Okay, you all know that I like to bring it for Texas wine. I love my Texas wine, and I love getting to know all of the great people at Texas wineries. One thing I don't love is confusing labeling on wines produced in the state of Texas. I don't love the fact that it is all too common for a friend to tell me that they bought a "Texas" wine over the weekend, then when they name the wine I am forced to tell them that the wine wasn't actually made from Texas fruit.
In order for a winery to be able to slap the word "Texas" on the front of the label, the wine has to have at least 75% Texas juice. For those wines that don't meet the requirements, the state of Texas (really a federal statute) has allowed the wineries to not list an appellation on the front of the bottle, and instead tag the wine as "For sale in Texas only" on the back. This can be very confusing when you are facing a shelf of wines made by Texas wineries, and some of the wines are true Texas wines and some are not. The labels are not at all clear about where the fruit came from, and the fact that the bottles look exactly like their Texas siblings make it difficult for many wine buyers to know what they are buying.
This isn't to say that the wineries are all trying to pull something over on the public, although some may well be counting on the fact that consumers won't know the difference between their Texas wines and those that are not Texas Appellation. The fact is that there is just not enough fruit being produced in the state to supply all of the juice for Texas wines. So what can be done to eliminate the confusion, and help Texas wine consumers identify true Texas wines? One suggestion that was offered by Dan Gatlin of Inwood Estates in a guest post on the VintageTexas blog is for wineries to create second labels for their non-Texas wines. Another idea would be to label the wines with a specific designation for wines that don't quality for the Texas designation. There are many possibilities that would serve the purpose, but the key is to make the Texas wine world easier to navigate for consumers.
For those in Texas, what ideas do you have about simplifying the labeling of non-Texas wines produced in the state of Texas? For those from other states, what kind of unusual labeling do you have for wines in your state? Or maybe we Texans are the only ones with quirky and confusing wine lables.
The only quirkyness I’ve seen in Washington is the use of Oregon grapes but I think they just put on the front label, Willamette Valley. It can be weird for the Walla2 appelation because it goes into Oregon and Washington. All this will be solved with the oregonannexation project.
For Texans, I think that they should be proud of their production of the juice and be honest by putting where it came from. I do see the challenge because wouldn’t it be confusing to see Brand X Texan wine with the Cabernet / California on it?
Sorry, no easy answers here.
Josh
This does seem like a difficult problem to address. Because the grapes are grown elsewhere, it would be dishonest to imply that they’re of the Texas terroir, and they would be falsely representing the state with outside grapes.
If the wine is made in Texas by proud Texans, though, they deserve to be able to attribute their product to their state.
Though I haven’t noticed any Virginia wines with issues like this so far, I can imagine I’d want to know on the front label exactly what I’m getting. Burying the fact that other regions’ grapes were used in fine print in the back might help sell more bottles short-term, but it could hurt the reputation of the winery AND of Virginia wine in the long run.
The For Sale in Texas Only might read “For Sale in Ohio Only” if an Ohio winery did not include the appelational source of their grapes. It is a Federal rule by the TTB which allows an exception to the rule that the grape source must be noted. To follow the rule, a label should say where the grapes came from. It could say American (very broad, any wine not imported could use this one)or it could be a state, an AVA, a county or even a vineyard as long as the vineyard is located in an AVA. In Texas you might see Texas Hill Country or any of the other several AVA’s in Texas.
Sometimes a label exception is granted for some reason other than lack of appellation. It could be some other non-standard wording on a label.
To be sure, just look for something that indicates the grape source. If it’s not there, then some or all of the grapes were imported.
How to remedy this confusion? Wineries should just be up front about their source of grapes. No disgrace in bringing in grapes to supply the demand of your winery, but there is some dishonesty in not saying where they come from. More egregious is the attempt to disguise this practice with some label wording that implies the wine contains Texas fruit.
Quite Josh, I’m trying to keep a lid on the OR Annexation plans, or at least my role in them, so that Tamara will still let me ride to WW from OR with her.
Yeah, it definitely is a challenge. I personally really like the second label idea. It’s worked well in Europe for quite a while now. That way you know that if you are buying the second label you are probably getting out of state fruit. There are already a few Texas wineries doing it this way.
I think the reputation question is the one that really concerns me. I think that it would be in the long term best interest of the Texas wine industry to be up front about where the fruit for the wine is being produced.
Hi Karen, thanks for the comment. It’s always great to get the perspective of someone affiliated with a winery.
Thanks also for the clarification on the exemptions. I did over-simplify a bit, as there are other circumstances that will lead to that exemption. Still, I think it’s generally pretty safe to assume that a “For Sale in Texas Only” wine is made from out of state fruit.
I agree with you, it is best if wineries are just up front about where their grapes come from. I understand the wineries producing wines made with fruit sourced from other areas, I just like to know about it up front. I also agree that it is especially bad when there is an attempt to purposefully mislead people by other label wording practices.
Create some damn AVAs. So if it says “Sam Houston Mountain” or “Tom Landry Vineyard” or something like that, people would know it’s from Texas (granted, they know the AVAs).
We do have AVAs, so sometimes you will see “Texas Hill Country” or “Texas High Plains”, but anything that doesn’t qualify gets put into the broader “Texas” category, and then those that don’t qualify for that end up with the dreaded “For Sale in Texas Only” label.
Also too Ben those wineries that produce wine from grapes outside of the AVA’s but are still in Texas can not put “estate bottled” on the label. Which would give it proof that it was grown and made on the estate. I know several wineries that produce great wine from unknown regions but can not put estate bottled on the label.
Texas has allowed many wineries that operate in dry counties to sell their wines regardless of the local laws if 75% of their supply is from Texas fruit. This law has helped many small wineries produce amazing wines in rather unknown growing regions (east Texas) however these guys also have to compete with the wineries that put “for sale in Texas only” on the bottle. I think the state should mandate that ALL Texas wineries should have 75% Texas fruit on hand or they can not sell. This would slow down allot of the misrepresentation. If a few wineries have to do it, why should not all the wineries in Texas do it.
There are many wineries that take advantage of this “for sale in Texas only” clause and because they are in Wet counties they can make as much non-Texas wine as they like. Many of them do well and are more businessmen than winemakers.
To quote Josh “Burying the fact that other regions’ grapes were used in fine print in the back might help sell more bottles short-term, but it could hurt the reputation of the winery AND of Virginia wine in the long run.” (take out Virginia and insert Texas)
This is the reason why I am so adamant about this situation as are many others. No where else do you see this except Texas.
I think some of the Texas Wine laws need to be tweeked just a bit for fairness to all growers and producers.
I’ve heard about this with some Indiana wines. Here’s a link to a review that mentions one that’s labeled “For Sale in Indiana Only” (scroll down near the bottom, it’s the 1997 Terre Vin):
http://www.winepros.org/tasting-notes/011112meritage.htm
That may not always be true. I wouldn’t be quite so quick to assume that the fruit is from outside the state. A winery could have applied for label exemption, “for sale in Texas only”, because it doesn’t meet the wording, font size, varietal, sulfite, or other label requirements and still be using Texas fruit.
Thanks for the comment. As I said earlier, I always like to get feedback from people in the wine industry.
Your point is well taken. The label exemption is not always due to being out of state fruit, but I would go so far as to say that I believe this is generally the reason for a wine being labeled this way. If I find a wine at the grocery store that doesn’t say “Texas” on the front label, and has the “for sale in Texas only” on the back, I will assume that it was made from non-Texas fruit.
I think that your point actually reinforces what my real issue is though. This is all very confusing for consumers, who really just want to know what it is that they are buying.
Well said, and I generally agree with what you are saying. I don’t know that I would say that wineries shouldn’t be able to sell wine if they aren’t using 75% Texas fruit, although I do support making it more obvious what they are doing. As I said earlier, I am fine with wineries making these non-Texas wines, just so long as they are clearly differentiated as being such.
We are definitely in agreement that there is some tweaking that could be done to fix the Texas wine laws.
I do retract my outlandish statement made earlier
the state of Texas will never do that because its all about sale tax and alcohol tax as far as the TABC is concerned. However as you said it, the whole thing is so confusing. Now you do know that in some years (when there is a bad crop) the state will lower the % needed to be in the wine to be claimed “Texas”
In 2007 the percent was very low and many large producers (even St. Genevieve) had Texas on the labels for their lower end wines.
What confuses me is this….
1. If its “for sale in Texas only” is it still from Texas grapes if Texas is on the label.
2. If it does not say Texas on the label then is it from non-Texas fruit.
3. If it is “for sale in Texas only” can the wine be sweet or semi-sweet and not have to be designated that.
4. What is with Texas being on the back of the label and not the front.
5. Why are some wines that do not say Texas on them and do not have a region from where they are from not have “For sale in Texas only” I have seen many examples of this and have a few at home.
6. Why is it when I go into some of these wineries that are in dry counties that also sell other Texas wines, why do they have wines that are not made from Texas juice on the shelf for sale. (the producer is from Texas yet the wine is not)
See how confusing it is… all these questions I still do not understand and yet I feel I know more about Texas wine than the average consumer.
There needs to be something that we can do to spot the 100% (even 75%) true Texas wines.
Interesting subject, Ben. I’ve seen what I’d call labelling strategies at play in just about every wine region in the U.S. I’ve visited. Everyone is understandably proud of their local flavor and it helps from a marketing perspective. I’ve seen the term “American Sangiovese” grown in Cal, vinted in NC. “Made in TN” (but grapes sourced likely from CA or WA). Similar in VA, NJ, and IL. All these states have a hard time growing some the popular varietys so they use the grapes but creatively label to attact local buyers. I don’t really see anything wrong with it unless it is done deceptively.
It also helps some wineries introduce buyers to local varieties they may not have tried otherwise. Frankly I think it’s wiser to use quality fruit grown elsewhere than to bottle an inferior local wine. For example, I’d rather have a Chambourcin grown in the Midwest than a Merlot grown there any day, but I don’t mind buying a Merlot that I know came from West coast fruit.
What I see some of in Washington is the regional rivalries between AVA’s where grape buying across boundaries acutally probably happens more frequently than local grown/vinted/sold wines. It’s been the nature of Washington’s geography and population centers and development of “prestige” AVA’s that has driven some of the quirkiness here, IMO. The universal cover-all here is to say Washington State, or more frequently, Columbia Valley, to avoid acreditting an AVA where the grapes are grown when you’re trying to sell and market a label in another AVA. I’ve noticed this several times and have pointed it out on my blog. I’ve even discussed this with some winery owners here and they typically have a politically correct answer as to why they use Columbia Valley AVA when the grapes are clearly grown in one of the subdivision AVA’s. I’ve seen the same phenomenon for Yakima Valley and its subdivision AVA.
The oddest thing to me is when they create a vineyard designate wine but avoid marking it with the AVA where that vineyard is a prominent player.
What you say is true, but more likely the exemption is that the wine in the bottle doesn’t (or may not) have enough Texas fruit to qualify for Texas Appellation. It is a product of having a shortage of Texas grapes and/or the attraction of cheap out of state fruit. We will see which it is when the supply from this year’s vintage goes up.
The simple solutions is to just label the wine by Appellation. It can be Texas, Texas High Plains, Paso Robles or just American. That way use of th term “For Sale in Texas Only” is not necessary.
Believe it, I have actually had people tell me that a wine that sports “For Sale in Texas Only” means that it is a special Texas product that only Texans can buy. Go figure….this is exactly the confusion that the wineries that use this designation like.
To consumers, I say…Save your hard earned dollars for wines that have Texas on the front lable.