(Wines&Vines) - One of the most popular sessions at the Wines & Vines Packaging Conference on Aug. 17 featured three wine retailers discussing what wine packaging worked for them – and what didn’t.

The speakers were Gary Fisch, owner of Gary’s Wine and Marketplace with four stores in New Jersey for an eastern perspective and Debbie Zachareas, the co-owner and partner of Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant in San Francisco and Oxbow Wine and Cheese Merchant in Napa, Calif. Moderating the panel discussion was Curtis Mann, the wine, beer and spirits buyer for Raley’s Family of Fine Stores, which includes 118 supermarkets.

Mann mentioned that Raley’s blind tastes all wines so they won’t be affected by the packaging. “It’s still a surprise when a good wine looks like the label was created by a third grader,” he said.