WHAT’S IN A LABEL? HOW WINE MAKERS REEL IN DRINKERS

Source: Newsweek

BY MARIANNE MCGARRY WOLF

12/24/

Most wine purchasers are dazed and confused as they wander the aisles of their local wine shop. There are thousands of wine brands and dozens of types of wines lining the shelves. Obviously wineries want purchasers to pick their bottle. So they’ve done a lot of research into what makes a buyer choose a particular wine-and it turns out the labels have at least something to do with it, at least for 71 percent of U.S. wine consumers.

What’s on the front

Interestingly, wine drinkers claim they don’t find “has an animal on it” to be a very desirable advantage for a wine label. But five of the nine top-selling wines in 2005 in the U.S. sported animals on their labels. And wine drinkers in our survey rated as second-most attractive a label with an animal-Yellow Tail, with its vibrant picture of a wallaby.

The label that achieved the highest rating for attractiveness was Twin Fin, with its colorful picture of a classic convertible with a surfboard near the beach. The top two labels delivered on the characteristics wine drinkers say they like: eye-catching, unique, stylish, creative, clever and colorful.

In an effort to attract the youngest wine drinkers-the millennials-wineries have upped the colorful, wacky and creative design elements on their labels. Interestingly, in a cross-generational survey of the importance of attractiveness, millennials and baby boomers both rated a wine label’s appearance more important to them than generation Xers did. For the most part, wine drinkers of all ages agreed which labels were most attractive. So it’s not only the millennials who are attracted to colorful and creative labels.

Although generations may agree on what label features reel them in, there are some differences between male and female preferences. My research group asked men and women to rate nine wine label logo features:

has an animal on it

bold

eye-catching

simple

ornate

creative

classic

intriguing

colorful

Women preferred more creative, eye-catching, colorful and ornate wine labels than men did. Similarly, women rated plain, less colorful logos lower in attractiveness than men did. Wineries have used this kind of data to create wines targeted specifically to female drinkers. Some of those include Middle Sister, Cupcake, Girls Night Out and Mommy Juice.

What’s on the back

How important is the information on the back label of wine bottles to consumers? Almost half of the wine drinkers surveyed-49 percent-said the words on the back label are at least somewhat important to their purchase decision. Further, 55 percent said they read a wine bottle’s back label at least somewhat often. But what’s the most desirable kind of info to print back there?

Wineries asked consumers if they wanted:

descriptions of flavors and aromas

interesting information about the winery

explanations of food pairings

history of the winery

a story about the wine

growing region features

climate of the vineyard

winery website

a story about the wine maker

the winery location

humorous information

wine-making practices

vineyard’s soil

romantic story

Consumers indicated that a description of flavors and aromas of the wine on the back label is the most important information. They simply want to know what to expect from the wine. That’s more valuable to consumers than information about the winery, food pairings, history of the winery or history of the wine.

To go one step further, we had consumers evaluate four specific back label concepts for a new wine. They looked at four themes for the back label: flavors and aromas, award-winning wines, growing region climate and a romantic story about the winery. As before, it was the flavor and aroma description that consumers said would probably increase their likelihood to purchase the wine. Awards and climate information may increase purchase. The romantic story did not increase purchase interest.

The ConversationWine has evolved over the past decade from a drink that exclusively was paired with food, to one that is now a beverage for all occasions-dining, socializing, relaxing and celebrating. When wine was simply an accompaniment for food, labels could be dull and descriptive. But now their enhanced logos, images and romantic stories reflect these new uses.

Marianne McGarry Wolf is the interim Department Head and Professor of Wine and Viticulture, California Polytechnic State University.

 

 

Red Wine Antioxidant, Resveratrol, May Help Cure Acne

Source: iTechPost

By Christie Abagon

Dec 26, 2016

Red wine is said to have a lot of health benefits. Previous studies have linked red wine to lowering cancer risks, depression, and heart disease and stroke. Well, apparently, it helps fight acne, too.

Researchers from University of California, Los Angeles suggest that when the antioxidant resveratrol was combined with benzoyl peroxide, it produces amazing results in treating acne. Resveratrol, according to Nature World News, is an antioxidant naturally found in red grapes. It is known to effectively prevent free radicals from forming.

For the study, which was published in Dermatology and Therapy, the scientists applied resveratrol to bacteria called Propionibacterium acnes (P. Acnes) taken from blood samples of volunteers. Acne is usually caused when this type of bacteria grows in number, swimming in oil released by hair follicles trapped under the skin. A common acne treatment, benzoyl peroxide, was also used. Researchers tested the two compounds both alone and together.

Both Treatments Work Well Alone, But Became More Effective When Combined

They then assessed the effects of the treatment for 10 days. Both treatments are effective for treating acne but when combined, the results last twice as long compared to using just peroxide. After just one treatment, the combination killed P. acnes for more than two days.

Study author, Dr. Emma Taylor, said: “We initially thought that since actions of the two compounds are opposing, the combination should cancel the other out, but they didn’t.”

“It was like combining the best of both worlds and offering a two-pronged attack on the bacteria,” added senior author Jenny Kim.

Also, the scientists found that benzoyl peroxide is more toxic than resveratrol, and when the two are combined, its toxicity to other skin cells was minimized while prolonging antibacterial effects on acne. The researchers note that the study was done with a topical application, so drinking wine won’t help.