FOR FURTHER MEDIA INFORMATION: Stu Coren, Rosen-Coren Agency, (215) 741-2003

Saxco International Delivers Packaging for St. Julian Wine Co.'s New Eau de Vie Line

While Eau de Vie clear brandies, distilled from fresh fruit, have long been popular throughout Europe, not much has been done to bring them to adult spirit connoisseurs in the United States till now.

But, thanks to the entrepreneurial spirit of St. Julian Wine Co. of Paw Paw, Michigan, and research conducted by Michigan State University, the state�s largest winery is now featuring a new Eau de Vie clear brandy line in three fruit flavors � raspberry, cherry and pear.

To provide essential elements to the all-important packaging aspect of the unique project, St. Julian brought Saxco International Inc. of Horsham, Pa., world-wide packaging specialists for the wine and spirits industry, into the mix. Working with Chas Catherman, executive vice president for St. Julian Wine Co., and free-lance graphic artist Cathy Gendron of Ann Arbor, Michigan, designer of the entire package, Saxco would source and supply major packaging components for the project.

Saxco provided a 375ml long-neck, flint glass bottle from Saverglass of France which was then acid etched and featured a front and a back window. Following Gendron�s label designs, the packaging company also arranged for labels depicting a landscape of farm land, vineyards and orchards, reminiscent of the Michigan area. The labels were produced by J. R. Cole of Charlotte, N.C., a Saxco vendor.

Quest of Hillside, NJ, another prominent Saxco vendor, completed the package�s decorating aspects, applying colorful ACL decoration of each fruit on the front and the pressure-sensitive label on the back. In addition, Saxco provided a clear tamper-evident seal which overfitted the round plastic tops in colors of the individual fruits. The seals were supplied from Belgian Bottle Cap of Europe.

According to Catherman, the Eau de Vie project started some three years ago. "We were looking for something unique and different and we felt this was it," he explains. "Our company is located in southwestern Michigan which is a major fruit-producing region and that, coupled with some research being conducted at Michigan State University, sent us off to Europe to investigate the potential to bring this line to the United States."

Following an extensive fact-finding mission, the 80-year-old, third-generation winery, owned by David Braganini, decided to purchase a custom, hand-made still from Christian Carl of Germany to handle distillation of clear fruit brandies.

"Members of the Carl company family actually visited and consulted on site to help get us started," Catherman relates.

"This is, indeed, a premium spirits line," he notes. "It takes 20 to 25 pounds of fruit to manufacture a single 375ml bottle. As such, each bottle retails for just under $50."

Right now, it is being sold in the five St. Julian Wine Co. retail outlets in Michigan, although Catherman says that he looks forward to rolling it out to select markets throughout the United States.

"Additionally," he notes, "because the Eau de Vie line is so new, all St. Julian�s consumer research has not been finalized as yet." However, he envisions Eau de Vie to be a premium store item because of its price and the fact that it needs to be hand sold.