Market drives wine bottle revolution

Wines & Vines, Oct, 1995 by Larry Walker

The half-billion dollar U.S. wine bottle business is undergoing a "revolution," according to suppliers trying to ride the crest of a changing bottle market and stay one jump ahead of the power curve.

Changes in bottle shape, color, texture and other fine points of glass tuning have become hush-hush trade secrets, as wineries struggle to make their product stand out on crowded retail shelves.

The changes are clearly market driven, with the major effort directed at younger consumers who appear to be abandoning wine in favor of hand-crafted beer and spirits and a flood of new-age soft drinks.

Most producers and suppliers credit the Robert Mondavi flange-top bottle with kicking off the revolution. There were signs of it coming even before that with various custom bottle molds and other design changes. Most of these were imported bottles, largely from Italy where bottle design always has been important, at least for a few super-premium brands.

Bill Preston at APM, Inc. said that Italy has a artisan tradition of hand blown glass that has carried over into packaging glass. Preston imports Italian bottles from 40 different producers.

But whether the wine bottle revolution started in Italy or California, California wineries are quickly joining the rush for shelf recognition. Larry Challacombe, vice-president of marketing for Charles Krug in Napa, admitted that the Krug line "got a little dusty" over the years and a thorough repackaging is going forward, beginning with the bottle.

"We have repackaged the CK Mondavi line, putting it in punted glass with a bartop rim, although it still will take a regular cork finish. The capsule is clear plastic, but it doesn't have the wax on top," Challacombe said. The new bottles also will be used on the CK Mondavi line of 1.5 liter wines, although they will not be punted.

The decision for a new look was made after Krug ended its marketing agreement with Seagram Classics. "We are looking for a lot of eye appeal to go with the substance we have in the bottle," he said. The new bottles cost about 25% more than the old bottles, at about 50 cents a bottle, according to Challacombe.

Coming next is a high-shoulder, punted bottle for a new Charles Krug Bordeaux blend and a Sangiovese. The bottles are in antique green and from a French glass company, Saver.

"These are intended for upscale wines that will retail from $15 to $25. We felt we needed a new package to market these innovative wines," he said.

The new wines will be released in January, along with an estate olive oil, part of the Krug plan to emphasize the family's Italian heritage.

Rob Belke, marketing manager for liquor, wine and food for Anchor Glass in Tampa, Fla., commented that the wine business had "been sleeping for quite some time. There has been a very traditional outlook on packaging for a number of years." Belke said one of the landmarks in the new look of bottles was the Nicole Miller-designed bottle for Korbel sparkling wine. "Then came Mondavi's flange bottle - and we were involved in both of those," he added.

Belke and Anchor vice president Brad Tucker (recently relocated to Florida after his stint in Napa) said the boost in Mondavi sales following the introduction of the flange had led to a proliferation of flange finishes. Some are step flanges, some are finished rings. The Mondavi design is a private mold, but other producers such as Ball Madera Glass are offering non-proprietary molds for flange bottles that a winery can buy from stock, without the expenses of a private mold, which can run to $60,000 or more, depending on needs and bottle runs.

"We really find the wine area like a flower about to blossom," Belke said. Anchor, owned by Vitro, a Mexican company which did $4.1 billion in sales in 1994, is now flooded with requests for unique molds, various embossing techniques and other bottle designs that would have been unthinkable a few years or even a few months ago, Belke said.

"I think the sales growth that Mondavi experienced supported the fact that the market was willing to tolerate something different in the wine package," he said.

Anchor has several "radical" projects developed, but the wine won't be released until after the first of the year and the company was not at liberty to reveal the exact design.

"They may not be as radical as the shapes that have driven soft drink and beer packages," Belke said. He cited Berry Aid, Arizona Ice Tea, Clearly Canadian, and Zima among beverage producers who have clearly shaken up the traditional packaging market.

Belke and Tucker agreed that the new bottles and the total wine package was important in reaching younger drinkers in their 20s and 30s, who now are drinking beer or spirits.

"The 20-somethings group is not into wine at all," Belke said. "They are intimidated and afraid of making the wrong choice, and the packaging is not appealing. Yet, they can buy a beer and not be concerned," he said.

Belke believes that packaging is one approach to expand the consumer base and could represent a better payback than money spent on advertising.