Wine and spirits
Lot coding on bottles that are cold, wet, often dark, and expected to look good on a shelf for years.
A code that has to survive and disappear
Wine is the awkward case. The lot number is a legal requirement, but the bottle is a designed object and the producer does not want a black rectangle across it. The code has to be present, permanent, legible — and discreet.
Most producers put it on the base of the bottle, on the shoulder, or on the capsule. All three are curved surfaces, which rules out anything that needs a flat presentation.
The physical problem
Bottling lines are cold and wet. Bottles come off the filler at temperature, they carry condensation, and many go through a labeller and a packing station immediately afterwards. The code has minutes, not hours, to become handling-proof.
Then there is storage. A bottle laid down in a cellar for years, or sitting in an ice bucket for an hour, has to still show its lot.
Dark glass is the last complication. On green or brown bottles, a dye-based ink is effectively invisible. This is where pigmented ink earns its cost — it sits opaque on the surface instead of tinting it.
What usually fits
Continuous inkjet, non-contact, on the base or the shoulder. For dark bottles, a coder capable of running pigmented ink. Confirm the ink is rated for cold, wet glass rather than glass in general.
Worth checking
Where exactly does the code go, and is that surface curved?
Clear or dark glass — and are both used on the same line?
Does the bottle go through a pasteuriser, a washer, or long cold storage?
Related: glass covers the surface in more detail.
