SF Chronicle Wine Competition Judges More Than Wine
November 16th – (Sonoma County – CALIF.) — The San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition is open for entries of wine and wine labels, packaging and design. A separate contest in the competition, the Packaging Design Contest is part of one of the world’s most respected and highly-publicized wine competitions. The Packaging Design Contest is focused solely on several categories of wine packaging and design. Wineries can enter at winejudging.com/wineries before the submission deadline November 23, 2022.
“A critical element of any wine brand is good design,” said Paul Tincknell, coordinating judge and wine marketing and packaging professional, “The visual and physical message that the wine sends to the consumer before it is even tasted is as critical to the success of a wine as the quality of the wine inside the package—be it a bottle, can or box.”
For more than a decade, The San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition has been recognizing the most innovative and creative label and packaging design. The categories for the packaging competition include:
- Minimalist – Labels or design with a simple design focused on a logo or brand name.
- Ornate – Designs with filigree, decorative borders, old-fashioned illustrations, traditional European designs, New World pen and ink drawings.
- Modern Illustrations – Designs with modern styled illustrations of places, vistas and objects.
- Artistic Abstract – Designs with abstract modern art that is prominently featured.
- Whimsical – Designs or branding that have a whimsical theme including critters, fanciful illustrations, and visual or branding puns.
- Surface Designs – Packaging using the surface of a glass bottle – silk-screen, etching, embedded element, cartouche, shrink-wrap, decal.
- Series – Packaging of two or more containers with an artistic theme extended across the packages for a cohesive presentation when viewed together – not just a different color scheme on each label. A sample of each wine in the series is needed for this category.
- Alternative – Any package that is not a glass bottle with a cork stopper. Bag-in-box, cans, aluminum bottles, PET, Tetra Pak, etc.
Multiple entries are welcome, though only one container per entry is required. It is recommended that wineries submit an actual, physical bottle, box, can, etc. rather than a label or photo of the package, as the judging process is in person with judges examining and weighing the design and impact of the entire package.
