Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/573907
38 WINES&VINES October 2015 BOTTLES &LABELS huge eight-color Heidelberg sheet-fed press. Labels are printed on large press sheets and die-cut for glue label application. The face labels are printed on pressure-sensitive label stock and applied by Honig's new bottling line at the Rutherford winery. "I have a feeling they might have one of the few bottling lines that can simultaneously apply glue and pressure- sensitive labels," Moon said. Another paper-label stunner is "inconceiv- able" but true. The Inconceivable brand be- longs to 20,000-case Cadaretta of Middleton Family Wine Estates in Walla Walla, Wash. According to marketing director David An- thony Hance, Middleton had a hole in its port- folio: no Chardonnay. After sourcing grapes from California's Cen- tral Coast, the winery developed an imagina- tive package with DG Creative Branding in Grants Pass, Ore. Evoking the fantastic adven- tures recounted in the classic 1987 film "The Princess Bride," it's a full-bottle, wrap-around printed treasure map customized for each vine- yard offering. The wrap-around label invites consumers to explore, to turn it around and travel through a fantastic realm, Hance said. "They can't see it all at once. They have to pick it up and turn it around." The brand itself is oddly interactive. "Seven out of 10 people will say 'Inconceiv- able,' in the signature lisp of Wallace Shawn's character in the movie," Hance reported. Advised by a designer three years ago that screen print may have lost its edgy allure, Middleton opted for a paper label. This brought about other adventures in packaging. "A long time ago everything was wet (glue) labels," Hance recalled. "Now, its all pressure sensitive. We calculated the length of a full- wrap label," but even on standard bottles, ap- plication proved daunting. The label must match up on the back. After experiments with printer Digital Dogma in San Luis Obispo, Calif., the winery decided to run 15% extra labels to accommo- date bottling line difficulties. "They aren't that expensive to print," Hance explained. Mobile bottlers Castoro Bottling Co. of San Luis Obispo and Bugle in Walla Walla, Wash., have to add staff to perfect application of the wraps, according to Hance. Bottles are sourced from Tricor Winepack; screwcaps from Stelvin. "Screwcaps encourage turning the bottle," Hance noted. The package was intended to be a bit of a retro throwback, he said. It's making a splash: Already distributed in 20 states, Inconceivable will be available in 35 states next year, dou- bling the current production of 1,000 cases. An enduring union In 1996, Tony Auston at Auston Design Group of Emeryville, Calif., was the designer for 2.1 million-case Bogle Vineyards' now-familiar package. Auston recalled the evolution of the Clarksville, Calif.-based winery's ovoid label and the bottles it adorns. "The unique shape of the Bogle Vineyards label wouldn't look right on just any standard wine bottle shape. The unique (and now iconic) rounded egg shape required just the right bottle shape. Great care went into re- searching and testing the available stock molds that would be the most appropriate fit to com- " Seven out of 10 people will say 'Inconceivable,' in the signature lisp of Wallace Shawn's character in the movie." — David Anthony Hance, Middleton Family Wine Estates C M Y CM MY CY CMY K aacAdW&VSpecial48I1C201502press.pdf 1 9/10/15 3:27 PM