A bespoke flacon for Baerg Marti’s 3454 Beyond Balsamico

Article by Katie Nichol published in Luxe Packaging Insight on 05/02/2022

Balsamic vinegar producer Baerg Marti has introduced a bespoke bottle for its 3454 Beyond Balsamico ultra-premium line. The extra-flint glass flacon with its complex shaping is topped with a zamak cap.

Matured in Limousin oak barrels in Switzerland at an altitude of 3,545 meters - the number from which the line takes its name - Baerg Marti’s 3454 Beyond Balsamico has unveiled a bespoke bottle for its 10-year-old balsamic vinegar.

In extra-flint glass, the faceted jar (Waltersperger) has a jewel-like aesthetic. Designed by Ivan Venkov of Maison Venkov, the bottle’s geometric shaping takes its cues from rocky Alpine mountains. "The design was inspired by one of my earlier ideas of a compact, egg shaped form with complex shaping arranged on a triangular, footed base with an arch in the center of the bottom,” Venkov tells Luxe Packaging Insight.

Waltersperger President Stéphanie Tourres explains that the highly intricate shape required a complex mold. “A specific mold was created as it was not possible to unmold the three “feet” using a simple two-part mold,” she says. The 100ml bottle weighs in at around 400g. “The volume of the glass in relation to the empty internal volume is quite large. Together with the complexity of the design, this makes precise filling of the mold with glass in the desired volumes extremely difficult,” adds Venkov. “Apart from one mild adjustment to accommodate the bottom piece of the mold and its separation at a certain height, the product went into manufacturing as envisioned,” he says.

A faceted zamak cap (Segede) – chosen for its cold touch and weight – crowns the bottle. For the supplier, protecting the cap from the vinegar made a chrome finish the obvious choice. “Chrome is practically the only resistant, metallic decorative coating that is suitable for food contact,” Segede CEO Jean-Pierre Trescartes explains. The highly polished cap is screenprinted using a resistant ink. “Given the acidity of the product, we chose this option over laser etching, which would have removed the chrome layer,” Trescartes says. For protective and aesthetic reasons, a PP insert for the cap was developed to fit the pourer (Tapi) on the neck of the flacon.

Designed and manufactured by Flow, the secondary packaging sheathed in textured paper opens to reveal the upright bottle.

The balsamic vinegar retails at €265.