Opening up the bottle

Wines & Vines, Sept, 2002 by Larry Walker

Beyond Screwcaps

But screwcaps aren't the only changes taking place in wine bottles. Loughmiller at APM sees a "strong movement" to use color, weight, shape and "see through" labels to create brand identity and deliver a quality message.

"Perhaps taking a page from the premium spirits business, some of the more daring wine producers are even breaking free of an age-old constraint and are using asymmetric bottle shapes. If more marketing innovators can convince their financial and production people to accept the challenge this brings, dramatic designs will blossom," Loughmiller said.

He said that the traditional 750m1 bottles remained the norm, both because of regulatory limitations and the general consumer view that this is the correct size for a wine bottle. However, he said, "Color choice has dramatically expanded as the individual European glass factories have adopted their unique shade versions of the traditional basic colors. These color choices have their inherent volume limitation because they must be built-in at the furnace. Recent advances in screening heat-fused colors to the exterior of clear glass bottles has opened up the possibilities to execute very unique colors without the need for large quantity production.

Roberta Parmelee of Waterloo Container agreed that tradition was still very strong. "Reds still get bottled in Bordeaux bottles. Rieslings still get bottled in hock-style bottles," she said. She added that she was seeing some tendency to bottle lighter-style wines in blue, red or even frosted bottles to get more attention. She added that requests for unusual bottle sizes and bottle weight were mostly for premium wines selling at more than $25.

Joel Miller of Phoenix Packaging believes that North American wines have a long way to go, however, in using the bottle as part of the sales package. "Frankly this industry is one of the most frustrating ones to work with. Many wineries 'talk' of being progressive and innovative; however it is the rare exception that is willing to stray from the norm. We have had a few requests for ceramic/stoneware bottles in a variety of colors and shapes. We have received a few requests for different shaped glass bottles and others embossed with logos and vignettes designed into the side of a bottle. Sizes are standardized," he said.

Miller said that, in general, there was little willingness to break away from accepted standards. "In Italy if you look at 15 different wines in a store, 12 of them will be in different shaped bottles. In North America three will be different. North American wineries have a long way to go when it comes to creative structural packaging. Until competition forces it, wineries will play it safe with true and trusted standards. Labels are the only area they seem willing to play with," he said.

He added that in his estimation, wineries lag far behind other beverages and spirits when it comes to alternative packaging.

Silvani, at California Glass, said that while they frequently receive questions about "unique" and "different" bottles, "most customers still want antique green bottles, with some requests for flint, amber, deadleaf green, and a few requests for the more 'exotic' colors such as Kuprius (turquoise blue), ruby red, cobalt or royal blue and the like."