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IT’S MY BELIEF that it is to the whisky and brandy distillers of Europe that we, in the self-adhesive label industry, should drink a long toast. They were one of the key early market sectors to realise the potential of our labelling technology – and to adopt it. There is nothing like a full-on, solid gold foil label, heavily embossed and featuring a truly complex, ornate shape, for promoting the extraordinary capabilities of self-adhesive labelling.
In fact, along with pharmaceuticals, whisky and brandy labelling genuinely led the way, back in the 1970s, in kick-starting our industry’s advance into the major beverage market segments. Today, as well as prime whiskies and Cognacs, self-adhesive labels also adorn bottles of white spirits and an enormous selection of wines – both cherished vintages and supermarket brands.
The self-adhesive label and the ‘no label look’
The self-adhesive label is fashioned from an almost infinitely variable three-part laminate consisting of a face material (the printed label), an adhesive layer, and a backing paper/release liner. That ‘labelstock’ is combined with the capabilities of today’s narrow-web printing presses – which can offer all the established print processes, as well as digital offset and thermal transfer/inkjet for barcoding and authentication. Finally, the self-adhesive labels, carried on their protective release liner, are speedily automatically attached to the bottles on an extremely accurate label applicator. Even multiple labels – front, back, and neck label, if printed together on the one liner base – can be applied in the one machine pass.
Following its success with golden spirits, self-adhesive labelling’s introduction of a clear self-adhesive plastic film that could be adhesive-coated, printed, and applied to clear glass bottles to provide what we describe as the ‘no label look’. This brought the manufacturers of gin, vodka, and other white spirits on board. For them, it was possible to deliver, printed on the one label, different messages (front and back label text and design, for instance) visible as the bottle is turned. Clear plastic films and their ‘no label look’ have become the standard for white spirits today.
Wine: A world of label options
The sheer variability of the choice of label face material and label adhesive make it easy for a self-adhesive label printer to create a label for a wine producer that meets every need – both in terms of good looks and functionality. If a beautifully textured antique laid paper label is required for a precious vintage, self-adhesive label technology can provide it – even in very short print runs. And what is more, the label – delivered on its protective release liner – can be coated with an adhesive that will last, without staining, for the stored life of the bottle, and resist fungal/damp ingress which may occur during cellar ageing.
Today, self-adhesive label material manufacturers have carefully developed extensive ranges of speciality paper substrates directed at the specific needs and wants of the wine producers. They include textured, plain, and metallised qualities, as well as environmentally friendly recycled papers and specialties such as papers made from recycled sugar cane fibre after the sugar itself has been extracted.
Personalisation Limited ‘editioning’ of wines or spirits is also possible – down to the level of single-bottle personalisation; and some wine producers choose to purchase pre-printed quantities of their ‘generic’ master label, and then overprint, in-house, on a small tabletop press, with details of the wine varietal and year of bottling.