Enobytes Wine Blog

Have you noticed how often producers change their wine labels? Case in point; you are in a local wine store in search of your favorite wine, which mysteriously disappears off the shelf. You’ve bought it a million times before and its branding is fairly recognizable; it has a big red and green label with a gold insignia on the top – so where is it? You think to yourself, maybe the store is simply out of stock; maybe they stopped carrying it. Has the thought ever crossed your mind that the label changed?

This happens more often than you think. Sometimes label changes are very subtle minimal alterations whereas some labels go through radical change. Labels might lean towards a simplistic and classic look one year and then shift to a bold and modern appearance the next.

Of course, there are sound reasons for wanting to re-brand a label. The most obvious reason stems from a merger or de-merger activity. Motivation for change may also come from producers adjusting their winemaking style or changing their company strategy.

Parducci is one of those producers that recently changed their label due to a merger acquisition. In 2004, the Mendocino Wine Company acquired Parducci, which in turn, necessitated a label change, which emerged a bold new wine label.

The new harlequin print orange and olive colored recycled label (right image) seems to balance the essence of old school mentality and modernization while emphasizing the eclectic Mendocino spirit. The label goes beyond the visual aspect by

supporting a sustainable direction, whereas wine bottles do not contain foil, embossing or varnish. Read the rest of this entry »

Wine revolutionary Randall Grahm, winemaker for the Santa Cruz, California
based Bonny Doon Vineyard is breaking new ground and setting precedent in the
wine industry. His efforts will have far-reaching affects for some time to
come.

He has decided to become one of the few winemakers to embrace full disclosure
of ingredients and production techniques used in the production of his wines.

Around the wine industry, there has been a lot of talk about having winemakers
adhere to the labeling requirements that the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade
Bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury are considering. This cause of
action was precipitated because of the apparent need to reign-in the un-checked
and sometimes unscrupulous tactics wineries are allowed to operate under at
this time. Read the rest of this entry »

The Oregon Liquor Control Board Commission (OLCC) passed a petition to allow eleven new grape varietals to be blended with other varietals, as long as they don’t exceed 25%. Until now, Oregon wines labeled with a grape variety had to be at least 90% of that variety.

The varietals, which include Carmenere, Petite Sirah, Grenache, Marsanne, Mourvedre, Roussanne, Sangiovese, Syrah, Tannat, Tempranillo and Zinfandel are now allowed to be blend up to 25%. Other varietals which make up more than 90% of Oregon production will still require the minimum 90% varietal.

The change was made in part to improve the quality of the southern and eastern Oregon wines. According to the OLCC, “The new rule gives winemakers the flexibility to stay competitive on national and international markets”.

In 1997, Plumpjack, a 10,000 case Napa winery producing ultra-premium Cabernet Sauvignon bottled half of its 1997 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon with screw caps. You might ask why they would so such a thing. According to PlumpJack, six to seven percent of all wines are corked and this is not a statistic that PlumpJack [or the wine industry in general] is willing to accept. Gordon Getty, founder of PlumpJack, attests, “There really isn’t much of an argument in favor of the cork except that it has been around for so long, and if others are afraid to be first [using the alternative closure], I’m not”. PlumpJack was willing to take a chance, so in 1997 they experimented and placed screwcaps to the test. Read the rest of this entry »

Sainsbury’s, which is a U.K. supermarket chain, began selling and marketing wine in recyclable plastic bottles as an alternative to glass. So why would they do such a thing? Well, it’s primarily environmentally driven. According to the Water and Resources Action Program (WRAP), the switch to plastic reduces carbon emissions by almost 90,000 tons a year. Plastic bottles have other obvious advantages – it is a lighter weight container, which makes it easy to transport and no more worries about bottle breakage. Read the rest of this entry »

I am writing this article as a follow up to support Marc’s infamous “Corks Versus Screw Caps” story. If you have not had the opportunity to read it yet, please do so. The article debuted on LocalWineEvents.com, and we received an overwhelming amount of responses, comments and questions pertaining to the post.

Many readers observed the need for educating wine stores and supermarkets about their corked wine return policies; some wondered why corkscrews were not accepting in the market; but the majority questioned the validity of bottle aging and screwcaps. Read the rest of this entry »

I don’t know if you have had the experience of having to return some wine to your local supermarket lately but it seems to fall into two categories. (1) They have the “Wine? You’re trying to return an opened bottle of wine?” I usually reply “Yes, it was corked; so I would like a replacement bottle”. They usually retort with “Of course it was corked; I can see the cork has been pulled out, anyway it’s against the law to give refunds on alcoholic beverages”. Read the rest of this entry »