by Wilfred Wong

How important is packaging? Some will say the larger the company, the more important. Most industry followers will agree that tiny, artisan producers simply need to make the best wine possible and know how to approach the marketplace. Do both large and tiny marketing models both need the right packaging? With wine sales stakes at an all-time high, how much care do wine professionals take in packaging their wares for the marketplace?

From the common, serviceable $10.00 chardonnay or merlot ($20.00 to $30.00 in restaurants) to the most ostentatious $1,000 great growth Bordeaux, there is no magic bullet to making that sure sale. Why do retailers stack one wine over another (if the profit margins are the same)? Why do some banquet managers choose one wine over another? While some could easily argue that brand equity is a factor, another factor could be the presentation of the package.

There are three primary price categories in retail wine marketing: premium (under $10.00), super-premium ($10-$20.00), and ultra-premium (above $20.00/bottle). Each segment requires different packaging approaches. In the first category, consumers are often casual drinkers with very little interest in ultra-premium wines, party planners or caterers with a need to match the look of the bottle with the lowest price possible, or those who simply can't stand the idea of spending over $10.00 for a bottle of wine.

San Francisco Metro Manager Art Nieto of wholesaler Epic Wines, handling over 70 wineries from all over the world, including the emerging stars form Eastern Europe, explains, "The package of an item is definitely a consideration. You always want to give a wine to the consumer that delivers more ‘bang for the buck' and that also includes the image that the wine projects. When it comes to caterers, they definitely are looking for a wine where the packaging stands out since so many times the wines are at a lower pricepoint and again they want to deliver a wine that looks much more expensive."

Katie Kendrick, manager at the BevMo in Santa Rosa, quips, "At and under the $10 level, labels do matter a little bit. Many of our customers who wish to spend less than $10 find "cute" labels such as Little Penguin, Yellow Tail, etc. very charming. These customers are generally less concerned about the wine itself and more interested in the label." She adds, "Label concerns definitely matter to customers spending around $20 a bottle. There have been several instances where customers have rejected a particular bottle of wine, despite my recommendation or a critics rating, since they are afraid that the label looks ‘cheap'."

General Manager & Wine Director Suzanne Geisz of Village Tavern Restaurant & Inn in Hammondsport, New York comments, "A beautiful reversed tapered bottled when presented to a customer suggests elegance and style, therefore bringing more perceived value to the wine."

A long-standing success story, Kenwood Table Wines, had a major label remake last year. Assistant Vice President/Director of Public Relations Margie Healy commented on the new packaging, "The stylish Table Wine Series package, with its diagonal labels and colorful capsules, captures the Series' fun, casual personality." I had successfully sold those wines over twenty years ago at the Ashbury Market in San Francisco and again in the late 1990s at Beverages & More! in the same city.

Talk about consistency of quality, those wines stood the test of time and have stayed in the hearts of Baby Boomers all the way to the Millennials. Yet the Heck Estates (owner of the Kenwood brand) decided the packaging needed to be refreshed. Why? Perhaps because increased competition from Australia, Argentina, Chile, and France's Vin de Pays d'Oc. Healy continues, "All three wines in the Kenwood Table Wine Series are available nationally at people-pleasing suggested retails between $7 and $9." In this competitive price point, where there is little need for a merchant to hand sell the wine, packaging becomes a tool that cannot be underestimated.

Wineries with that kind of foresight keep their brands fresh and current. Paul Young, Heck Estates Director of Marketing and Sales (makers of Kenwood, Korbel, Valley of the Moon, and Lake Sonoma brands), adds, "Our company spends a fair amount of energy as we review each label tier within our 4 brands every 2-3 years." The Kenwood brand, releasing its first handful of wines in 1971, is now widely regarded as one of the top super premium wineries in the United States. Heck Estates was voted "number twelve" in a Top Thirty list of U.S. wine companies in 2006.

One of the hottest segments of the retail wine world is $10.00-$20.00, often ranging from $14.99 to $19.99. The stakes are more serious. Nieto at Epic wines says, "As you move up in pricepoint, the retailer and ultimately the consumer have a higher expectation in the quality of the packaging. But many times "over the top" methods such as oversize bottles, etc., can backfire if labeling simplicity is overlooked. To read a label, people need "ease of use" since wine selection is already intimidating to many consumers so simplicity with elegance is a nice touch. We've seen many imports not be able to increase distribution due to consumer difficulty in deciphering a label."

Everyone demands a little more as the price goes up, including a clear understanding as to what the wine is supposed to be. In the 1970s when a handful of Baby Boomers prided themselves on picking up some odd lots, hand-numbered wines that only they could read, there was a little smirk that these pioneer wine imbibers possessed. Today, shoppers want to know what they are buying. They don't want to mispronounce it and they want to be able to read the label.

Cute, hard-to-read muttering gibberish on a label does not cut it. Cabernet sauvignon continues to out-sell proprietary and meritage reds because the concept is so much easier to understand. Consumers do not want to guess. If it is California, Australian, French, there should be no question about this, and while there is a lot of leeway for individual designs, the wine's origins should not be a -mystery.

When Merryvale Vineyards launched its fine, ultra-premium project in the late 1970s, the founders came up with a very clean, elegant package and following the adage if it isn't "broke" then don't fix it, they have kept their package for the most part intact.

Christopher O'Gorman, public relations comments, "We have only had one across-the-board label change in 25 years. Our most recent change was just on our middle tier, which we thought needed updating as well as wanting to drop the "reserve" designation. Because we are a luxury Napa Valley winery with products at the higher end of the pricing scale, we want our label and packaging to reflect that pedigree."

An on-going success story, the winery began with a superior presentation while they concentrated on producing top wines in all of their tiered categories. O'Gorman resumes, "Every retailer wants the products they bring in to appeal to consumers. While packaging that stands out on a shelf is part of that, with wine quality, of course, being the most important factor. At our price points, the packaging is secondary to reviews and testimonials." The combination of quality, clarity of packaging, and positive ratings has kept this brand on the consumers' radar screen.

Donald Patz, of Patz and Hall, says, "We think about our packaging quite a bit. We have a distinctive look and feel that we designed and it does some things for us intentionally. I think it is very important to deliver a message to your customers through their first impression, which is most often the label and overall packaging of the wine. Our goal is to deliver a message consistent with the amount of effort we have already put into the making of the wines-‘this is special'-‘this is important'-‘this is going to be great!'"

The Patz and Hall label has the look of an upscale French Burgundy with a decidedly refined designer look and since the winery specializes in chardonnays and pinot noirs, the consumer is not in the dark about what this wine is supposed to represent.

At Moët Hennessey USA's Portfolio tasting in San Francisco at the end of January, I spotted the new packaging of Moet & Chandon Grand Vintage 2000. Communications Manager Julia Fitzroy states, "The new labeling and luxurious gift boxes were developed to coincide with the launch of Grand Vintage 2000 over the 2007 US summer and are a wonderful reflection of the luxury values of Moet & Chandon, and perfectly showcase the pinnacle of the Moet & Chandon range-Grand -Vintage.

"The new labels have a more modern and prestigious style to them, whilst still retaining a nod to the tradition and heritage of the brand." While the company recognized a change was in order, Moët Hennessey did not radically depart from the recognition of the brand.

Sommelier Chris Degan at Nopa, one of San Francisco's trendiest hotspots, explains "Packaging is an interesting issue for restaurants. Almost always, people are choosing a wine based on the small description in the wine list, the price, and perhaps the advice of the sommelier. Often, though, people comment on the packaging.

"They notice it, and if it is especially good or especially bad, it can become a topic of conversation and can easily lead to a desire to have the wine again or recommend it to friends or a lack of desire to have it again and more importantly, it can lead to someone disliking a wine just because of the negative association of the packaging. It can have an effect on whether or not someone likes a wine."

At Nopa, the clientele is predisposed to expecting the wine to be of high quality and/or great character. The list is quite exceptional, and eclectic and diners head to this rustic spot in the heart of urban San Francisco just because of that reason, and while packaging does not seem to be as big an issue, many producers in this restaurant's portfolio fit the image of hand-made, artisan wines (and it is conceivable that while they are not household names, they may not be as tiny as perceived).

Patz says, "I can't say a retailer has ever specifically pointed out the label/package as an issue either way in making a determination regarding whether to purchase or not. I think it should be assumed that packaging plays a role but it is rarely specified other than ‘I like your label' but not ‘I am (or not) buying your wine because of the -packaging.'"

For many consumers, the wine marketplace is sometimes a segmented maze. For others it seems to be an unorganized jungle of too many bottles without rhyme or reason, but to seasoned pros, the vision is clear. Producers, retailers, restaurateurs have their roles. Whether they are large or small, the successful ones know that while packaging is too important to ignore, in the end, it is all about presentation and marketing, of which packaging should play an important role.

Wilfred Wong is  a San Francisco-based writer.