A wine labeling success story

Mike Fairley looks at what goes into making a global wine label brand and talks to the winery, materials supplier and label converter about the challenges and requirements

One of the key success stories for the self-adhesive label industry over the years has been its continuing growth for wine bottle labeling. Today, millions of bottles of wine a year around the world – from Europe to the USA, Australia and New Zealand, South America, South Africa and even India and China – are being labeled with high quality labels printed on conventional or digital narrow-web printing presses.

There are many reasons for this success: the wide range of self-adhesive wine label materials, the in-line printing and converting presses that can not only print in four, five, six or more colors using different printing processes, but emboss and add metallic foil to the designs, or the long or shorter run capabilities on the latest conventional or digital narrow-web presses.

Ease and flexibility of label application and quick change-over from one label to another, have also been at the heart of the self-adhesive wine label success story. The end result has been the wine brand owners’ dream – excellent brand identity, high quality printed image, optimum label look and appearance, outstanding label performance (often in a chill cabinet or ice bucket) and labeling flexibility.

For the wine producers it has become important to have a close working relationship with the self-adhesive materials supplier, the label converter, the applicator supplier, and their own marketing and purchasing teams. It was to examine this relationship in more detail that Labels & Labeling visited a world leading wine producer in Spain – Grupo Codorniu –  and also talked to the label materials supplier, Manter, and there main label printer, Gráficas Varias.

Grupo Codorniu, a Spanish owned and operated winery group based in northeast Spain, is one of the leaders in cava sparkling wine production. Produced the same way as champagne (although it can’t actually be called champagne), Codorniu makes some 40 million bottles of their cava wines a year and have been in the wine business since the middle 1500s. Having said that, they have ‘only’ been making cava since the 1870s.

The group was one of the pioneers in the commercialization of Spanish sparkling wine and have recently brought in a whole new winemaking team to improve their products, including an overhaul of their bottle design and bottle presentation (that virtually compels you to pick it up). So much so, that 60 percent of their cava production is now exported. They also make other wines which have a big export market. The main cava brand is Anna De Codorniu, which in total carries four self-adhesive labels; including a paper face/polyethylene backed composite front label, a paper back label, and a polyester neck label. 

Group purchasing director, Valenti Font Marti explained that they had changed from wet-glue to self-adhesive labels some four years ago, mainly for manufacturing reasons. ‘The challenges we were facing at the time’ says Marti ‘were that the label was going greyish after several hours in a chiller, and that the labels were also wrinkling or even falling-off when they were wet. These were problems that we certainly couldn’t afford in the high-end, high-quality cava market.’

‘Working closely with self-adhesive materials supplier, Manter, we were able to resolve such challenges using their Constellation Snow Intrecco Ultra Wet Strength with SH-6020 Plus adhesive which withstands the harsh conditions of condensation and humidty that the labels face. Today, some 80 percent of all our paper label materials are supplied by the company and they constantly keep us updated with the latest innovations in wine label materials.’

Currently, Grupo Codorniu is creating new vineyards in Latin America and beginning to recruit in China – already the sixth largest wine producing country in the world with an estimated 600 wineries spread across this vast territory, and on the verge of an explosion in demand that will see China develop a mass market for wine, and further extend their obsession with global branded wines.

So what about Grupo Codorniu’s label supplier, Gráfiques Varias, S.A? Originally founded in 1918 as a general and office printer, the company started printing sheet-fed letter-press printed labels for Codorniu in the 1930s, moving into self-adhesive label production in 1989. Today, some 70 percent of their label production is self-adhesive and they are one of the biggest label suppliers to Codorniu (about 70 percent of their annual label requirements, of which 85 percent are self-adhesive), as well as to many smaller wineries requiring only 1000-1500 labels, up to bigger wineries requiring many millions of labels.

Annual turnover is over 8.7 million euros and the company employs 90 people on two shifts. Current customer base is more than 300 label user companies, for which they print a staggering near 700 million labels a year.

Not unnaturally, Varias need a range of specialized label printing presses and finishing equipment to produce for such demanding customers and, again, have to work closely with materials suppliers, designers, equipment manufacturers and customers to achieve the quality results required. Presses include Nilpeter flexo and combination machines, Franchini & Speri screen equipment, KoPack letterpress label and booklet presses, Codimag waterless offset, and a HP Indigo digital press – as well as Heidelberg sheet-fed machines with Polar finishing.

They also operate one of the biggest ABG Digicon finishing lines, Berra finishing equipment, four Prati inspection lines, Martin Automatic waste handling and laminating equipment, press room humidity control and have sophisticated EskoArtwork with Webcenter and Visualizer software, as well CTP platemaking, a Kodak Thermoflex platesetter and Stork screens.

‘As you can see’, says managing director Josep Varias Ribot, ‘our factory is equiped with cutting-edge technology: the latest generation CTP, digital printing, combination printing, hot and cold foiling and diverse finishing equipment – which is all focused on offering the best quality and service possible.

‘We work almost as much in sheetfed printing for wet-glue labeling as in roll-fed self-adhesive printing. Production controls and 100 percent inspection of the product – either visually or through electronic systems – guarantee the excellent level of quality needed for our discerning customers.

Materials usage at Varias is mostly uncoated wine label grades, both woven and laid. The particular labelstock for each job is specified by the customer and/or designer, who are always looking for that something different. ‘My grandfather worked with Manter as our main paper supplier,’ adds Varias Ribot, ‘and that is still the position today. They have an excellent understanding of the wine industry and their requirements.'

‘In the wine business everyone works closely together. The designers go to the winery; they visit our printing plant to better understand our capabilities. The materials suppliers talk to the customer, the designer and the printer. Our overall aim at Graficas Varias – and of our suppliers – is focused on giving the best quality and service, and above all, maximum satisfaction to clients’.

Looking to extend this focus into the wider Spanish label industry, Varias Ribot  has recently been elected president of the Anfec Association (National Association of pressure-sensitive label Manufacturers) in Spain, believed to be the second biggest association in Europe with 140 companies (manufacturers and suppliers) and representing around 80 percent of the labels printed in Spain.

With such commitment, investment and dedication to the industry and to customers, it is not difficult to understand why Graficas Varias has been such a success for close to 100 years.

Pictured: Graficas Varias uses cutting-edge sheet and web-fed press technology with the latest production controls and 100 percent label inspection  

This article was published in L&L issue 3, 2011