Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/573907
October 2015 WINES&VINES 37 BOTTLES &LABELS Jim Moon said, "In my opinion, the Sauvignon Blanc package design for 75,000-case Honig Vineyard & Winery represents my best marriage between bottle and labeling. It seems to get the most attention." Elaborate labels on a clear bot- tle showcase the chilled wine within, with a wrap-around, styl- ized vineyard scene overlaid with a metallic gold-lettered Honig label (Honig means "honey" in German). Decorative and invit- ing, the package graphically says "refreshing." The design process was, how- ever, "like delivering an ele- phant," Moon said. It involved many rounds of changes and was the only time a client press- proofed a job. "What that entails is actually printing, embossing, foiling and die-cutting each label before the final label run. Honig was willing to spend the money to test each label and mount them on bottles. From there, the designs were fine- tuned. Epson proofs or handmade mocks were out of the question. They wanted to sign-off on t h e r e a l t h i n g , " M o o n recalled. A through-the-bottle look required that back labels be printed on two sides. The scene is Ho- nig's Rutherford vine- yard, illustrated by Tom Hennessy. "This label goes on via glue label ap- plicators. A special glue had to be formu- lated so it did not 'yellow' the illustra- tion. The illustration a l s o h a d t o b e tweaked to account for the yellow value o f t h e w i n e . T h e small square face label is actually reg- istered with the back label illustration," Moon said. "I wanted the illustration to align with the back label illustration as if you were seeing it through a window. There is a lot going on in the front label (foil, embossing, graduated screens (from dark to light). The front label also has to land on just the right spot on the bottle." The back label is printed on two sides on a Cadaretta of Middleton Family Wine Estates chose a wrap-around treasure map to serve as the wine label for its Inconceivable brand. Honig's labels must line up perfectly for maximum effect.