If you are lucky enough to have a wine approved before 2006, you can call it Port. But if it’s made outside Portugal and you don’t have an approval before 2006, you are out of luck and will have to find another name.
Schatz Farms went so far as to show a “USB port” and call it “USB” when foreclosed from simply calling their Lodi dessert wine “Port.” The label says the US:
signed an im____ant agreement with the European Union to protect ____ugal’s geographical indication of this type of wine. Our Unidentified Secret Brand is therefore no mystery wine. . . .
Kobalt refrained from calling their Napa Valley dessert wine “Port” and instead described it as “wine made in the same ‘old world tradition’ as that of the country to the west of Spain.” Another example is here: Not Starboard.
By contrast, for an example of a California wine “grandfathered” and therefore able to brandish the term Port, there is Portacinco Port. TTB approved it with this qualification:
Approved under the “Grandfather” Provision of the Agreement between the U.S. and the EC on Trade in Wine, by enacting the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006, signed on 12/20/2006.
Here is our history of labels to avoid the ban on the use of the word “Port”.
TTB ID 08065001000199: TTB approved “Merlot Export” (they denied a repeat, saying the four letters p-o-r-t could not be in sequence in the name of any wine.)
TTB ID 07285001000134: TTB approved “Tempranillo Forté” (they denied a repeat, saying the word “strong” could not be on a label in ANY language.)
TTB ID 08365001000246: TTB approved “Malbec Red Dessert Wine Just Pour it”–no repeat attempt yet.
Boa Vista and Obscurity are dbas of Oakstone Winery.
We tried “Pour’t” to no avail… so we just said to heck with it and call it “Pig Stai”. Folks seem to like the name…;) – jeff stai, twisted oak winery
I’m currently drinking the fine Boplass Cape NV Tawny Port bought in South Africa in 2007, and inside S.A. an agreement with the E.U. allows the use of the “P” word until 2014 (but not for export http://www.sappa.co.za/name.htm).
This wine is made from Tinta Barocca and tastes a damn sight better than many true Ports I’ve drank.
….a Rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
We used the term “Metodo Portugues” to describe our new world ports. (We were after the 2006 agreement) TTB approved and so far the public has approved.
TTB ID 08175001000282
Jefe – that’s awesome!
Add Claret to the banned US wine list as of 2006. We’re stoked we’re in the grandfathered club on that name.