Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/90739
MANA GEMENT environmental advantages. But to date, they've remained the province of mass- marketed brands. When Watermark Design of Charlottes- ville, Va., announced that it offers "wine box design," we were intrigued. Even more so when we spoke with owner Darc- ey Ohlin Lacy and learned Watermark has, to date, designed exactly one wine box, for neighbor Virginia Wineworks. According to Michael Shaps, co-owner with Philip Stafford, 20,000-case Virginia Wineworks is the state's first and only winery to market a bag-in-box package, and it's going gangbusters. "We were looking for ways to have Virginia wines compete with bigger brands in the value wine segment," he said. The current 4,000-liter vintage of boxed Chardonnay is already sold out at $36 per 3-liter box, and Shaps plans to double the volume this year of all his boxed wines (Viognier and Cabernet Franc), which remain available in bottles as well. Sold at the tasting room and through a wholesaler, the boxed wines are espe- cially popular in restaurants. Not only do they make by-the-glass programs less wasteful by preserving opened wine for as long as two months (as blazoned on the box), at least one restaurant sells the entire box to communal tables for a bargain $60. So boxes aren't out of line for smaller wineries. How did the Watermark designers handle the transition? Lacy described the design challenge: "The original design for the brand was very masculine and included two burly male winemakers tasting over a barrel. Statis- tically, women buy the majority of wine in the U.S., so this wasn't appealing to the masses at the shelf." Wineworks' distributor suggested a redesign to boost sales, and the win- ery tasked Watermark with creating a look that appealed to women without alienating men. Eliminating the burly men but retaining the brand's bold blacks, yellows and reds using an abstract pattern and sharp, sans serif fonts make it hard to miss on store shelves: less burly, not too girly. "The box itself had its challenges," Lacy recalled. "The design included tight registration, not as easy to print on card- board." In addition to addressing over- print issues on reorders, Wineworks made one major change, eliminating the vintage date to trim printing costs. New paperstock from Labeltronix includes Arctic Shield and Midnight Vellum. UNIF IED W INE & G R APE S Y MP O SIUM 3 information you need to succeed days of program sessions with valuable information direct from experts in their fields. Sacramento Convention Center Sacramento, CA January 29–31, 2013 exhibits: January 30 & 31 Check www.unifiedsymposium.org for details on Registration, Housing, Program and Exhibitors. Register early and SAVE up to $200 by the indus t ry— for the indus t ry 38 WINES & VINES NOVEMBER 2012 2 0 13