Another Step Down the Road to the $100 Wine Box
Another brand moves from bottle to box.
Don Sebastiani & Sons, a family-owned wine company based in Sonoma, California, announces that Pepperwood Grove wines are now available in a new 3-liter box, in addition to bottles.
“This is a significant move for us,” said Don Sebastiani, Jr., president and chief executive officer. “It is the first box wine we’ve released, and it’s with one of our strongest brands. Few other companies have offered premium-boxed wines with such a long history and brand loyalty. We’re confident that this move will help grow the 3-liter segment to be more than just a fraction of the overall wine market in the U.S.”
A year ago, the conventional wisdom in the wine business was that alternative packaging was so tainted that no one would ever move an established bottle brand to a box. Sebastiani’s market research showed that it was the wine that was holding the alternative packaging back. People were avoiding boxes because the wine within wasn’t a familiar brand.
In this transaction, the box is being sold as a feature, not a bug. It’s convenient, cheap and environmentally friendly — full of wine you already know and like.
I’m telling you: in 10 years, more wine will be sold in alternative packaging than in bottles.
August 24th, 2010 at 12:42 PM
Already happening and being embraced in other parts of the world. I know Dominique Lafon (of Comte Lafon $1,000.00 a bottle Montrachet fame) “bottles” some of his Macon in boxes, never seen it outside French magazines though. Will he ever box his Meursault or Montrachet, not likely but for his quaffable wines from the south….why the hell not?
August 24th, 2010 at 3:04 PM
Eventually, someone’s going to take a shot at the everyday wine drinker who wants great wine. Why not put a Mearsault in a box for people who want to drink a glass a day? What would be the downside for some entrepreneurial négociant, and the differentiation would be huge!
The value brands will go first. As you’ve said, they’re already doing it around the world. Eventually, someone will put four $25 bottles into a box and boom, there’s my $100 box.