This Bear Flag label looks to be a big departure from the staid Gallo labels of decades past. The design of this “dark red wine” label does not seem to have a whole lot in common with, for example, this Carlo Rossi label from a few years back. The newer, more whimsical labels are apparently designed by Eduardo Bertone. There is not a lot of information about this designer or this brand on the web. Even at Bertone’s site, there seems to be a whole lot of whimsy and not much information. To the extent the Bear Flag labels raise a good legal issue, it is fun to imagine Mr. Bertone poring over the CFR to make sure the Warning is perfect. Or, TTB evaluating each and every image and suggestion and flight of fancy (what is the bear drinking, does it contain tomatoes, please explain why a bear would have a cow bell). As of last week, Gallo had about 11 Bear Flag COLAs, from May 2009 to April 2010.

Over the last several years bacon has leapt from the meat aisle to nearly every segment of the food and beverage market. There’s bacon-infused Bakon vodka (not to be confused with Bacon flavored vodka), bacon candy, and even (kosher!) Bacon Salt. Friar Bacon Bottle Conditioned Smoked Bock beer, brewed by Cincinnati’s Listermann Brewing Co., looks to fall into the same category as the latter, as Friar Bacon merely emulates bacon’s flavor without containing any actual bacon. Like Bacon Salt, Friar Bacon certainly capitalizes on bacon imagery. Note the four slices of porcine goodness framing the label, and the punny name that seems as much an ode to a bacon fryer as it is to playwright Robert Greene’s magi-comic sixteenth-century friar. Beer Advocate gives Friar Bacon a grade of “B” and notes it does contain a certain mysterious element of smoked meat flavor. Bacon beers are slowly moving from the concept stage to the product stage. The Aecht Schlenkerla Marzen Smokebeer at Piece Brewery and Pizzeria in Chicago, according to a friend, contains no bacon but “has a distinct bacon aroma, a subtle (not overwhelming) bacon flavor while drinking, and an unmistakable (but not at all unpleasant) pork fat aftertaste.” And still another brewer is planning to...

This post will start short but is likely to grow long over time. Very long. We will try to show the enormous range of foodstuffs from which wine is produced. With each post we will add to the list, and I predict it will grow way past 50 60. Today we add Fig wine to the list.

1. Avocado wine
2. Banana wine
3. Cantaloupe wine
4. Dandelion wine
5. Elder flower wine
6. Fig wine. This wine is made by Intermountain Vineyards and Winery of Redding, California.
7. Grape wine
8. Jasmine fruit wine
9. Kiwi wine
10. Linden flower wine
11. Lychee wine
12. Mangosteen wine
13. Marionberry wine
14. Onion wine
15. Pear wine
16. Pepper wine
17. Pineapple wine
18. Pomegranate wine
19. Rhubarb wine
20. Tomato wine
21. Watermelon wine

Mention the words “kombucha” and “buzz” in 2006 and you’d likely be referring to the drink’s growing popularity. But mention those same words today and you’d likely be talking about allegations the fermented tea drink contains a small but legally significant amount of alcohol. As a recent TTB statement illustrates, the Bureau is working with FDA to ensure that kombucha sold as a non-alcoholic beverage—currently all kombucha—contains less than 0.5% alcohol. Some reports claim kombucha contains up to 3% alcohol. From the TTB release:

Kombucha is a fermented tea that is typically marketed as a non-alcoholic beverage, which means that it may contain a trace amount of alcohol, as long as the overall alcohol content is less than 0.5 percent alcohol by volume. In some cases these products have alcohol contents that significantly exceed 0.5 percent. At this point, TTB does not know how many brands might be affected by this issue. […] TTB plans to take samples of kombucha products from the marketplace and test their alcohol content in order to determine if the products are labeled in compliance with Federal law. If TTB finds alcohol beverages that are not labeled in accordance with Federal law, we will take appropriate steps to bring them into compliance.

TTB’s kombucha inquiry received...

This post will start short but is likely to grow long over time. Very long. We will try to show the enormous range of foodstuffs from which wine is produced. With each post we will add to the list, and I predict it will grow way past 50 60. Today we add Elder flower wine to the list.

1. Avocado wine
2. Banana wine
3. Cantaloupe wine
4. Dandelion wine
5. Elder flower wine. Made by Wild Wines, of Jacksonville, Oregon.
6. Grape wine
7. Jasmine fruit wine
8. Kiwi wine
9. Linden flower wine
10. Lychee wine
11. Mangosteen wine
12. Marionberry wine
13. Onion wine
14. Pomegranate wine
15. Pear wine
16. Pepper wine
17. Pineapple wine
18. Rhubarb wine
19. Tomato wine
20. Watermelon wine