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PACKAGING Sparkling Wine Needs No Glitz Tradition still the norm for growing sparkling wine segment By Jane Firstenfeld P op the cork and the party���s on. For centuries, a bottle of bubbly has launched celebrations great and intimate, and the worldwide market appears to be growing. According to data published in August by the London research institute TNS, if the demand from all sparkling wine drinkers was fully met, the proportion of sparkling wine on the alcohol market would rise from 5.1% to 7.8%, quadrupling the emergent markets of India and China. More mature markets like Great Britain and the U.S. also could double their market share to 9.1% or 6.5% respectively, the survey said. By early November 2012, an even 900 North American wineries claimed to produce sparkling wine, per WinesVinesDATA. Although this figure is not further broken down by type of sparkler��� and includes traditional bottle-fermented (m��thode champenoise), bulk fermented (Charmat process) and carbonated grape and fruit wines and sparkling ciders���it does indicate that 8.4% of the 7,600 wineries in the United States, Canada and Mexico are selling some sort of sparkling wine. An informal survey in 2005 estimated fewer than 5% of the continent���s wineries listed sparkling wine in their list of products. Whether the market is following demand or vice versa, it���s obvious that production and sales are increasing. Retro design and modern materials unite in the packaging of Buena Vista���s 2009 Sparkling Brut. A slip of paper binds closure elements but doesn���t cover the wire hood and natural cork closure. 72 W in es & V i ne s JANUARY 20 13 However sparkling wine is produced, it requires special handling���and packaging designed to protect both the fizz within and its outward image. Inspired by a starkly traditional package from the Boisset Family Estate���s newly refurbished Buena Vista Winery in Sonoma, we spoke to specialists in sparkling wine packaging to learn about current sparkling wine packaging trends and technology. Brut simplicity That bottle of 2009 Sparkling Brut from Buena Vista became the muse for this story, posed on my desktop while I researched and wrote this feature, starting with the creators of its package. Inspired by the earliest Buena Vista labels during the reign of founder and Hungarian/Californian wine pioneer Count Agoston Haraszthy, only about 250 cases of the Sparkling Brut were produced in 2009, according to Boisset marketing manager Patrick Egan. Sold exclusively in the tasting room for $40, this sparkler was never intended to take the retail market by storm. Nevertheless, it is striking in its archaic simplicity: Could this spark a trend in the high-end market? At first glance, the package looked incomplete. Where was the capsule? On further examination, it looked like an antique. In fact, it���s a blend of retro design and modern materials. Where a foil (capsule) might have discreetly veiled the wire hood and cork, a slender slip of paper bound the closure elements together, exposing the working parts. The rest of the package was equally stripped down: no fancy graphics for front or back label, classic heavy green bottle with deep punt. ���All our Buena Vista labels are driven by aesthetics,��� Egan said. ���The inspiration is around what the count brought back from Europe.��� The top strip, tipped with the Haraszthy coat of arms and topped with a portrait of Haraszthy, is based on earlier examples from Champagne. ���We thought it looked cool,��� Egan said. Designer Jeffrey Caldewey created the look, and the labels were printed by Napa���s Collotype, which provides the majority Highlights ��� orldwide demand for sparkling wine continues to grow, and W one in 12 North American wineries produces at least one. ��� lthough some packaging elements appear similar for still and A sparkling wines, the more complicated demands for bubbly packaging warrant careful consideration. ��� ith packaging accounting for a significant percentage of the W overall costs for traditional sparkling wines, there���s a reason that bubbly is a high-end tipple.