Find Holiday Cheer in Bottles, Boxes and Pouches

Gallo family wine

Wine has been enjoyed all over the world for thousands of years. Early on, wine might have been poured from lovely hand-crafted vessels, or intricate carafes. Today, we typically think of pouring wine from beautifully shaped glass bottles, some with label designs that could pass for fine art. (Check out www.gallo.com to see some.) With many holiday parties and dinners to attend, a bottle of wine is a great hostess gift. No wrapping required – the bottle is beautiful enough. Order fine wine at a restaurant, and the sommelier will elegantly “present” the bottle to the table.

Now, I must confess that I am a “beer girl” at heart and yet a few years back, I was drawn to the beauty and elegance of wine, the ceremonial uncorking of the bottle and pouring the wine into sophisticated stemware. Then I learned that because of a shortage of cork, and the fact that cork does not provide the best seal, some wineries began using screw-caps. (I couldn’t help but think “Screw caps, really?”)

Flash forward to today, when you can purchase wine in bottles, boxes or even pouches. This is when I realized that this “beer girl” was drawn to wine for the elegance and the ritual because for me, without all the fancy stuff, it just wasn’t the same. Naturally curious as a researcher, I began to query the practice of wine drinking and realized that for some true wine lovers, the draw is the wine itself, no matter how it is packaged.

Black Box Wine

Boxed wine began to emerge several years back. Black Box Wines is one that, to me, has captured quite a bit of elegance with the box. The look is sophisticated and sleek. The company touts the benefits of wine in the box citing “superior quality, value, convenience and environmental friendliness.” The bag-in-box design, they say, keeps the wine fresh for at least four weeks after opening compared to bottles which can begin to spoil within a few days. Pour as little (or as much!) as you want from the tap.

OneGlass wine pouch

The evolution of wine packaging has continued with the introduction of pouches. While several brands exist in multi-serve packages similar to the box, one Italian winery has taken the pouch concept a step farther…actually several steps farther, basically going anywhere you want to go. One Glass(tm) Wines brings us single serve pouches. Their premise – go ahead enjoy a glass of good wine without the risk of not finishing the bottle. The pouches are “light, unbreakable and pocket-sized – easy to use and easy to carry,” they say. I happened to mention this wine and their unique packaging to a friend (one of those true wine lovers), and before I knew it, she had grabbed my iPad and was looking up the website to place an order. She imagined now being able to enjoy good wine where previously it would not have been easy, such as at the beach, by the pool, at the movies (can you do that?).

For someone like me who was in it for the elegance and sophistication, I suppose I can still have the fancy glass. And with all of these options, there should be no fighting around the holiday dinner table (well, at least no fights over which wine to serve.)

My questions to you… when it comes to packaging (for wine or other products), are you more into function and efficiency or aesthetics and the experience? What are some other examples where packaging either enhances or detracts from your overall experience with a product?

6 Responses

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1. Lulumeier - December 1, 2010  at  1:06 am

   definitely in the packaging for me–usually. ( When in Haiti, box wine is fab! ) In Italy, whenever you purchase something, be it shoes, jewelry, chocolate, they always package it like a little present! How exciting to go home and “unwrap” your purchase.. makes the moment all the more enjoyable. When Victoria’s Secret adds the tissue paper or Primrose adds the paper and ribbons, it just makes the purchase feel a little more special.

   Reply
   • Kaylor - Publisher - December 2, 2010  at  12:20 am

     Hi – thanks for posting! I agree – something about the little extra touch. Like with Apple, the quality of the brand is evident in the packaging- sleek, elegant – they brought style to the electronics category. And like there is a special appeal in the initial opening. Altoids mints designed their packaging to offer the same initial opening appeal each time someone reaches for a mint. I hear XBOX has redesigned their packaging to deliver on the “ceremonial” opening theme.

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2. Dan Clifton - December 1, 2010  at  2:10 am

   OK, I prefer wine bottles with the traditional cork. Of course “they” say screw tops are better than cork for keeping the wine preserved in the bottle. But a large part of the aging of wine is the cork. With the bottle laid on the side, the wine is absorbed into the cork and swells and it seals the bottle. Of course there is transfer of the cork flavour to the wine; how could there not be? That is why cork was originally used instead of wax stoppers. Do you think screw tops can do that? I doubt it. Yes it saves on cork and saves trees and saves the world, but it does not ultimately save my wine. So in summary, I like the traditional cork, and not because screw tops are gauche. In fact, I find screw tops helpful after the 4th bottle or so. They just don’t age wines the right way.

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   • Kaylor - Publisher - December 2, 2010  at  12:22 am

     Thanks, Dan. I can see you are well experienced with wine! Thanks for the insights!

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3. Broadleafmedia - December 4, 2010  at  5:05 am

   For me the wine experience (and some other products) are a lot about the experience and aesthetics. Don’t get me wrong, I want a nice product too and wouldn’t compromise one for the other. Wine is almost an art or artistic appreciation type experience – I have chosen wine simply based on how cool the label is. The tradition of the wine experience has certain qualities I expect or rather prefer… a cork, traditional bottle shapes, pulling the cork out etc. However contradictory, I’m not at all opposed to having a wine experience drinking out of a Star Trek type package. In fact, I think it would be a nice change. Especially if the product quality matches the funky cool package and I can ultimately revel in the benefits of the product.

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   • Kaylor - Publisher - December 5, 2010  at  9:40 pm

     Interesting idea – instead of trying to hold onto traditional elegance in new package forms, maybe the opportunity lies in branching out completely. Thanks for posting!

     Reply