Lightning Labels Blog

At Lightning Labels, we print a lot of wine labels every day on our presses. Here in the Wine Labels Archive, you will find blog posts featuring the most beautiful wine label designs we could find in hopes that they will inspire you to create your own wine label designs. We also simply enjoy admiring fine wine label designs and thought you might, too.

You will also find news about the cutting-edge technologies that are being incorporated into wine labels here in the Wine Labels Archive, such as QR codes. The Wine Labels Archive is also the place to learn about the latest trends in wine label design, as well as find advice for leveraging your wine labels for marketing purposes.

Finally, we have added some random blog posts to the mix that we think will appeal to anyone who loves wine and wine labels. One such posts focuses on how wine label collectors can remove and preserve wine labels so that they can be admired for many years after the wine has been consumed. Another post is a collection of gift ideas for wine lovers.

You know that we here at Lightning Labels love a good label, so, we thought, why not have a funny wine labels celebration? A label party might sound strange to you, but it’s a great way to get your friends together and have some laughs. The only rule is that you must bring a wine bottle with a funny label. Because many wineries opt to give their blends creative monikers and humorous labels, we’re sure you’ll get some you’ve never seen before. Here are a couple ideas to start off your adhesive celebration:

1. Toad Hollow
Wines from <a href=http://www.toadhollow.com>Toad Hollow</a> seek to be delicious and affordable. Each bottle includes whimsical artwork that is reminiscent of a child’s storybook. The name originates from the company’s founders, two old friends known as Dr. Toad and The Dancing Badger.

2. House Wine
Everyone at your party will love the simple, no-frills approach that House Wine takes. House Wine is the main brand of The Magnificent Wine Company. With these blends, they aim to make top wines available at low prices. The labels are sparse and effective, featuring a childlike house drawing and bold lettering.

3. Girly Girl
Girly Girl wines are the perfect choice for a night with your girlfriends. Their bottles are feminine and elegant, and each blend features a different girl. You’ll love meeting Kayla, the Merlot, or Mia, the Chardonnay. Enjoy a bottle of Girly Girl on the weekends or after a long day at work.… Read the rest of How to Throw a Good Wine Label Party

This entry was posted November 21st, 2011 by Jessica Wiener in Wine Labels | No Comments »

A few weeks ago, I blogged about the 1891 Treaty of Madrid. This international law officially designates the Champagne region of France as the only wine-making region in the world allowed to slap the word “Champagne” on their bottles. This treaty officially allows agents from the Interprofessional du Vin de Champagne, those James Bond-like secret agents of sparkling wine, to seize any mislabeled wine and summarily destroy the living schnapps out of an entire crop’s worth of mislabeled wine.

At least, that’s the idea. As anyone who’s recently visited their local Albertson’s or Sam’s Club in search of a sparkling wine can tell you, not many American winemakers pay two corks’ worth of attention to that law. The problem is that some countries still haven’t officially recognized the treaty, a century or so after its signing. The United States has paid some lip service to the law, but (according to a study by Gomberg, Fredrickson & Associates) still allowed 50% of the nearly 100 million bottles of sparkling wine consumed in America each year to be mislabeled as “Champagne.”

US winemakers say that we wine drinkers only know “sparkling wine” as “Champagne” (like how some of us substitute “Tylenol” for “analgesic painkiller” or “Kleenex” for “tissue”), and that we assign some extra value to sparkling wine when it’s labeled as “Champagne.” It’s not fair, they say, for a particular region to “own” a word when it’s been adopted by the public to stand in for a generic type of product.… Read the rest of The Fight Over Bubbly Continues | 1 Comment

This entry was posted November 11th, 2011 by Jessica Wiener in Wine Labels | 1 Comment »

You may be surprised to learn that the Champagne you’re drinking may not, in fact, be Champagne. Since the signing of the Treaty of Madrid in 1891, the term “Champagne” is legally reserved for sparkling wines made exclusively in the Champagne region of France. International treaties observe the law with varying levels of enforcement; for example, the US officially recognizes the treaty, but still allows some sparkling wine makers to use “Champagne” on their product labels. The treaty officially recognizes the Champagne region as the owners of the “Champagne” brand. Any sparkling wine mislabeled as Champagne can be seized and… Read the rest of The Fight Over Bubbly

This entry was posted October 21st, 2011 by Jessica Wiener in Wine Labels | No Comments »

At an outdoor jazz concert I attended over the weekend, a friend offered me a glass of wine.

“Have you had it before?” he asked. When I said no, he poured a sample into my plastic cup and asked me not to hold him responsible if it was terrible. It turned out that he hadn’t tried it himself either. Curious, I asked him why he had decided to purchase this particular bottle of wine. I… Read the rest of Do Wine Labels Influence Consumer Purchasing Decisions? | 3 Comments

This entry was posted July 12th, 2011 by Christy Correll in Fun Labels, Wine Labels | 3 Comments »

Perhaps you have considered collecting wine labels, but thought that removing them was too complicated or involved costly tools. Indeed, a number of gadgets that have been designed expressly for this purpose can cost as much as a nice bottle of wine, including Hinkley Cellar’s The Note Wine Label Saver. Depending on which gift set you purchase, this tool ranges in price from $39 to $79. And if you don’t know what you are doing, you are likely to fail in your attempts to remove wine labels right off the bat, even if you have a fancy tool to assist you in the process.

The truth is, collecting wine labels can be simple and inexpensive. All you need are a few household supplies, which many of you probably already have on hand, and a little knowledge. The video above, which was originally posted by rdhayes06 on YouTube, proves it.

Here are the supplies that rdhayes06 says you need

1. Empty wine bottle with label intact

2. Can of Goof Off or similar solvent

3. Paper towels

4. Small bucket of water

5. Razor blade

This entry was posted March 10th, 2011 by Christy Correll in Wine Labels | 4 Comments »

Editor’s Note: We are excited to have Mike Carter guest blog for us today! For more than a decade, Mike has helped wine companies manage their new product development process. He is also a published author, with articles appearing in the magazines Practical Winery & Vineyard and WineLand. Mike earned his MBA at Bond University and lives in Somerset West, South Africa. You can read more of Mike’s writing online at Serious About Wine, his wine packaging blog, and at South African wine.co.za.

In their book Mavericks at Work, William C. Taylor and Polly LaBarre include a very powerful question every brand owner must ask themselves. And given the current state of the global wine industry and its uncertain future, it’s a question every wine brand owner must answer today to better prepare for tomorrow.

That question is:

“If your company went out of business tomorrow, who would really miss your brand and why?”

This entry was posted September 22nd, 2010 by Guest in Selling Your Products, Wine Labels | 1 Comment »