Wine Industry Network

A Sustainability Story: Trinity Oaks

August 04, 2022

According to an old saying, “a promise is only as good as the person who makes it.” When it came to Trinchero Family Estates and its environmentally focused Trinity Oaks brand, that saying could be paraphrased to state “a promise is only as good as the label!”

Andrew Rice, Creative Director for Trinchero Family Estates, reached out to G3 Enterprises in search of a paper stock that had both positive environmental attributes and could perform well in an ice bucket. The Trinity Oaks brand is built on a strong environmental commitment going beyond their One Bottle Purchased, One Tree Planted program by ensuring responsible practices in the vineyard, in the winery, in their offices and even in packaging.

After reviewing the desired outcomes, the team at G3 Label immediately directed him to GTREE™ wine label stock. GTREE™ is a high-performance, wet-strength wine label stock made entirely from recycled office waste. Given its specifications, GTREE™ paper provides clean, white characteristics, making the label visually stunning. But its promise of resistance to water absorption is what intrigued the team at Trinchero Family Estates.

Andrew Rice,
Creative Director for
Trinchero Family Estates “We were looking for a label stock that was at least 80% made from post-consumer waste (PCW). So, when we learned that GTREE™ was actually 100% PCW, we immediately made plans to test it to see if it could meet our company’s very rigid paper qualification process,” said Rice. He added, “It not only passed our internal tests, GTREE™ paper stock specifically excelled in our water bucket test. It exceeded all our expectations.”

The water bucket test consists of placing a bottle in ice to assess if water will seep into the paper label, causing deterioration over time. For most paper stocks, this test reduces the label’s aesthetic appeal through wrinkling or discoloring, or worst of all, the label slips off the bottle in a matter of minutes. With GTREE™ labels, a bottle can be placed in an ice bucket for up to 24-hours, without degradation in function or appearance.

“As a designer, I love the paper color and consistency we get from GTREE. It not only meets our environmental needs and exceeds our high standards, but I am really happy how ink lays down on the paper,” said Rice.