict set of standards in four areas, including water conservation, energy conservation, solid waste reduction and recycling, and pollution prevention. Certification requires inspection by a committee of local government and municipal utilities, including Sonoma County Water Agency, Pacific Gas & Electric, Sonoma County Waste Management Agency and Department of Emergency Services.


(VISIT MY NEW BLOG: http://water-for-wine.blogspot.com/ )

Wine by the Helmet? Packaging COULD BE a lot more fun!

What hath God wrought? Walking down Polk Street in San Francisco, I spot a rotund gent on a moped, wearing Bermuda shorts and bowling shoes, no socks. Tee shirt with effects of chilly day evident. (I guess that is better than assless chaps – we have to wait for the Folsom Street Fair for that!) But it struck me that this is a demographic – the moped-riding-short-wearing-bowling-shoe-fan – that new wine packaging might appeal to. Like a motorcycle helmet-shaped wine bottle.

In many ways, wine packaging today is uninspiring. No significant change, really, in hundreds of years. I know that food packaging is culture-bound; I remember the olden days when Tetrapak had a heck of a time making inroads outside Northern Europe. And clearly, wine packaging is VERY culture-bound.

I like the concept that MÁS Wine Company introduced, that of packaging a super premium wine in a mini tank. According to their website, “the German engineered mini tank is an environmentally friendly, air-tight, stainless steel container that mimics the way wine is stored at a winery. These mini tanks are re-usable, and they keep every glass as fresh as the first.” Now if we could just move that down from the 11 or 15 liter size to something that fits on my kitchen counter…. You get the idea. New packaging ideas!

Last year at a wine shop in CapeTown, South Africa, I was amazed at the plethora of wine packaging alternatives. Doypack. Bag in Box. Cans. Tetra. A bunch more I forget. So if things are changing elsewhere in the world, they will slowly but surely make their way to the shores of this colony – you know, the place where packaging changes most slowly – the US of A.

I think that we need to help it along.

Just for fun, give me some ideas of new demographics/market niches (see my example above) and the wine containers that would appeal to them. Keep it clean. Keep the other stuff for San Francisco the weekend of September 27, 2009. (There is so much to enjoy in our Folsom Fair city!)

Why Boxed Wines Rule Today

A dollar sales increase of almost 25% and a unit-volume sales increase of 4% for boxed wines in the 52-weeks/year ending February 22 is a real eyeopener -- or shall we say, wine-box-tap-opener. Driving this winning streak for wines sold in U.S. food and drug stores is clearly price.

Lewis Perdue, in his March 6 Wine Industry Insights newsletter, analyzed Information Resources Inc data and stated: "As expected, lower-price-point box wines scored the biggest gains with box wines costing less than $2 for a 750 ml equivalents posting a 41.5 percent gain."

For those manufacturers of bag-in-box packaging equipment, it's an "I told you so" moment. Christopher Rutter, founder of Rapak Inc. (Union City, CA) and currently Director of Product Development, said "It was only a matter of time and economics before US consumers discovered the great value and great wine product quality that's to be had in boxed wines."

Rutter hails from Australia originally, and for the almost-twenty years that I've known him, he has been a steady proponent of boxed beverages, from dairy to juice to beverage concentrates to wines. But it is the wine segment that is dearest to his heart.

"So many advancements have been made in barrier packaging and in taps for wine boxes that the problems of the 1980's with oxygen permeation are not a factor at all anymore." Rutter said. "This means that wines like Black Box, which use our packaging equipment, give consumers a great wine experience at a value price."

Since so many wines are produced to be consumed quickly (and ARE consumed quickly!), shelf life is becoming less of a concern all across the retail wine spectrum. But some consumers have been concerned about the freshness of a wine they can't see. The boxed wine industry's success with high quality wines like Black Box has helped to overcome that apprehension.

Today, even small and medium sized wineries can enter this market. To produce boxed wine cost efficiently, Rapak offers its Model 330 bag-in-box wine filler at an equipment cost that’s significantly lower than other entry-level bag-in-box fillers. It can produce 10,000-150,000 3-Liter Boxes annually, and also be used to produce 18-liter bags for the foodservice/institutional market.

For more information on the newsletter, contact Lewis Purdue via his website: http://wineindustryinsight.com/ For more information on bag-in-box filling equipment, contact Rapak (http://www.rapak.com/) and ask for Chris Rutter.

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Disclosure: As part of my portfolio of writing and marketing communications skills, I also do press release writing for a few wineries and a few suppliers to the wine industry for pay. Parts of this blogpost originated as a press release for Rapak.

Marketing & Packaging Dynamics Today -- Zinfandel Producers Give Their Perspectives

Twenty-five winery owners and winemakers took time from pouring their wonderful Zinfandels at the recent ZAP (Zinfandel Advocates & Producers) event in San Francisco to answer some state-of-the-industry questions.

MARKETING DYNAMICS TODAY

The first question was “What, in your opinion, are the key issues and concerns that relate to marketing of your wines today?” The summary answers are 1) the economy and its impact on wine sales, particularly on high priced wines 2) the importance of social networking in getting the message out, and its particular importance for smaller wineries that do a lot of direct-to-consumer sales; 3) the recent excise taxes proposed by many states, including California); 4) the need to unify shipping regulations for ease in doing internet sales; and 5) the concerns about media overload and penetration of message to consumers, as well as the need to educate the public about wine. Regardless of the list of concerns, however, the overall feeling is upbeat. “It’s all about keeping customer’s happy. There will be ups and downs economically, but we will all be okay.”

1) The economy and its impact on wine sales, particularly on high priced wines
• “The state of the economy is a worry. Price point has really become a factor. In the $20-30/bottle range, consumers are not afraid to buy … but they are buying one bottle or two, not a case.”
• “The economy is a major marketing issue. We are a premium wine, so it is a tougher sell for us.”
• “Today’s issue: price point. But this is a cyclical kind of thing, and we as an industry should not be reactive to it; we should just keep on marketing.”
• “Everybody is kind of bogged down right now. There is a lot of wine in the pipeline and new orders from distributors and broker are not pouring in.”
• “Consumers want good quality wines for less money. It is important to have wines that give consumers great value at a reasonable price. The under-$20 price point is ideal, but even there, you must give consumer a good quality product.”
• “Price point. I suggest that it makes sense to keep wines at a certain price point right now. Under $30 for premium wines. Under $25 for mid level. Under $15 for moderate-priced and locally produced wines. Under $10 will fly off the shelf!”
• “We must be aggressive about moving inventory by cutting prices. I see a range of price cuts ahead in the 20% category.”
• “The distribution side of the business is affected a lot by the economy. There is a big backlog of inventory right now, and restaurant/on-premise sales are ‘way down. This means it is really important to keep our Direct To Consumer efforts going strong.”

2) The importance of social networking in getting the message out, and its particular importance for smaller wineries that do a lot of direct-to-consumer sales
• “We need to learn how to use bloggers to get the word out for new wineries in particular.”
• “I worry about how to get our name out when we are such a small producer. Maybe social networking is the answer.”
• “Since we just released our first wines a few months ago, we are trying to break into the market. We are taking the time to learn how to use Facebook and Twitter for marketing.”
• “We sell primarily out of our tasting room and on-line, and using social networking should help us.”
• “Internet marketing has a big role. People want instant communication. There is no other consumer item that is as competitive as wine, and we need to use the internet to our advantage.”

3) The recent excise taxes proposed by many states, including California)
• “The tax in California amounts to a 640% excise tax. That will make it really hard to market my wines. My wine is comparable in taste to an Argentinian Malbec, and even after the taxes are applied to those wines, they’ll still be around $7 a bottle. I can’t compete.”

4) The need to unify shipping regulations for ease in doing internet sales
• “It is just too complex. We need to unify and ease shipping and licensing conditions across the whole United States.”

5) The concerns about media overload and penetration of message to consumers, as well as the need to educate the public about wine.
• “I am concerned about message retention by consumers. It is hard to reach them about the uniqueness of our wines, for consumers to keep that in mind when they are so bombarded by the media.”
• “We can’t let up on our efforts to educate the public. There is still a huge population base that doesn’t understand the value of wine in their lives and on their everyday tables.”


WINE PACKAGING DYNAMICS TODAY

The second question was, “What , in your opinion, are the key issues and concerns that relate to the packaging of your wines today?” The summary answers are: 1) Cork: cleanliness, TCA, costs and availability; 2) Bottle weight; 3) Labels; 4) Other closures.

1) Cork: cleanliness, TCA, costs and availability
• Every answer in this category of concern was pretty much the same. (But your author knows for a fact that the cork industry has done a lot on the cleanliness and TCA issue; see a great review at http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/20080212_2.html )
• On the issue of cost and availability, four of the respondents cited these concerns.

2) Bottle weight
• “There’s been a trend in wine packaging for the past few years to use heavier bottles as evidence that a wine is a premium wine. There’s really no need to do that. In fact, what’s happening now is a REVERSE in the trend – everyone wants lighter bottles.”
• “Bottle weight and landfill issues are related.”
• “Green green green. The call for lighter weight bottles is part of that movement in our industry.”
• “We need to look hard at the economics. Maybe we should buy glass locally instead of from India or China.”

3) Labels
• “Eye appeal is vital.” “It’s important to have a label that catches the consumer’s eye on the shelf”
• “A winery should want its labels to match its personality.”
• “There is definitely a need for eye-popping labels, and this is crucial with the millennial generation of buyers”
• “Hey, we need larger fonts on wine bottles! Consumers need to be able to read the labels”
• Label information: there is a growing need to give consumers brief info about the wine in 20 words or less.”
• “Critter labels. Thank goodness they are disappearing.” “Critter labels are stupid”. (I swear I didn’t prompt these responses! But your author agrees, see my blogpost of September 20, 2008: winebiznews.blogspot.com/2008/09/critter-wines-and-critter-shorts.html )

4) Other closures
• “Closures are a way you can differentiate your product”
• “We need a lot more choices in closures than we now have. And those closures need to both deliver the aesthetics and yet protect the quality of the wine.”
• “Screw caps. There seems to be public acceptance of these closures in the under-$20 segment.”


WINE PACKAGING CHANGES ALREADY PLANNED

The last question was “What changes do you see ahead in wine packaging in the next 1 to 2 years, both for your own wine, and for the industry as a whole?” The summary answers are 1) Better label design is necessary; 2) Green packaging issues will lead to, among other things, lighter-weight bottles; 3) Use of screw cap and/or synthetic cork will rise; and 4) Other non-glass packaging formats are being considered

1) Better label design is necessary
• “We are going to improve our label design”
• “We need to update our label, make it more appealing to younger consumers.”

2) Green packaging issues will lead to, among other things, lighter-weight bottles
• “Lighter bottles will reduce the cost of shipping”
• “We are hearing a lot about the carbon footprint of heavy glass bottles, something that takes less energy to create.”
• “Does it really matter to consumers what the bottle looks like? We need to think about bottle thickness changes, tapers that lightweight, and so on.”

3) Use of screw cap and/or synthetic cork will rise
• Screw caps – we’d use them more if they could go on a variety of bottles, but we’d never use them for red wines.”
• “We are going to go to screw cap on our white wines, and will use synthetic cork on our reds.”

4) Other non-glass packaging formats are being considered
• “We need to move to “greener” packaging, where there is less waste.”
• “Paper packaging has a chance now with the carbon footprint thing; I see some bag-in-box here at ZAP and I see it in the stores.”

Thanks to the winery folks who took time to answer these questions. Those of us who attended the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium in Sacramento in late January 2009 heard about these issues from a variety of experts. But from the horses’ mouths, so to speak – these interviews provide a reality check.

Zinfandel Producers Share Their Views on Marketing and Packaging at the 2009 ZAP Festival

275 wineries! Two Pavillions at Fort Mason, San Francisco! An enormous event, and almost mind-boggling. After a week of wine tastings in Sacramento, however, I was more interested in talking to the Zinfandel producers themselves than tasting wine, and frankly that was the right attitude for an event that I arrived at close to 10:30 in the morning. Soon I'l post the compilation of what's on the mind of the 22 winery owners or winemakers I spoke to regarding marketing issues right now in the wine business, and packaging issues and changes ahead. Bear in mind that many of these Zin producers are smaller wineries, so there is some distortion in the sample (ie, not representative of the wine business as a whole) but regardless of that, the dialogue was pretty consistent with what I'd heard from some of the Biggies (Gallo, Wine Group) in Sacramento last week.
But yes, I did sample some wines, and here are a few notes. Starry Night Winery (Novato, CA, which is in the San Francisco Bay Area) had a yummy 2006 Old Vine Zinfandel made from grapes from five vineyards on Tom Feeny Ranch-Russian River Valley. Two of the vineyards were planted in the early 1900's, one in 1928, one in 1934 and the last in the mid-1940's. All vines are dry farmed and produce a limited crop, which, according to the tasting notes "results in deep and complex fruit and spice flavors". To me, the cherry aroma was a standout, and the taste of pepper really came through on the back of the palate. You can buy one of the bottles from the 1200 cases they produced, for $28 a bottle. 15.2% alcohol. (And at 10:30 in the morning, that'll set you up for the rest of the day!)
In mid-afternoon, I enjoyed the 2006 Harney Lane Old Vine Zinfandel from the Lizzie James Vineyard in the Mokelumne River area of Lodi, CA (Central California). It's softened with 3% Petite Sirah, and has terrific balance of aroma and mouthfeel, and is consistent across the palate. Berries come through nicely, although the tasting notes cite a vanilla finish that I didn't personally find there. $28 a bottle, only 221 cases made. Alcohol 15.6% This wine won a Gold medal in the 2009 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.

AND POSTED ON FEBRUARY 5 2009, A SUMMARY OF "WHAT ARE THEY THINKING" about marketing, packaging, and oh did we mention The Economy? ....

Carbon Footprint of Wine Stoppers

That fresh-tasting SOFIA Blanc de Blancs (2006) from Francis Coppola that my friends and I shared while watching the sun set over Napa from the perspective of Russian Hill in San Francisco ... perfect for celebrating the newly negotiated salary for my internet ad-sales friend. But, alas, as often happens when we gather around the wine bottles, we enjoy the product but I confess to prompting a deeper look at the package too. In this case, the cork stopper used for this sparkling wine. "Cork," said my neighbor, "what a wasteful product." It took about two minutes to remind her that 1) cork is renewable 2) cork is lightweight 3) cork implies a premium product 4) cork was the original and authentic wine stopper, used for centuries, and 5) cork has a far more favorable environmental profile than almost any other wine stopper. If "Lessened Carbon Footprint" is the object, than the plastic and aluminium screw top closures have a long way to go in matching cork's win-win in this area. This is not a rant, this is fact.

~ GLOBAL TRENDS IN WINE PACKAGING ~

This article was authored by the owner of this blog, and published in PACKAGING REVIEW - SOUTH AFRICA in the August 2008 issue, under the title "Wine Packaging Trends."

Wine packaging is primarily about the relationship that a wine farmer seeks to build with his customers – some call this “brand”. Regardless of brand equity built in the past, as markets and new clientele are developed, packaging must twist and turn to meet evolving consumer demands.

Today, nothing is as demanding as “green”. Wine packaging must take into account a growing locavore movement, with its vocal segment of consumers suggesting that buying local and transporting less is environmentally responsible. This goes beyond the now-customary “carbon footprint” concerns, and is a trend to watch.

Lighter weight bottles are coming to your winery soon. This is a major trend worldwide, and is reinforced by the fact that lighter packaging is also cheaper packaging – an important consideration for wine farmers who must contain costs without affecting product quality.

The UK program GlassRiteWine goes one step further than mere use of lighter weight bottles. Today, almost 200 million 75 cl glass bottles are filled in the UK with wine that has been imported bulk instead of being bottled at the source. . The second phase of this program will involve development and trial of lighter weight bottles for champagne and sparkling wines. Studies of PET alternatives are also under way.

The briefing on Environment and Ethical Issues found at http://www.wineintelligence.com/ displays a series of interesting charts, the results of studies that lead their analysts to conclude that “bag-in-box, cartons, plastic bottles and ring-pull cans all have image problems to address.” Yet, more and more wineries are bravely testing consumer reaction to these packages, and consumers are currently buying these wines for parties, picnics and informal meals at home. The history of packaging adoption shows that it is not a far reach from here to the formal meal and restaurant table.

Wine in flexible pouches is heralded as having up to 80% less of a carbon footprint than wine bottles. The Company of Wine People just launched its Arniston Bay pouched wine to the UK market, featuring Chenin Chardonnay and Pinotage Rose varietals in 1.5 liter pouches, with 250 ml pouches following on. Other lauded consumer benefits are ease of transport, and ease of storage in the fridge. Once opened, the wine is said to stay fresh for up to one month. These pouches are flexo printed and feature a low-profile press tap; the Saflite Packaging division of AstraPak Group is the manufacturer, and the packaging is designed to be export-sturdy.

Bag in Box wine is becoming more acceptable to consumers as packaging manufacturers have created films with excellent oxygen barrier protection to keep both wine quality optimal and, in conjunction with new dispensers, offer a differentiated, long life wine package.
One such example is the new Viniplus ™ bag-in-box wine tap designed and manufactured by Worldwide Dispensers. This tap provides easy one-handed dispensing, and no mess; the directional flow of wine from the box to the glass is excellent. The tap’s no-drip spout features a special valve that leaves the it clean and ready for the next pour. The total package provides over 100 days of shelf life extension.

In July 2008, Fairhills launched a range of wines in 100% recyclable bag-in-box. Their Pinot Grigio and Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc moved to 1-liter bag-in-box for reasons of easy transport and convenient consumer storage. The wines stay fresh for up to nine months before use, and for up to two weeks after opening if they are then kept chilled in the ‘fridge. CEO of Fairhills wines, Bernard Fontannaz, lauded the lower carbon footprint that this package represents. “As the largest Fairtrade wine supplier in the UK we feel it is out duty to take environmental issues into account when packaging our wine,” he stated. The Fairhills project in South Africa is a joint venture between Origin Wines and the Du Toitskloof winery located in the Western Cape.

The marketing need for good presentation on the shelf and on the table brings the role of labels and closures to the fore. The story that labels tell to consumers is all-important, and wine label design must do this job. But increasingly, labels must perform yeoman duty: they must convey a sense of “place”, carry on a romance with the consumer, and yet meet all the varying requirements for home and export markets.

With increasing concern about alcohol content, label graphic designers must figure out ways to address this information need. Calorie counts may be the biggest coming attraction on the wine label. Both California and New York – trend-setting states for food and drink worldwide – have had legislation recently recommended that will require restaurants to post calorie counts on their menus. It is not a huge jump from a menu to a wine list, and from there you can expect pressure to list calories on your wine bottle labels.

Small leaflets and hang-tabs are starting to appear on bottles of wine at retail, with the intent of conveying more information for the wine-curious consumer. Look for increased use of these promotional techniques, as the real estate on both the front and back of bottle labels becomes more and more crowded, with content ranging from wine-food pairing suggestions, to philosophy of “organic” and “Biodynamic” production, to “Wineometers” depicting dryness/sweetness and full/light boded aspects of the wine.

The choice of wine bottle closures as an indicator of quality and value to a consumer, and as a protector of the lovingly produced contents, provides continuing controversy about cork type (100% cork, “technicals”, plastics, etc), and the merits of screw cap. There is no definitive answer on this packaging type and trend.

Recently, Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher, wine writers for The Wall Street Journal, asked Lee Miyamura, the winemaker for Merdian, about their experience with screw cap. The writers had noticed that Meridian’s Chardonnay had a screw cap in the 2005 vintage and a cork in 2006. When they asked Ms. Miyamura about this, according to the article, “she told us that the winery test-marketed the screw cap in 2005 and encountered consumer resistance, so it went back to cork (albeit plastic) for 2006. That’s interesting in a world where more and more wines are being closed with screw caps.”

Stelvin has done an excellent marketing job in the wine industry. Their website is packed with
success stories and the proponents of screw cap are many. Cork producers seem to fight their own internecine wars, which is too bad because they need increased and coordinated industry-wide research to deal with the bugaboo of “cork taint”, or TCA.

Manufacturing processes like the DrasRed from ACI Cork and the super-critical carbon dioxide process used for Oeneo’s DIAM closures are making excellent progress in eliminating the TCA problem for winemakers.

It’s a difficult juggle. Sustainability, green, cost, consumer behavior, image, quality of product, shelf-space allocation, price, value, local, export…. the list of packaging decision-making considerations is long. The only sure thing is that next year, the list will be longer.

-end-

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON PACKAGES AND PROCESSES....

http://www.acicorkusa.com/ for more information on cork wine closures and DrasRed process
http://www.rapak.com for more information on bag-in-box wine packaging
http://www.stelvin.pechiney.com/index_en.html for more information on aluminum screw cap closures for wine
http://www.tcafreecorks.com/ for more information on Oeneo's Diam closures
http://www.wineintelligence.com/ for briefings on environmental and ethical issues in the wine industry

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Disclosure: As part of my portfolio of writing and marketing communications skills, I also do press release writing for a few wineries and a few suppliers to the wine industry for pay. Parts of this blogpost originated as a press releases for Rapak and for ACI Cork.

~ CRITTER WINES AND CRITTER SHORTS ~

Critter wines and critter shorts! My head is swirling with the cross cultural implications of brand, design, edginess, aroma and association.

Fresh from a visit to the Dartmouth College campus in New Hampshire (oldest son just graduated with MBA from its Tuck School of Business), I heard otherwise sensible young professional men rhapsodize about a kind of pink slacks (Rhode Island Reds) that are considered the ultimate in outré, and then move through their imaginary closets (they’re all broke after 2 years at B-School and suits are on their minds) to the hanger holding the critter shorts.

Whaa…. ? Um, while at least they are khaki, and you can get them in ankle length too, but they do in fact have critters embroidered at their bottom hems. Crabs, lobsters, fish.

Juxtapose this to the comments from local San Francisco wine savant Chuck , who snorts, “Critter wines? Won’t even stock ‘em!”

Pay attention, label designers! Chuck is influential as buyer for the well known Jug Shop wine store on Polk Street in San Francisco. His chief problems (we should all have THIS one!) is that there are too many wines to taste in his everyday life, and too many wines to buys for all his loyal customers. So he has to make some cuts according to wine realities – and his observation of wine consumer behavior over the past several decades certainly constitutes an important part of wine reality.

A wine label with a cat on it – cheetah, tabby, leopard – evokes the aroma of wet cat, or worse, cat piss. This even before the wine is opened!

Running horses? Horse sweat. And ouch, did you scratch that horsefly bite again just now? Golden retriever? Musty dogs fresh from the lake, maybe even with a hint of bear scat (a favorite rolling-in-the-meadow substance). Birds? Do I really have to go back to the chicken coop days of my early farm upbringing? Snakes, alligators, reptiles, iguanas…oh my… just as bad as lions and tigers and bears! Beware!

Having said all this, I personally like all those Sebeka blends of pinotage plus plus that come out of South Africa, courtesy of a joint venture with Gallo. Great value. Lousy label. Time for a re-think, perhaps? If the ZA* wine industry wants to reinforce in global consumers’ minds that their wines are in fact from a New World* region but absolutely made in and Old World way and with classic taste and associated aroma, then let’s move away from the wildlife image stuff, and concentrate on telling the real story on the label.

*ZA = the suffix on almost all websites of companies located in South Africa. This comes from the old Dutch “Zuit-Afrika” and should remind us that vineyards were planted more than 350 years ago by the Dutch East Indies company when they established Cape Town as a re-supply station.

*New World = generally and loosely used to refer to wine growing regions south of the equator.

http://www.sebekawines.com/home.asp

http://www.thejugshop.com/