Judges drink to growth in Pride In Print wine label entries

It might be a time of financial crisis, but Pride In Print judges have declared 2009 a great vintage for wine labels.

A record number of 51 entries were received from wine label printers. Christchurch judge, Ray Tansey, believes that this year’s standards were extremely high.

“We are seeing more embellishments such as foil and embossing and die cuts used in the labelling and more intricate detail,” he said. “Designers are obviously putting more and more effort into raising the bar in terms of the look of the labels.”

This has made for some scrupulous judging. “The quality has become so good that we as judges are having to be more aggressive in deciding what labels are chosen for awards and what are discarded,” Tansey added.

Sue Archibald, (pictured) awards manager, attributed the growth of entries in the wine market to when the product was given its own section.

“We gave them special recognition a couple of years ago by making them a separate category and the response has been wonderful,” she said.

“The strong design feel has made this a very innovative and colourful area for the judges to articulate, and the competition is not the strongest ever.”