Congratulations to Riboli Family Wine Estates, Jada Vineyard & Winery, and Highlands 41 — one Silver and three Bronze across three categories.

Every year, the Wine Business Monthly Pack Design Awards put wine packaging in front of a panel of industry buyers, marketers, and designers who judge it the way a consumer would: on the shelf, in the hand, in context.

This year, four packages built on Encore Glass bottles came home with awards.  We supplied the glass.  The vision, the design, and the courage to go somewhere unexpected belong entirely to our partners — and we couldn't be prouder to have played a part.

Package images throughout this article were created by Outshinery, the official imaging partner and sponsor of the WBM Pack Design Awards.

Silver: Best Package Design Series

OPAQUE Earth Elements | Riboli Family Wine Estates

Three Paso Robles Wines, Darkness, Malbec, and Zinfandel, each wrapped in its own black-on-black texture: storm clouds, marbled stone, fractured rock.

Alone, each label is quietly dramatic. Together, they read as a single body of work.

The judges noted that shown as a series, the bottles tell a story conveying both the winery's perspective and the dark, haunting mood of the wines themselves. 

Dark, heavyweight glass does the real work here. A black label needs a bottle that reads as one continuous surface rather than a sticker on a container - and the punt, shoulder, and glass color all carry that illusion. 

Bottles supplied by Encore Glass: Hope / 3661

Bronze: Best Package Design Series

EMPIRE Series | Jada Vineyard & Winery

A geometric, Art Deco-inflected system built around a single architectural motif in gold foil, translated across two very different color stories: soft ivory for the "Grand Vin", deep oxblood for the Syrah.

Same structure, different temperature. The series holds together on the shelf without either bottle disappearing into the other.

Jada's estate-grown Paso Robles Fruit gets a package with the same conviction behind it.  

Bottles supplied by Encore Glass: Hope / 3661

Bronze: Luxury Package

EMPIRE "Grand Vin" | Jada Vineyards & Winery

Jada's "Grand Vin" was recognized a second time, in the Luxury Package category.

One judge summed up the ambition behind it:

For a $200 bottle from Paso (or anywhere), this is a bold, modern design, and I think it appeals to a younger affluent wine consumer, not tied to Napa — someone who knows their Bordeaux blends.

Luxury without the usual signals of luxury: no crest, no chateau, no borrowed heritage. At this price point, the glass is part of the promise — weight, clarity, finish are the first things a buyer registers before they've read a word. 

Bottles supplied by Encore Glass: Hope / 3661

Bronze: Package Redesign

HIGHLANDS 41 | Monterey County Pinot Noir

The original label design leaned dark and illustrative, with the brand name spilt across three lines.

The redesign inverts it: a bright, open field, the "41" scaled up as the hero, and a soft ridgeline suggesting Monterey County rather than illustrating it. The branded copper closure ties the top of the package to the bottom.

The Judges' verdict was short and welcome:

Nice improvement! The new design has more appeal.

Bottles supplied by Encore Glass: Lola / 3904

Packaging is where a wine makes its first impression. 

It has to earn a second look on a crowded shelf and then hold in the hand once someone takes it home. That takes producers willing to take a real position on who their wine is for, and every one of these brands did.

Congratulations to Riboli Family, Jada Vineyard & Winery, and the team behind Highlands 41 on the recognition. Thank you for letting us be a small part of it.

A thank-you as well to Outshinery, the official imaging partner of the WBM Pack Design Awards. Every entry in the competition is rendered by their team so the judging panel sees each packaging on equal footing with no photographer, no studio, no lighting budget tipping the scale.  Their work is also what let us show these four packages here the way they deserve to be seen: the foil, the texture, the punt, and the glass color all rendered exactly as they exist in the real world. Glass is famously difficult to photograph (we would know), and getting it right is not a small thing. 

Encore Glass supplies wine bottles to producers across the country. If you're planning a new package or a redesign, let's talk about the glass.