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44 WINES&VINES October 2016 BOTTLES &LABELS or to enjoy while making the ferry trip across the San Francisco Bay. She sells Oregon-based Underwood canned wines that include a Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, rosé and sparkling wine. "It's easy to down a 375ml can in a half-hour ferry ride," she warns. "They've been so successful that Trader Joe's has started selling cans." One winery's success story Improving packaging can have a big impact on a winery's success, as described by Melissa Phillips Stroud, the vice president of sales and marketing at Michael David Winery, and direc- tor of marketing Mike Stroh. Named after its founders, brothers Michael and David Phillips, Michael David Winery created a huge hit with 7 Deadly Zins, a Zin- fandel originally made from seven vineyards in Lodi, Calif. The wine helped put Michael David Winery and its hometown of Lodi, Calif., on the national wine map. Introduced in 2002 with 700 cases of the 2000 vintage, 7 Deadly Zins was named one of the Top 10 Hottest Brands in 2004 by Wine Business Monthly and grew to more than 250,000 cases annually in its first 10 years. But it hit a plateau before a relaunch and package redesign that propelled it to 16% growth in 2015 sales. 7 Deadly Zins is now America's No. 1 Zinfandel by dollar sales, Stroh said. The winery also created a family of wines and used branding to tie them all together as part of the Michael David Winery portfolio. Its brands created (in order) include 7 Deadly Zins, Earthquake, 6th Sense, Petite Petit, Ink- blot, Freakshow and (for the more classic of- ferings) Michael David Winery. The winery is producing nearly 800,000 cases in 2016 and expects to pass 1 million cases in 2017. All of the brands are created with sales channel, pricing and wine style defined. It starts with a name—simple, playful and iconic. "We search for names that naturally lend them- selves towards creative imagery and label de- sign," Stroh said. Once a brand name is solidified and trade- marks are cleared, a designer is chosen to create a label that is eye catching and memo- rable. Creative label dyes, print techniques and unusual wine label imagery help distin- guish the labels. Based upon the wine, pricing, decoration and application, the team chooses a glass mold and closure type—and they don't forget the shipper carton, one of the cheapest expenses in packaging a case of wine with the most branding potential. Wine merchant Debbie Zachareas says cans of wine produced by Underwood are incredibly popular with her customers. FREE U.S. SHIPPING PRE-oRdER today! order the 2017 print directory for only $95 and you'll also get online access. 2017 EdItIoN comING IN jaNUaRy Wines & Vines directory & Buyer's Guide