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32 W i n e s & V i n e s O C T O b e r 2 0 1 4 table want to decorate their own bottles? Guerra said Beverages and More! has indicated it would like to position Scratch- pad as a holiday special at its checkout stands. The massive retailer requested spe- cial red and green pencils. Guerra thinks adding different colored pencils would work for other promotions, too. Bottle tattoos An established alternative to paper label- ing, screen-printed décor allows wineries to utilize the full bottle as a branding can- vas. Suppliers of this technology continue to expand options to reflect current trends. Monvera Glass Décor of Rich- mond, Calif., announced it now produces neck and shoulder-printed designs to increase eye appeal and resist wrinkling, smearing, scuffing and water damage. Screenprinting is like a tattoo: The bot- tle is stamped with a permanent identity, and additional "accessories" are not required. Waugh Cellars, a 3,500-case producer in California's Napa Valley, evolved its packaging in part because of supply chain glitches that gummed up its bottling process. First, said owner Crystal Waugh, the winery exchanged its luxurious but water- challenged labels for screenprinting. "People told us it looked like an upgrade." Waugh now bottles all its varietals with screenprinted labels. Next, Waugh became an early adopter of neck- printing technology. "one of the misconcep- tions about the capsule is that it serves a func- tional purpose, which it does not," Waugh said. Work- ing with Mon- vera's design team, Waugh Cel- lars settled on a screen-printed neck to eliminate the capsule and simplify the sup- ply chain. "Bottling lines universally appreciate the advantages of screen-printed bottles. Without paper labels to contend with, set-up time was halved and there were fewer—if any—delays during bot- tling," Waugh reported. "Bottling screen- printed bottles has proven to be cost-efficient. The process is seamless when screen-printed bottles are in the queue, another clear advantage. Less moving parts equal a more efficient pro- duction process." The winery is now using its necker design on almost all varietals, and Waugh expects to go to 100% with the next vintage. Bergin Glass Impressions of Napa has had neck-and-shoulder screenprint abili- ties since 2008, adding a second machine this year, according to president Mike Bergin. Bergin also has been able to print one- or two-color neck/shoulder designs on small runs for more than 18 years. Demand, though, has been sporadic. "We just haven't been asked to do this treatment by more than eight or 10 clients over the past 10-plus years," Bergin said. "Key components to make this work are the design in question, the shape of the bottle, case quantities and, ultimately, the added costs. With claret-style glass molds we can literally use the entire vertical sur- face of the bottle, so trying to print the last curved inch of glass has really never come up. Plus, as far as any neck treat- ment is concerned, most of our customers like to use capsule closures for branding icon/name printing, elegance of finish and sanitation." VieW Video: Waugh Cellars' packaging design strategy is discussed in detail by this video produced by Monvera Glass Decor. The intersection of form and function S ome people pour it into a glass, and some drink it straight out of the can, said Ryan Harms, owner, winegrower and "company alche- mist" at Union Wine Co. of Tualatin, Ore., where some 100,000 cases of its own wines and other brands are produced. Union's Underwood is the only brand it packages in a can, Harms said. "The can is a great way for us to continue to find ways to be relevant in the market, introduce new consumers to the wine space and speaks strongly to our 'pinkies down' approach. There is also a very functional aspect of the can that allows people to take cans to places where glass is less than ideal. Our can is a great inter- section of both form and function," he said. Manufactured by Ball, the cans were de- signed by the creative team of Etter Design Co. and Story Manufacturing. Available across the United States, the cans are also sold online. "We have canned about 7,000 cases (each equivalent to 9 liters) so far this year. The cans retail for $6 per can. "Everything we canned is sold or pre- sold at this point," Harms said. J.F. C O V E R S T O R Y Waugh Cellars ditched the traditional in fa- vor of screenprinting the neck of its bottles.