Our last two batches of “foils” have been from Rivercap and Sparflex, which have now merged. Our most recent was PVC, which was much cheaper than our previous order of tin. To order printed PVC “foils” we need to order 50k. It is not the end of the world to order 50k, but it will take 2-3 years to use them.
Does anyone have a good supplier that works in smaller batch size and does a good job?
It seems to me that there must be someone who is trying to serve the smaller wineries with the boom in little producers.
Thanks in advance!
Try Lafitte Cork and Capsule in Napa. Ask for Rob. Their approach is very friendly compared to some of their competition.
Do you really need custom ? I use polylam from cork supply and they are great to work with. Remember, these will get ripped off and tossed in the trash. Find the right color and save the cash
L
Thanks, Linda and Merrill.
I will talk to Rob.
No Linda, I don’t. The current ones we have are stock PVC. $50/1000. The old ones we had were tin top embossed and side printed. It was years ago, but I think it was $200+/1000. What I like about the old ones is that our B can be seen on the end, with a bottle on the side. If I can go back to that, without undue expense, I’d like to.
When I talked to the folks at Rivercap (merged? with Cork Supply), they tell me that top embossed/side printed PVC are $52.32, as long as they can use our old tooling from the old orders. That is what got me thinking about printed. But, if they can’t waive the tooling fee, it is $2,150. Which got me thinking: There must be newer tools available that don’t require a 2k+ setup fee.
I ditched capsules altogether with the '05 vintage and have only had pushback from one retailer in the time since then. I hate spending money on packaging, and capsules just seemed like hassle and waste to me.
I have used them as well with great results.
We use Lafitte for our corks and capsules also. Very happy with them. As Merrill indicated talk to Rob.
Loring and Copain were our inspiration to never use them. Big Basin went ‘naked’ after we worked with Bradley in 07 and 08. I see more and more every year.
Hassle, cost, hassle, hassle. A uniquely branded naked cork will stand out as much in a cellar as a fancy pants capsule. Generic or not, most capsules look alike - and rather stuffy.
A pretty good percentage of wines I open have no capsules (my own plus several of my favorite wineries). I know it’s silly, but I’ve caught myself sighing a few times when having to remove one. i think that indicates something: Customers will quickly adapt to, and then prefer, naked corks. (Add in screw-capped wines to those not having the hassle of capsules.)
I see some wineries sticking their toe in the water with low-end bottlings going naked.