Is the secret of a wine’s success all in its tastiness?
It would be nice if this were the case, yet the question – albeit provocative – serves to explain how in reality we all buy a product not only for its content. In truth, the success of a product also lies in its effective communication.
Wine does not speak, if anything it makes others speak… yet we are quite sure that labels and packaging can tell a lot about our wines and our Cantina Cooperativa.
The bottle: the wine’s own home
The most popular bottles are Renana, Bordolese, Borgognotta (our favourite) and Champagnotta. Not only the shape, but also the colour of the glass and the size are carefully studied to make sure each wine has its own home, fulfilling not only a practical but also a marketing function.
The wine packages we mainly use are made of cardboard and wood, natural elements that lend a feeling of simple elegance and recall the principles of winemaking.
Sustainability plays a crucial role in all choices concerning the winery, which is why we pay the utmost attention to the environmental impact of wine packaging. In fact, wine packaging and its distribution represent a significant part of the carbon footprint of the product itself (we are talking almost 50%). The rule is simple: the lighter and more recyclable the packaging, the lower the environmental impact.
Indeed, it is believed that the environmental footprint of a glass bottle is practically equal to its weight: for every gram of glass produced, an almost equivalent weight of CO2 is dispersed into the environment (not counting transport emissions).
This is why we mainly use lightweight bottles and have strongly believed in the Bag in Box format for everyday wines over the last 15 years.
The label: the wine’s ID card
The label of a wine has, first and foremost, legislative value. It is a sort of ‘identity card’ for the bottle that not only communicates basic information to the buyer, but also stimulates emotions and conveys the image of the Cantina.
You may be surprised to learn how much neuromarketing plays a role in this delicate discipline: the use of colours, shapes, fonts, lettering, but also the position of these elements amongst each other have the task of conveying a precise message.
Several are the paths that lead a consumer to choose a particular wine:
- For an experienced oenologist, it could be word of mouth;
- For a wine enthusiast, the choice might involve extensive research to decide which wine makes the best investment;
- However, for most consumers, this decision is made while shopping, based on the information they can gather from the label and its image.
The wine label is the heart of packaging design, and packaging design is a key element in the formation of a visual brand identity.
In fact, beyond the ‘bureaucratic duties’, a label is captivating enough when it succeeds in telling the story of the winery and giving a foretaste of the wine: it is an incredible tool to entice the consumer to purchase the bottle.
This is why, at Vinchio Vaglio, the choice of labels for each wine is the result of a study and a judicious approach aimed at enhancing the recognisability of the brand, the identity of the winery and the quality of the wine, while also making the end consumer perceive our values.
New labelling rules
As of December 8th 2023, the European Union has introduced a new wine labelling regulation, which requires the specification of ingredients via a QR code, with information on energy value and the presence of allergens.
Starting with the new vintages, you will find a lot of information on the wine label such as the origin of the wine (e.g. DOC, DOCG, and so on), the alcoholic strength, the indication of origin, details of the bottler or producer, the net content, nutritional information and the amount of sugar for sparkling wines.
The QR code will make it possible for consumers to find the full information online via a kind of electronic label, which can be consulted in the language of each European country where the wine is sold.
Let us tell you about… Alta Langa’s packaging design
The restyling of the label started with Alta Langa, a project that began with the first harvest in 2016 and was released 4 years ago as a preview of the restyling of the brand and all its lines. On the label we find the illustration of an oak tree, a plant that, like the colour green, is symbolically associated with this virtue. The strength of this image refers to the manual work in the vineyard: our deepest love.
Thanks to NsgDesign in the redefinition of the hierarchy of information, the Alta Langa lettering has become the main message, reinforced and embellished by the use of the company font, an element that guarantees a ‘family feel’ between the different lines, while the logo, in the bottom right-hand corner, takes on the value of a signature.
Let us tell you about… Our spirits’ packaging design
After lengthy discussions with NsgDesign for the packaging of our spirits, we chose to pay homage to traditional distillation tools: the copper tubes, fundamental elements in this process, were reinterpreted and transformed into a complex geometric weave within which a variety of patterns stand out, embodying the different aromatic and spicy notes, symbols of the infusions that enhance the product.
For each product category, we have introduced a distinctive symbol that enhances its personality and facilitates its recognition. The alembic, an icon of distillation, was chosen to represent gin, while for bitter we illustrated the process of infusing herbs, which gives the product its unique taste. For vermouth, we have instead recalled the Mole Antonelliana, symbol of Turin, to emphasise the territoriality and historicity of the product.
