Closures: a way to catch the eye of the buyer?

I wrote very often about labels, a very good way to catch the eye of a potential buyer on an overcrowded wine shelf. Closures could also be a very important clue, if I believe a recent article in Wines & Vines. The article’s author highlights three points:

• “Although packaging remains in constant flux, making the most of the capsule has become simpler and less expensive with new processes and materials.
• Many wineries that bottle wines with screwcaps still seek to replicate the finished look offered by capsules.
• Although tin remains the traditional, upscale preference, other materials now offer eye-catching décor options.”

I won’t get into the technical details between foil, aluminium and polylam because I’m more interested by the marketing strategy but I must say I was impressed by all the thoughts wineries put in the subject. A bottle carries the entire image of the wine and the winery: colors and material are part of the process. I was working a few months ago on the launch of a French pink wine in the US. We wondered about the color of the foil: should it be pink like the wine or almond green to complement the color scheme of the label? After many testings between us and a panel of drinkers, we decided on the almond green, very unusual and eye-catching.

An other type of closure not mentioned in the Wines & Vines article is colored wax: it is very eye-catching but, of course, rather costly and should be limited to very high-end wines.

Tagged as: Bottles, label, packaging