How to make Wine Bottle Labels

Are you looking for customised labels for your wine? Checkout our large range of
labels for wine.
So here are the key steps you need to take, whether you’re labelling wine bottles for sale or for gifts, to help ensure your bottle labels will impress your customers, friends, family or guests.
This information is not just for those making their own wine from grapes and other fruits. There’s a growing trend for printing personalised bottle labels to go on pre-bought wine to mark big celebrations, such a wedding reception or anniversary party.
Step 1: Measure the
label area on your wine bottle with care
There can be big differences in wine bottle shapes and sizes, so it really does pay to measure your surface area precisely. Bear in mind that labels cannot go on a surface that is tapered – they can only go on the cylindrical area below the ‘shoulder’ of a bottle.
Some wine bottles have high and rounded shoulders, while
others are sloping.
If you’re recycling wine bottles for home brewing, it’s best to use bottles that are more or less the same shape. And if your bottles already have labels on them, check what size labels have already been used on the bottle.
A standard 75cl wine bottle with a high shoulder, for example, will typically have a circumference of 23 cm and straight sides around 15cm high where the label can go. For a sloping shoulder wine bottle, the circumference is likely to be 27cm or more with a smaller area below the shoulders of 10cm or less.
Sparkling wine and champagne bottles are made from thicker glass due to the pressure inside. These bottles can measure over 30cm around the widest part, and can have as little as 6cm in height below the sloping shoulders for your labels.
TIP: To measure your wine bottles accurately, always use a piece of string or tailor’s tape measure for the rounded surface.
Step 2: Choose the
right size label
Making sure your labels fit correctly is really important and a key part of making your labels look professional. The last thing you want to do is re-create and re-order your wine labels.
At Avery WePrint, there’s a wide range of label sizes to fit wine bottles which you can use in either orientation: portrait (longest sides vertical) or landscape (longest sides horizontal).
First, decide if you are going to be using one label or two – one on the front to ‘sell’ the wine and say what it is, and one on the back for more detailed information. (If you’re creating labels for pre-bought wine for a special occasion, you might want to keep the existing label on the back.)
For standard bottles with high shoulders, wine bottle labels are usually used in the portrait orientation. A typical rectangle label size for this type of bottle would be 75mm x 110mm.
Step 3: Choose your
label shape
All Avery WePrint shapes work well on bottles. These are:
- Rectangle
- Oval
- Plaque
- Straight Oval
- Square
- Round
TIP: For a special finishing touch, very small circular stickers with a 19mm diameter are a perfect fit for the top of a wine bottle, provided you have a flat, smooth surface to stick it on, or to provide a pop of colour on the front
Step 4: Choose your
label material
Whichever material you choose, all Avery WePrint labels are carefully produced and printed to enhance your wine label design and to avoid fading and scuffing.
Avery WePrint has six different materials to choose from for wine bottle labels. These not only add to the ‘look and feel’ of your wine labels, but also have practical benefits. If your bottles are going to be kept in a wine cooler, ice bucket or fridge, for example, a water resistant material is a real advantage.
The six materials for wine bottle labels are:
- Paper – comes in matt, gloss and natural finish
- Plastic – a durable film designed to be water resistant
- Textured Paper – premium paper with an off-white, antique look, a textured surface and water resistant properties
- Brown Kraft Paper – ideal if you want to give your wine a homemade, eco-friendly or rustic look
- Clear Plastic – another water resistant material using a special underprinting process to make your design stand out on a transparent background
- Waterproof – labels that meet the highest international standards for exposure to water, extreme temperatures and chemicals
TIP: For an extra personal touch, you can add a handwritten message to labels made from the Paper material in a natural or matt finish, and from Brown Kraft Paper. You can also write on Waterproof labels with a marker pen. If you’re running a small business, this level of personalisation can be a great marketing advantage.
Step 5: Design, check
and order your wine labels.
Wine label design is easy with the Avery WePrint online tool.
It allows you to use a ready-made template and adapt it, or create your own
design from scratch. Alternatively, you can upload pre-prepared artwork.
Step 6: Prepare your wine
bottles
Your wine bottle labels need to go onto a clean, dry, smooth
surface that is not greay or oily. If your bottles are pre-used, or if you’re
customising pre-bought wine, you’ll have to remove the previous labels and any
residue.
TIP: To sterilise your bottles without a steriliser, you can swill them thoroughly with boiling water after washing them, or place them in the oven. Recommended times range from one hour at 170°C to 12 hours (overnight) at 121°C.
Step 7: Apply your
labels
Make sure your wine bottles are dry and at room temperature before you start applying the labels.
It may take a bit of practice to get your labels horizontally straight onto the curved surface of a wine bottle. The good news is that the Avery WePrint adhesive takes around 24 hours to fully bond, so you can reposition your labels.
If your wine bottles are going to be displayed in a row, getting the label in exactly the same position on each bottle can be a challenge. People have come up with all kinds of ingenious methods to achieve this.
One solution is to place a label on one wine bottle and then use it as a guide to for positioning the rest. Bottles can roll around, however, so some people prefer to mark the bottle and label positions on a piece of paper or wood.
For more information on applying labels, see our blog: Tips for the Perfect Label Application
TIP: If your
bottles have a visible join, known as a ‘seam’, it can be a useful guide to
help you place your labels straight – but don’t try to place the label over the
seam.
How to get started
We hope we’ve given you some helpful guidance on creating wine bottle labels that will make a great impression. If you’re ready to get started, please visit our page on Wine Bottle Labels .