Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/197178
and then sending the bottle through a high-heat furnace, which fuses the paint to the glass. Some clients want a completely new look, while some want to recreate their existing packaging to give their sales a boost while preserving their key branding elements, Bergin said. A well-designed screen-printed label can not only help call attention to a bottle, but also increase the perceived value of the wine. "I've had people come to me and say, 'I have an $18 zinfandel but it's a killer zin and it should really be selling for $28," he said. "We've dressed up a package and people say, 'Wow, that's an incredible wine and look at this beautiful package and it's only $19.95, let's try it.'" Until recently, screen printing was mostly restricted to higher-priced wines, but that's changed, according to Caitriona Anderson, vice president of sales and marketing at Monvera. Its core customers used to screenprint bottles for wines in the over-$50 price range, she said, but "Now we see wines that might be retailing in the $20 range, and in the past we've even done a Trader Joe's cabernet and that retails for $10." Improved technology has made the process less expensive, Anderson explained, yet vintners have MAKING IT PERSONAL Etching, a more time-consuming and artisanal process in which the design is sandblasted onto each bottle, then painted by hand, is generally used for small runs of special bottles, which are often used for marketing or as gifts. Jim Ristuccia, COO of Etching Expressions in San Diego, Calif., said his clients typically request etching for a range from a single bottle up to 1,000 bottles, and they're looking for a product that's so special in its own right that it becomes a keepsake – even once it's empty. To help wineries expand into the gift market, Etching Expressions recently launched a partnership program that offers etching on select bottles. Buyers go to a separate web page linked to a winery's site, where they can select a bottle and a design. Etching Expressions already has the wine available on consignment, and the company etches the bottles and ships the finished product directly to the purchaser. For wineries, Ristuccia said, it's an opportunity to reach more buyers. "Why not take your wine and get into personalized products? It's a big market." – D.B. also come to see the value of investing more in their packaging. Clients will generally use screen printing for 750 mL bottles and magnums, and a bulk order for an individual wine (typically 600 or more cases) puts prices close to the cost of paper labels. "It's perceived as expensive because it does create this high-end look," Anderson said. NO-BARRIERS DESIGN For designers, screen printing allows a range of creativity not feasible with paper labels, and with almost the entire bottle surface as fair game. Screen-printing technologies have improved to the point that most artwork that can be used on a paper label can also be screen-printed, and then some. Monvera has added equipment that allows printing 360° around a bottle, on the side, shoulder and neck, and in halftones. Detailed images, illustrations and photography can be screen-printed without sacrificing quality, Bergin said. "I think a knock on this process six or seven years ago was that you couldn't replicate what you could do on paper. Well, now I would put that up to a challenge." John Schall of John Schall Design in Richmond worked with Eight Arms Cellars' Boltin to create the octopus bot- INCREASE PROFITS 150% WITH CUSTOM ETCHED WINE Contact us to start your program today! .com VOLUM E CORPO & RATE ORDER S wine@etchingx.com | 866.944.3824 102 V I N EYA R D & WINE RY M ANAGEM ENT | Nov - Dec 2013 w w w. v wm m e d i a . c o m