Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/619725
January 2016 WINES&VINES 153 PACKAGING Customise your glass closure with colours. The most stylish closure in the world also became the most creative one. The new design possibilities let you create a closure that is just as unique as your product. See more at www.vinoseal.cz have fun with colours Vinoseal-WinesVines-2015.indd 1 22.09.15 18:47 ing. We learned that he wanted to put a tasting room in Pendleton, Ore. This town of a few thousand people is home to the Pendleton Roundup, Pendleton Woolen Mills, Pendleton Whiskey and Hamley Saddles. It is a charming town that successfully built its identity around the Wild West," she said. "We are now working on packaging concepts that will make his winery a part of the Pendleton experience." A similar evolution drove pack- aging for 2,000-case Wm. Grassie Wine Estates in Woodinville, Wash. "He thought he wanted a 'chateau' label, but when the cli- ent's name is Grassie and he's a master gardener, inspiration comes easy," Nelson recalled. "I can't tell you how often new clients tell us they want a 'chateau-esque' wine label. They want a pencil illustration in the b a c k g r o u n d — o f t e n o f t h e i r building, which is never a cha- teau, or their vineyard)—and a hard-to-read script for their brand name. They think they want a European feel," she said. "The reality is that they sell their wines in the United States, where wine labels are colorful, memorable and generally well- designed. The beige-on-beige, chateau-style label they desire will be nearly invisible on a shelf next to others in the same category," Nelson advised. "We hear a lot of 'We want to look like' when we start with cli- ents. While that's helpful in get- ting to know their dream and their taste, we want them to have their own unique, memorable brand. The most receptive clients are fairly small and well-funded," Nel- son concluded. Supply-side viewpoint TricorBraun provides bottles and other services to the wine industry. Based in St. Louis, Mo., Mike Mur- phy heads its design group, which works on both plastic and glass containers. According to Suzanne Gordon, regional sales manager in Santa Rosa, Calif., TricorBraun created AVA-specific bottles for Ballard Canyon on California's Central Coast. "Several wineries are using it. The bottle has an embossed cartouche; readying it does not take long," she said. The designers had to modify the package to accommodate dif- ferent labels. Numerous wine pro- ducers have adopted the bottle, and it's practical for those produc- ing as few as 1,500 cases. "As with other cartouches, the label needs to fit below," Gordon noted. Ore- gon's Yamhill/Carlton AVA also has a TricorBraun bottle. The AVA-specific bottles are not mandatory, although the organizations must coordinate and agree on the shape, Gordon said. "Being innovative is a hard sell. As (winemaker) Jean Charles Boisset says, 'The egg is the per- fect package.'" To our knowledge, wine is not yet available in an egg (or an egg-shaped package), so there is still opportunity to im- prove on perfection. Adhesive-backed crystals are part of some Sara Nelson Designs proposals. TricorBraun created glass bottles that feature the AVA where they're from.