Two foil techniques dominate wine-label production. Hot foil stamping uses a heated metal die to transfer foil from a carrier onto the paper substrate; cold foil application uses a UV-cured adhesive to bond foil to the paper without heat. The end result, to a casual observer, looks similar. To the trained eye, the difference is immediate.
Hot foil stamping
The heated die creates a small deboss in the paper as it transfers the foil. The foil sits in the deboss with a slight three-dimensional quality. Light catches the deboss edge differently than the surrounding paper. The letterform has substance; the customer can run a fingertip across the label and feel the foil's slight depth. Hot foil is the traditional technique for serious estate wine labels.
Cold foil
The UV-cured adhesive bonds foil flat against the paper without deboss. The result is visually similar to hot foil but lacks the dimensional quality. The label feels flat under the fingertip. Light catches the foil uniformly; there is no deboss edge to highlight. Cold foil is less expensive at scale and faster in production, which is why it dominates large-run commercial labels.
Which we use
We hot-foil-stamp every label. The deboss is part of what makes the label read as heirloom rather than retail. The cost is higher per bottle, but the dimensional quality is what the customer is paying for. We do not offer cold foil; the visual quality difference is not a trade we are willing to make.
Identifying in the wild
Run a fingertip across the foil. If you feel a slight indentation, hot foil stamped. If the foil is flush with the paper, cold foil. The test is reliable. Most retail wines under twenty dollars use cold foil; most estate wines over fifty dollars use hot foil. The visual quality is part of the price.