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January 2015 Wines&Vines 97 PACKAGING allocations) mean that packing these premium wines in 12-bottle cartons may not make sense. "Winery wine clubs are not going to get too many requests for a full case of estate reserve that sells for $100 per bottle," Moon noted. These wines are likely to be packed in a single box or in a six-bottle lay-down case that might very likely be a custom wood container with laser-etched branding. "A winery's estate wines, on the other hand, are delivered in custom designed corrugated cases. I also think that it is fair to say that new wineries (or new brands from an established winery) that are looking to make an impact in the market are wise to consider a strong, highly visible case design. New market entries need all the attention they can muster," Moon said. Market forces are pushing wineries to have a stronger branding presence, he observed. "Distributors and retailers often pressure win- eries to re-design their respective labels and POS (point-of-sale materials), which would include an attractive case design. Wineries with both red and white wines elect to differentiate their cases. Often warehouses confuse wines if there is a common case design for both reds and whites—or different varietals, for that matter. Differentiating these cases by varietal is an expensive proposition." While high-pro- duction wineries can afford to do this, he said, smaller wineries usually ship their wines in a common case with a specific wine face label glued to each carton. Flashier boxes add to packaging cost. "Obvi- ously, the more colors, the greater the cost," Moon said. He pointed out that glass compa- nies include case shippers in their bottle pric- ing. "The printed case price is added to the overall glass order. These basic shippers must be manufactured in advance so bottles can be shipped to the winery/bottling line in them." Customized, decorative cases are a different story at both retail and in tasting rooms. "I think it all comes down to the retailer," Moon said. "Higher price-point wines are most likely Packaging Innovators prints the shipping container for michael David Winery's earthquake label.