Materials and Structures

Your box starts with the board. We use greyboard at 1200 g minimum for wine, 1400 g for spirits, with facing paper from 157 g up. That gives you a rigid shell that won't soften in a humid cellar. The rest is choosing paper, structure and insert.

Board Standard: Weight Before Print

Greyboard is the core. 1200 g is our floor for wine boxes. It resists corner crush and keeps a lid from warping on a retail shelf. For spirits, step up to 1400 g. The heavier bottle and longer neck put more load on the base and hinge. We don't use recycled greyboard or high-moisture paper. Wet board delaminates and kills a box in one season. Our control tolerance is plus or minus 2 mm on the box body. That's tight enough that a lid seats the same on the first box and the five-thousandth.

Rigid greyboard wine box with specialty paper facing

Six common materials

Greyboard with specialty paper

The workhorse for rigid boxes. The greyboard gives structure, the specialty paper gives the look. Foil and embossing take cleanly when the paper is 157 g or heavier.

Kraft paper

Used for shipping boxes and eco-leaning gift boxes. It prints well with one or two spot colors. Foil on kraft can look muddy, so we steer buyers to blind emboss instead.

White card

Bright base for full-color print. It holds fine gradients and small type better than kraft. Scuffs show faster, so we add a matte or gloss lamination on high-touch areas.

Gold or silver cardboard

Metallic facing for premium gift sets. It reflects light and makes a shelf pop. But it fingerprints easily. We recommend a soft-touch laminate to hide smudges.

Flocked paper

Velvet-like surface, usually inside the lid or on the insert tray. It protects the bottle from micro-scratches. Flocking traps dust, so it's not for open retail displays.

Leather-textured paper

Paper embossed to feel like leather. It gives a leather look without the cost of real hide. It takes blind deboss well. Ink adhesion is weaker, so keep print minimal.

Six box structures

Rigid lid-and-base

The classic two-piece box. The lid lifts off completely. It's the most protective structure we make. Good for high-value single bottles and collector sets.

Magnetic closure

A flap with hidden magnets holds the lid shut. It gives a satisfying close. Best for retail displays where customers open and close the box repeatedly.

Drawer

The bottle slides out on a tray. It's a nice reveal for gifting. The drawer needs a tight fit, so we hold insert tolerance to plus or minus 1 mm.

Foldable

Ships flat, erects at the winery. Saves freight and warehouse space. The creases must not crack, and corners must hit 90 degrees when erected. We check both.

Double-door

Two side panels open like doors. It's a display piece, often used for limited editions. The hinges are the weak point, so we reinforce them with extra board.

With handles

A rope, ribbon or die-cut handle on a rigid box. Good for two-bottle carriers. The handle attachment must survive a 1.2 m drop test with the bottle loaded.

Four insert types

Velvet tray

A flocked tray that cradles the bottle. It looks expensive and feels soft. But velvet compresses over time, so we cut the cavity to hold the bottle at four points.

EVA foam

Dense, shock-absorbing foam. It's the best choice for shipping boxes. We CNC-cut it to the bottle profile. The bottle should not move when you shake the box for ten seconds.

Blister

Clear plastic molded to the bottle shape. It shows the bottle while holding it. Blisters can scratch the glass, so we add a soft liner on contact points.

Paper mould

Moulded pulp, the eco option. It's recyclable and light. But it's less precise than EVA. We use it for standard bottle shapes, not unusual ones.

How to Pick Your Combination

Start with the bottle. Weight, height, shoulder shape. A heavy Burgundy bottle needs a different insert than a tall Riesling. Send us the dimensions or the bottle itself. Then decide the box's job. Is it a gift that sits on a desk for a week, or a shipping box that rides a truck for three days? A gift box can use a velvet tray and a magnetic lid. A shipping box needs EVA foam and a rigid lid-and-base. Don't pick the structure before you pick the insert. The insert holds the bottle. The structure holds the insert. That order matters.

Now pick the facing paper. If you want full-color print, white card is the safe choice. If you want a natural look, kraft with blind emboss. If you want shine, gold or silver cardboard with a soft-touch laminate. Then ask about the hard colors. Black, deep blue and burgundy are the hardest to hold across a run. We do Pantone matching and first-article approval, but mid-run sampling is where we catch drift. If your brand color is one of those three, plan for an extra sampling round. It's cheaper than a rejected shipment.

Buyer questions

Can you use real solid wood for my box?

Yes, we offer solid wood wine boxes in two styles. But solid wood is heavier, costs more to ship, and can warp in dry climates. Most buyers who ask for wood actually want the look of wood. Our faux-wood box uses a wood-grain paper on rigid board. It gives the visual without the freight and moisture risk.

What if my bottle doesn't fit a standard insert?

We don't use standard inserts for custom orders. Every insert is made to your bottle dimensions or a sample bottle you ship to us. We hold the insert tolerance to plus or minus 1 mm. The bottle must be held at four points, with no unsupported neck or shoulder. We test it by shaking for ten seconds, tilting 45 degrees, and inverting the box.

How do you test a box before it ships?

Our in-house checks include a 1.2 m six-face drop test with the bottle loaded, a stacking test of 40 kg or more for 24 hours, and a vibration simulation for truck and sea transit. If the bottle moves inside, the box fails. We also check magnet position to plus or minus 1 mm and corners to 90 degrees on foldable boxes.

Not sure which material fits?

Send the bottle and the market it ships to. We propose board, facing paper and insert together.