Regulations & Terms

Label Regulations

There are a plethora of regulations around wine label content, which vary considerably territory by territory.

We do not promote ourselves as experts in this area, preferring our Clients and their Distributors to take charge with this ever-changing issue.

New Zealand Winegrowers publish the definitive label guide for Wine Producers and this can be purchased directly from Winegrowers, www.nzwine.com  phone 09-3033527.

The recent Annual Report is also available online which is a definitive statement of position for New Zealand's wine industry - truly a quality publication with comprehensive statistics.

Technical Terms

Producing wine labels is a craft. With any craft comes language of its own. Here is some label jargon you may encounter:

Origination – This is a trade term which refers to prepress inputs which include, plates, dies, foil blocks, screens and foil plates.

Wine Varnish – This is an internal Rapid term referring to our special blended varnish which we use on coated wine stocks. This is deployed to protect the label from scuffing and chipping, as well as protecting the inks and foils.

UEI – This is a copper hot foil plate which comes out of the USA. Higher cost than a cold foil plate and has a time delay, but is required for foiling on laid stocks.

Cold Foil – This is a foil applied with adhesive using a flexo plate. Lower price and no delay.

Cobb Test – This is the industry-standard lab test which measures the amount of moisture the paper absorbs over a fixed period of time. Rapid has invested in in-house Cobb Testing equipment.

Scuffing – A roughing up of the label, produced from glass-to-carton or glass-to-glass friction. It makes the label look second-hand.

Chipping – Nicks in the top or bottom of the label, generally caused during packaging into cartons with dividers. Because the label sits proud of the glass, all wine labels produced by Rapid are prepared with this risk in mind.