Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/498427
8 WINES&VINES May 2015 A member of Wine Communications Group Inc. President & Publisher Chet Klingensmith Chairman Hugh Tietjen Publishing Consultant Ken Koppel Associate Publisher Tina Vierra Publishing Assistant Maria Brunn EDITORIAL Editor Jim Gordon Managing Editor Kate Lavin Associate Editor Andrew Adams Senior Correspondent Paul Franson Contributing Editor Jane Firstenfeld Northwest Correspondent Peter Mitham Columnists Grapegrowing: Cliff Ohmart and Glenn T. McGourty Contributing Writers Laurie Daniel, Richard Smart, Richard Carey, Chris Stamp, Andrew Reynolds, Craig Root PRACTICAL WINERY & VINEYARD Editor Don Neel WINE EAST Editor Linda Jones McKee DESIGN & PRODUCTION Art Director Barbara Gelfand Summer Designer Bridget Williams DATABASE DEVELOPMENT AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Vice President—Data Management Lynne Skinner Project Manager Liesl Stevenson Database & Web Development James Rust, Peter Scarborough EDITOR'S LETTER WHAT BETTER PLACE than the annual Packaging Issue to announce that the Wines & Vines Packaging Conference is coming back for a second year? Please mark your calendars now for Aug. 19 in Napa, Calif., where the second annual one-day conference and trade show focusing exclusively on wine packaging will convene. We are happy to reveal a few details of the conference lineup here. The morning keynote session will include two presentations that demonstrate the direct connection between attractive packaging and sales. Joseph Wagner of Wagner Family of Wine and now Copper Cane Wines and Provisions will tell the story of his family's success with brands from Caymus Vineyards to Mer Soleil to Meiomi to Elouan and the important role that distinctive packaging played in that success. Joe also has agreed to share some of the technical challenges his team had to overcome to bring their dramatically different package designs to fruition. The red wax on the Belle Glos bottles is a story in itself. Package design audit Secondly, The Nielsen Co. has agreed to conduct a package design "audit" or study on wine specifically for the conference and present the findings there. I recently reviewed two incred- ibly detailed presentations of similar audits the company did for vodka and soft drinks. Their methodology is to use hundreds (vodka) or thousands (soft drinks) of consumers in the studies and get qualitative data from them regarding their perceptions of brands vs. their reactions to package design. For instance, the audit can determine whether a brand's packaging is hurting or helping the brand's image. Our team has planned the program to appeal to winery owners, winemakers, sales and mar- keting directors, supply managers and operations managers. The day will include educational sessions, breakfast, lunch, a wine reception and a grand prize raffle. A new 90-minute interactive session has been added, and the optional tasting sessions will focus on closure trials. Please go to winesandvines.com/wvpack for more details. I hope to see you there! Closures and TCA Wine packaging topics in this issue include articles about alternative closures (page 49), a Product Focus feature (page 62) on the latest twists in anti-counterfeit devices and software for wine, a state-of-the-art bottling facility in Australia's Barossa Valley (page 67), and plastic polymers in the winery and in packaging (page 70). Contributing editor Jane Firstenfeld wrote the piece about alternative closures after speaking with many makers of $20-plus wines to find out why they selected screwcaps or synthetics instead of natural corks. A growing number of wineries are convinced that TCA prevention and ease of opening are more important than tradition. Speaking of TCA prevention, I recently met Darcie Kent of Darcie Kent Vineyards in Livermore, Calif., and she shared something that I had never heard of before. Her crew uses screwcaps on four of their dozen or so SKUs, and natural cork on others. But in the samples they send to reviewers, they insert synthetic closures rather than natural corks. She said they don't want to take any chances that TCA taint from natural cork could disappoint one of these important tasters. We would love to hear about your experiments and successes with packaging. Feel free to email me at jim@ winesandvines.com. —Jim Gordon How Important Is Packaging to a Brand's Success? We are happy to reveal a few details of the Wines & Vines Packaging Conference lineup here. CONTACT US SUBSCRIPTIONS Email: subs@winesandvines.com Online: winesandvines.com/subscribe Phone: (866) 453-9701 EDITORIAL Email: edit@winesandvines.com MAIL 65 Mitchell Blvd., Suite A San Rafael, CA 94903 CONNECT WITH US facebook.com/WinesandVines twitter.com/WinesandVines youtube.com/WinesandVines1919