Leaves Highlight William Hill Winery Merchandising Program

William Hill Winery adopted the slogan "The Joy Of Discovery" for the new packaging and display materials it is rolling out to specialty stores."Our new package and label is one of the most unusual and interesting in the world of wine," says John Calmeyer, vice president of marketing and public relations at the Napa Valley, Calif.-based winery. "It represents the latest in a long series of changes that have taken place at the winery." The bottles feature a die-cut, biologically accurate leaf shape that labeling suppliers told William Hill Winery executives couldn't be achieved.Each label features one of three die-cut leaves, representing a Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot leaf, that are contained within the label glued to bottles in the traditional manner. As with real leaves, each label has a slightly different hue resulting from a special printing process.A variety of P-O-P pieces support the distinctive package technology. These include a wire display rack that features a gold leaf styrene header and four bottles of wine standing upright. The display holds three cases of product and showcases the bottles on individual wire arms -- designed to mimic grapevines -- that allow the ridged labels to appear prominently. The display was created and produced by the Beeline Group Inc., Newark, Calif.Display production was limited to a run of 500 units to keep it highly targeted, Calmeyer says. "Wine racks have become somewhat specialized in nature because some chain stores won't accept them, nor will club stores. They're really aimed at the high-end chain stores and wine specialty shops."But why a leaf? "Everyone talks about the grapes and the barrels and how the wine is made," Calmeyer explains. "But the leaf is another aspect of the vineyard and the entire winemaking process." The science of grape- and vine-leaf identification, ampelography, is explained in a special booklet the company offers with its P-O-P materials. "Our point is that wine is such a complex and multifaceted process that there's always something new to learn about it."Certainly those involved in producing the wine leaf labels considered it a science of its own. "The way wine labels are adhered to bottles with adhesive is a fairly old, traditional process," Calmeyer says. "There were a lot of technical issues involved in getting the die-cut leaves onto the label." The winery took the concept to its label-making company, Krones Inc., Franklin, Wis., where sales-people said the concept could be achieved. But the company's engineers were intrigued. "We had to sign all kinds of waivers and disclaimers that wouldn't hold them responsible if it didn't work," Calmeyer says. "But it did."The leaf designs were created by Susan Pate of Pate International, San Francisco, who worked with Krones and label printer fp Label Co., a Napa, Calif.-based division of Fleming Packaging Co. The label maker used a special printing process called stochastic printing, which applies a minute random dot pattern to the paper, says Paulette A. Nolan, graphics services manager for the winery.The dot is concentrated enough in heavy shadow areas that it appears as a continuous tone. Because the inking process is not reproducible from batch to batch, the process lends itself to short print runs and requires new film with each printing. "It's a real bear to print with, and we wouldn't want to use it for most P-O-P materials," she says. "But it gave us just what we were looking for with the labels."The leaf was then die-cut by Krones onto the label paper, with fp Label choosing the process to adhere it to the bottle without harming the ridged look. "It took a lot of tweaking to make it work and achieve the right look and put it onto the bottles well," Calmeyer says. "But it goes on beautifully now."Additional off-premise materials include shelf talkers, a case card that depicts all three leaf designs and easels that hold the ampelography booklet. On-premise sales materials include table tents replicating the case-card design. A waitstaff kit is also being developed.Calmeyer reports that from the rollout's start in November, consumer response to both the wines and the packaging has been "overwhelming."Retailers are also impressed. "We've run into some retailers who know packaging and they can't believe it," says Calmeyer. "They think it's a pressure-sensitive label or a new technology never before used. They're astounded when we tell them it's the traditional glued label with a new printing and application method."

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