Category: Marketing

Follow Consumer Awareness, Expected Use & Material Availability

By: Gerald Dlubala

Statistics prove that a well-designed, eye-catching package can set the tone for consumers’ perception of a product’s quality and desirability. But with all the different wine packaging options available, how do you know which is the right one for your wine? Demographics and the corresponding lifestyle can heavily influence your packaging choices. By recognizing your preferred market segment, you can choose the most appropriate product packaging to enhance shelf presence and heighten your product’s perceived quality and desirability.

  Glass remains the overall preferred choice because of its ability to hold the wine’s intended sensory applications better than the alternatives, sometimes up to twice as long when compared to plastic options. In addition, glass can be molded into endless eye-catching, distinctive shapes and sizes, making it accommodating for different uses down to single-serve glass bottles, presenting a modern premium feel and look. Alternative and more innovative designs might feature Stelvin, or cork finishes on the bottle.

  Single-serve wine packaging has grown due to the pandemic and continues, including single-serve cups and goblets, plastic bottles, cartons, aluminum cans and anything else that offers convenience and transportability.

  Cork for use as a closure remains strong due to being an original and traditional choice, now enhanced by improved and more cost-effective technical corks. Aluminum screw caps and plastic dispensing closures on some current packaging present the opportunity for resealing and recycling.

  Ultimately, containers and bottles that are aesthetically appealing and fit a consumer’s lifestyle are the products that will cause them to stop, take notice and pick up the package. Consistency in using that same packaging will build consumer loyalty and recognition of your products in the future.

Using Packaging Options to Appeal to the Consumer

  Alcoholic beverages rely on packaging to maintain the integrity of the content’s chemical composition. For example, packaged wine must maintain the intended aroma, flavor and appeal. Glass keeps the chemical composition intact and has no chance of reacting with the alcohol. Additionally, colored glass adds a layer of protection against changes due to light exposure.

  “Glass goes as does the economy,” said Bradley Tucker, Vice President of Sales for Encore Glass. “When the economy gets tight, companies look to cut costs. Unfortunately, it’s common for packaging to take the hit, whether switching to lightweight bottles, choosing more cost-effective labels, or changing shipping methods. Our shippers remain popular because they are cost-effective, lightweight and stackable, made from 99% recyclable materials, and are themselves 100% recyclable and biodegradable. We also distribute custom printed boxes, decorated bottles and custom molds to meet specific customer needs.”

  Tucker said that all current packaging options have their place and purpose. Still, he believes glass will always be the preferred choice, especially when bottling premium wines. “Glass provides an extended shelf life, providing a premium touch and visual aesthetic without changing the taste, aroma or overall quality of the wine inside. We see increased use in the smaller 375 ml bottles. And the smaller, single-serve bottles are another way to appeal to customers who love wine but drink it only occasionally or want to avoid waste. Honestly, the bigger issue in packaging right now is supply. Like everything else right now, supply channels are difficult to maneuver. It’s a constant battle just trying to get the amount of glass needed, and it’s not going to get better anytime soon. Again, it’s a global issue. Orders that used to be ready in three weeks might now take six to nine months, so some winemakers are just going with what they can obtain.”

  When asked if the glass shortage may be driving some producers to choose aluminum packaging, Tucker told The Grapevine Magazine that it might be accurate, but aluminum distributors are going through the same supply difficulties as everyone else.

  “The most important thing to do is choose a packaging supplier that also can provide a type of supply insurance. Encore Glass fulfills your order by offering great selections of glass bottles, expert preparation, and a commitment to get your bottles to you when you need them.”

Aluminum Brings Versatility into Focus

  Like glass, aluminum is a solid and cost-effective choice for overall packaging effectiveness and performance, but similar difficulty in sourcing can be an issue. Aluminum offers convenience, recyclability, maximum portability and, in some cases, the ability to be resealed. Canned wines gained popularity and broader acceptance during the pandemic and continue to be favored by following the successful methods pioneered by canned cocktails and seltzers. Aluminum is easy to handle and customize with uniquely designed sleeves for shelf appeal and is perfect for occasions where glass containers are not allowed or practical. In addition, aluminum packaging is much lighter to ship and can ultimately help cut price points on wine.

Polyethylene Terephthalate and Plastic Find a Niche

  The pandemic brought on the idea that consumers would more frequently look to purchase and drink wine at home. To support this, wine companies looked to offer minimal contact accessibility, and plastic provided a solution.

  Garcon Wines acted on that new dynamic, finding that traditional bottles used in the wine industry no longer fit the dynamics of how and why most wine is purchased and consumed. With the growing belief that the existing carbon footprint of wine is unsustainable, they developed a 100% recyclable, 750 ml, flat Polyethylene Terephthalate wine bottle. It is designed to fit through mail slots and is manufactured from 100% food-grade, post-consumer recycled PET, saving energy and weight.

  When compared to the traditional glass bottles, they are 87% lighter and 40% smaller spatially. The flat bottles are a little taller than standard bottles and are stackable to save space. The taller profile helps them stand out and be a little more noticeable on a retail shelf. They pack tightly into shipping cartons without additional packaging, better utilizing the space on a standard pallet. Fewer deliveries are needed, and with more efficient loading and unloading times, the savings add up.

  However, under 30% of PET containers are recycled in the United States, so good intentions aren’t producing the proposed results. In 2023, Bacardi will begin using novel plastic for their containers that use seed oil rather than crude oil. The biopolymer bottles are made by fermenting canola and other seed oils that biodegrade within 18 months in any environment containing microorganisms, including compost bins and fresh or saltwater.

Alternative, Sustainable and Eco-conscious are Trending

  Packaging trends are moving towards more eco-friendly and sustainable options, thanks to shifting consumer ideology. Winemakers have found that the key to storing their wines in alternative containers is providing a tight seal. Among these options, boxed wines have been the most popular and recognizable, opening up new possibilities of how and where wine is consumed. Although it’s still a small segment compared to other packaging choices, bag-in-box wines are attractive to those who shop less and want to enjoy an occasional glass of wine at home without worrying about spoilage and waste. The inner pouch removes the need for glass, and the box shape makes them easy to store, transport and use without the chance of breakage. Additionally, they can offer a better price point, modern look and shelf appeal to consumers looking for more thoughtful, eco-friendly and sustainable options.

  With the pandemic driving consumers to drink differently and more often, boxed wine allows them that opportunity, staying fresh for six weeks after breaking the seal. Consumers continue to value convenient and lifestyle-friendly products—boxed wine answers that demand with a 2.25-liter box that perfectly fits a refrigerator shelf, saving space and offering on-demand accessibility.

Bag-in-a-bottle: a Paper Bottle

  Bag-in-a-bottle is an option for consumers who want all of those eco-friendly benefits but still yearn for the traditional bottle. Like the bag-in-box, the outer container is recyclable paperboard fused with water-based glue and molded with heat and moisture into a more conventional wine bottle shape. It is five times lighter than glass and is resistant to spillage, humidity and breakage, with a 12-month shelf life. Proponents believe a time will come where the paper bottle molding unit would be available for use on-site or near the winery for on-demand bottling. Five times more paperboard blanks than rigid bottles can ship at once wherever needed to be assembled and filled.

Return and Reuse: the Good Old Days

  Because only a little over 30% of glass wine bottles get recycled in the U.S., some distributors want to revisit the bottle deposit and return practice for use with wine bottles. The idea is that each glass wine bottle could be reused up to 10 times, allowing the consumer to experience the traditional and romantic experience of wine in a glass bottle while being eco-conscious. In addition, this practice hopes to appeal to those that still want to please those guests that are not comfortable with bag-in-box or canned wines. This business model would issue digital credits to distributors for returned bottles and help the winemaker build loyalty, communication and marketing contacts with participating distributors. The plan is to have the returnable program in thousands of venues, natural wine shops and participating big box stores in 2022, as a three-month pilot program in New York saw an 88% success rate.

  “Encore Glass started their business by sterilizing and recycling glass wine bottles to have an encore use, but with all of the current bottle shapes, sizes and custom structures, it would be nearly impossible to continue on a broad scale,” said Tucker. “I would have doubts about the feasibility of the program, including the willingness of consumers to continue long-term participation.”

Match Packaging to Consumer Awareness

  Creative packaging has always been one of the best and most effective ways to help a brand get noticed in a crowded market. But consumer awareness of a winemaker’s story combined with convenient options in packaging has never been more vital. Over half of consumers are committed to buying from sustainable brands when possible, and they are searching for more responsible behavior from the vineyard through the retail channels. Matching these behaviors with responsible packaging will help winemakers successfully differentiate their products and fuel their brand’s growth in today’s market.

By: Susan DeMatei 

We all have a love/hate relationship with online reviews. We get angry when someone points out our flaws on Yelp, but we look for multiple reviews when considering something on Amazon. 

Four Reasons You Should Care About Online Reviews 

  Let’s start with your consumer. Chances are, if you’re a winery and you’re selling mid-priced wine, your consumers fall into the Baby Boomer and Generation X demographics. (The 2021 Silicon Valley Bank reported that Boomers and Gen Xers account for 71% of wine consumption.) 

  However, this won’t be the case for long. If you consider the SIZE of each generation, Baby Boomers are aging out, and GenXers aren’t that big of a group of individuals. The oldest Millennials turn 40 this year. So very soon – as in the next five years – our targets will be Millennials. 

  The shift is significant because of the vast difference in values between Boomers and Millennials. Boomers are the responsible generation and did what they could to justify purchases with tangible data like scores. They also liked outward recognition and status to validate that they made the right decisions. Millennials, on the other hand, tend to look for a purpose or meaning behind their products. Ideally, they search for companies and products with detailed backstories that offer intrinsic value to make them feel good about themselves and the purchase. And they care about what their cohorts think.  

  So, over the next 5-10 years, we will witness a massive shift in marketing, and one of the major transformations will be in the area of influence.  While today’s wine consumers are widely influenced by the established press or reviews, the consumers of tomorrow care about what peers say – even if they’re anonymous peers. 

  The second compelling reason is the sheer number of review sites and our reliance on them for purchase validation. It’s already evident that we’re groomed to look for ratings and reviews before we buy. Here is a brand-new ranking of the top 10 review sites based on searches. You can see here that these sites get millions of views a month.  

  A third reason to care about online reviews is Google. Reviews appear in, and help, Google search ranking. And incidentally, they also appear in search results by Alexa in voice-search. The number and quality of your reviews directly contribute to, or inhibit, people’s ability to find you and your products.   

  The best strategy here is to harvest Google reviews. Google supports Google. Google wants you to use its tools. So, it makes sense that Google cares if you have your Google My Business Page set up and that you’re collecting reviews. In addition to nepotism, it’s good business because Google will see that you’re a valid business and will have more credibility returning your company and product in search results. 

  The fourth reason you should care about review sites is because your customers care about review sites. 92% to 97% of customers look for or read a review before doing business with a company. 80% of us trust reviews by strangers just as highly as a reference from our friends. 72% of us look for only positive reviews, and 86% will not do business with those with negative reviews. (Clutch.co) 

  And it is surprising how quickly comfort levels fall when you go from five to one-star ratings. 94% of us will use a business with a four-star rating, but only 14% will consider a two-star rated business. 

  My advice is to be familiar with what people say about you. Search your brand. Know where you and your wine show up and what feedback you’re receiving. 

Tools to Help 

  Ok, but how can you efficiently monitor all those online review channels. Especially when you already have your hands full trying to run your business’s day-to-day without scouring Yelp and Google for new posts. Fortunately, there are some reputation management tools you can use to help out. 

  The easiest tool for tracking any mention of your company or product online is Google Alerts. This is a free search that lets you create daily alerts for any mentions of your brand online. Enter the name of your brand or product in the search bar to see who is talking about you. Then you can create a constant alert to get results emailed to you. The downside is it can be tough to filter the information out in an intelligent way. For instance, when I worked with Opus One, I was reminded daily how many products and companies contained “Opus.” That said, it’s a free, easy tool. If you’re a small winery on a time crunch with a limited budget, Google Alerts is worth your time. 

  ReviewPush is an excellent tool if you do have a small budget and want to take it one step further. With this service, for $89 a month you can create alerts for over 20 different review sites and have them sent to your inbox. Even more timesaving is a feature that allows you to respond direct to reviews from within those email alerts. This alone might be worth the cost. You can also involve an extended team with distributed reports and access to dashboards. So if you have multiple players in your tasting room or wine club, this might be an efficient way to have the entire team monitor and response quickly.  

  There are many other tools in this space that also fall into reputation management. So in addition to looking at reviews, they can monitor what anyone is saying about you on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. These are pricier options and typically involved working out your needs with a sales rep. 

  So hopefully this gave you some incentive to include reputation management as part of your marketing strategy, and some tools to help. In the next article we’ll talk about how to work with your tasting rooms to request reviews – it’s not as scary as it sounds. But until then, start to pay attention to where your customers are trying to communicate about you. Start thanking and replying to them if you aren’t already and take the view that feedback as gift to help you improve and delight future customers. 

  Susan DeMatei is the President and Nathan Chambers is an Account Director at WineGlass Marketing, a full-service direct marketing firm working within the wine industry in Napa, California.  www.wineglassmarketing.com

Neal D. Hulkower

Except for my own personal use, as a favor to a friend or colleague, or to satisfy a requirement for a gig, I eschew writing wine tasting notes. Consequently, I dismissed Vicki Denig’s rant against alleged sexist terms on wine-searcher.com on 20 October 2020 (https://www.winesearcher.com/m/2020/10/time-to-kill-gender-stereotypes-in-wine) as yet another misguided lunge by a hypersensitive. But when it became the subject of an entire session entitled “Term Exploder” on the first day of the Symposium for Professional Wine Writers (WWS21, held via Zoom from 10 to 12 May 2021), my reverie was disrupted, and I was rudely awakened. The cancel culture has seeped into the world of wine writing. In response, I took to the chat to offer a different perspective.  I offer this rebuttal based on the position I put forth in that chat.

At the start of the session, the panelists were asked to “Explode this Tasting Note”: “A wine of great breeding, the XXXX bursts from the glass with sweet smells of black currant, pain grille, and exotic spices. Masculine on the palate, with a sexy core of rich, dark fruit supported by a lingering acidity. Has the potential for medium to long-term cellaring and would pair well with almost any stewed meat dish. A serious wine for the collector set and a fine example of the varietal.” Almost every adjective and noun pushed someone’s buttons, with “masculine” and “sexy” singled out for extensive condemnation. Who knew the path from wines to lines could be so fraught?

This session elicited responses from two admittedly more notable wine writers. In her article, “The evolving language of wine” (https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/evolving-language-wine), Jancis Robinson writes: “I guiltily did a quick search of the 200,000+ tasting notes published on JancisRobinson.com since 2000 and – sure enough – found 192 masculines, 147 feminines and 37 sexys, although many of them were quotes from producers, or were preceded by the get-out ‘stereotypically’.”

Without an ounce of guilt, I decided to scan through my 450 notes on wines I sampled between 1969 and 1979.  I found three that contained “feminine” and none with “masculine” or “sexy.”  (More on how I’ve been making up for this omission lately below.) Here is part of my description of a 1962 Château Margaux that I tasted on 2 October 1977: “… Lovely medium deep elegant mature color. Flowery perfume – vegetable bouquet prominent at first – with air – nose becomes better balanced – flowery, fruit, herbal. Delicate flavor – flowers and fruit fade rapidly into a lovely long finish. Very feminine. Overpriced [at $27.50 less 10%, mind you], but interesting…” My reaction to a 1967 Corton “Hospices de Beaune” consumed on 12 January 1976 concludes with “A very pretty, feminine burgundy.”   And then there is a 1970 Gevrey Chambertin sampled on 7 November 1975: “…Light, elegant well balanced taste – very feminine taste.” Decades after they were written, these records of wines help me recall the experience of drinking some truly exceptional bottles.  Until recently, I would engage in a parlor game with my dinner guests and ask them to read a description I had written decades earlier to see if I could recall which wine it corresponded to.  Gender terms are among those useful in stimulating such memories.

W. Blake Gray blogged his reaction to WWS21 under the heading “Professional wine tasting notes are for the reader, not the writer” (https://blog.wblakegray.com/).  A long time hater of sessions on tasting notes, Gray offered a two-part rant focusing on the purpose of describing a wine in words. While I appreciate his complex and nuanced arguments, I take issue with the following: “Nobody should call a wine ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’ in 2021 because nobody knows what that means anymore; half the women in San Francisco can kick my ass, and the other half say, ‘What do you mean, only half?’”

I certainly have no trouble knowing what masculine and feminine mean in the biological sense and have an unambiguous notion of what I mean when describing wines with these terms.  Also, there are plenty of wine terms being used that have no universally recognized meaning. For example, consider the pervasive “minerality” which carries with it the additional absurdity that rocks have taste or smell. Instead, what we are doing here is using the terms as metaphors which can evoke memories of similar tasting experiences.  They are certainly not intended to be offensive or to be in any way exclusionary. The latter was the justification given by the panelists for retiring these terms without any evidence, anecdotal or statistical, that folks are traumatized by their use.  Certainly, men enjoy wines described as feminine just as women enjoy wines described as masculine. In an inane conflation, Denig advises: “Next time you’re tempted to use a gender-focused tasting descriptor, think about how you would react if someone characterized a wine as ‘white/Black’, ‘gay’, or ‘elderly’ on the palate. If you’d find any of these terms offensive, then imagine how some of us men and women feel.” I’m sorry, I simply don’t buy into this comparison and even find it offensive.  

I remain unchastened. In fact, I have since increased my use of these terms and even found a way to acknowledge those who have not made up their minds which sex they are.  At one of the tasting rooms in which I pour, there is a wine that naturally lends itself to being described in gender terms. It is a lovely pour that starts masculine, i.e., rustic and funky, then gets in touch with its feminine self, exuding floral and perfumed aromas, before returning to show its more macho side. This single vineyard Pinot noir is a shining example of a gender fluid fluid! Far from offending visitors, my characterization is appreciated, revelatory, and even endorsed.  No one has pushed back, and sales are good for this higher priced bottle.  Denig made this offer to those who might be offended:  “Next time a winemaker, tasting room employee, or sommelier uses a gender-focused descriptor, feel free to check them. Or send them my way.”  I look forward to her call.

“Sexy” also came under attack.  One of the WWS21 panelists termed it awkward. But once again, these PC word police have arrogated the responsibility to purge the language of descriptors that they deem inappropriate without offering any evidence of the need to do so beyond their feelings or the feelings of those they seem to want to represent. But since “sexy” is used to describe a particularly alluring or seductive bottle without any reference to the various facets of the act like who, how many, what, what kind, where, how often, and with which parts, the word should remain in the lexicon of terms.  One is free to ignore the term or use his or her imagination to personalize its meaning.  “Slutty” also came up and in the heat of battle, I agreed in the chat that this was an unacceptable term.  I hereby withdraw my objection.  I have in fact had wines that were overly generous and a little too eager to please.

Like Denig, the same panelist who had problems with “sexy” labeled “masculine” and “feminine” “lazy cliches,” and was joined by his fellow scolds. But like all imprecise descriptors, really the preponderance of those used for wine, they are merely suggestive and can elicit memories of similar wines. If you want to attack a term for being lazy, look no further than the afore mentioned “minerality,” the pandemic use of which has led Alex Maltman, a noted Welsh geologist and winegrower, to produce a stream of articles and a book to set straight the record.  It is also a term for which there is no consensus definition. Everyone seems to acknowledge, and science provides solid evidence that one’s perception of wine is subjective. Compound that with different cultural references and experiences and no one can expect anyone else’s tasting note to precisely reflect his or her perception. Furthermore, tasting a glass of fine wine over a period of time is like dipping your feet into a stream.  It is never the same moment to moment.  

And what about wine scores?  Despised by many but used, nonetheless.  Even WWS21 keynoter Jancis Robinson expressed her disgust with them yet still assigns them. As an applied mathematician, I regard scores as a most egregious form of number abuse ironically referenced with reverence by innumerates!  Should I start a movement based on my bruised sensibilities to ban their use? Better to simply ignore them.   

While free speech is a precious right, there is no inalienable right not to be offended, especially on behalf of unnamed others.  As such, I am not particularly interested if you find my terminology lazy, inappropriate, non-inclusive, or dated.  It works for me and likely others who use it or resonate with it. If you can’t stand the reference, take heart, many of us are boomers who are slowly leaving the wine scene. I hate tasting notes anyway. What these verbal prohibitionists are advocating is a one size fits all version that will certainly make them so diluted that they become even more useless.  Nevertheless, this free speech absolutist welcomes all voices in wine writing and believes that all should be heard…including mine.

Now go ‘way and let me nap.