Power of Red Wax Seal

I woke up this morning and received Mark Borwn – Buffalo Trace Distillery newsletter and read about interesting conclusion of legal battle regarding red wax seal of Maker’s Mark whiskey. Not a whiskey drinker myself, I found this story interesting with regard to its trademark law and thought about how I could create a distinctive legal property like the red seal on my wines we represent in our portfolio of One Vine Wines. Certainly a powerful branding piece that help the maker of whiskey distribute through 800,000 cases annually while spending $22M.

Ironically later on this day, I was walking out of the house and saw an ad that was very familiar…a piece of that $22M that are spent to capture our attention and build brand…Here is the photo I captured using my iPhone. And with it, the article.

Judge limits wax seal on liquors to Maker’s Mark

Source: AP

By BRETT BARROUQUERE

April 2nd

The dripping red wax seal on a bottle of Maker’s Mark is not only distinctive, it’s now exclusive legal property of the bourbon company.

A federal judge on Friday issued an injunction preventing a rival liquor company from using a dripping wax seal on its tequilas sold in the United States, ending a seven year legal battle over the bottle topper.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II comes in a long-running lawsuit between Maker’s Mark and competitors Diageo North America and Casa Cuervo over the Fortune Brands trademark on the wax seal. Deerfield, Ill.-based Fortune Brands owns Maker’s Mark.

“The Court considers the red dripping wax seal inherently distinctive, because it is a unique mark used in an unusual way to draw in the consumer,” Heyburn wrote.

Mexico-based Cuervo used a dripping red wax seal on special bottles of its Reserva tequila, which was distributed by London-based Diageo.

Heyburn’s ruling barred the companies from using the seal, but did not award damages to Maker’s Mark.

Calls and e-mails to spokesmen for Maker’s Mark, Diageo and Cuervo were not immediately returned Friday.

The Samuels family, which created Maker’s Mark, in 1958, trademarked the distinctive seal, which serves only a decorative purpose.

Cuervo opted to include a dripping wax seal on bottles in 1997 as part of an effort to create an artisan look. The bottles of Reserva with the new seal entered the U.S. market in 2001 in a limited production of 3,000-to-4,000 bottles. The bottles remained on sale in the U.S. for about three years.

Maker’s Mark, bottled in Loretto in central Kentucky, sued over the seal in 2003, claiming it violated the long-standing trademark. Cuervo dropped the dripping wax seal five years ago.

During a six-day trial in Louisville last year, Casa Cuervo CEO Juan Domingo Beckmann testified that he made a business judgment to stop using the seal after being sued.

“I like the way it looks, and I would like to be able to use the dripping wax because it looks more hand-crafted,” Beckmann testified. “But if I am going to be sued over it, or if I have to pay in order to use it, I simply wouldn’t.”

Heyburn found that idea “laudable,” but not persuasive enough to forestall an injunction.

Maker’s Mark spends about $22 million annually to market its bourbon, and sells about 800,000 cases annually. The ad campaigns focus heavily on the dripping red wax seal. The company occasionally will make a wax seal of a different color, such as its recent promotion raising money for a charity with University of Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari. In that case, Maker’s Mark produced a limited number of bottles with a blue wax seal.

Along with the advertising campaigns, Maker’s Mark uses onsite dipping stations that allow customers to make their own wax seals on bottles, as well as bartender training.

“Because of the unique nature of the advertising’s focus on the red wax, the mark has in some ways taken on a life of its own, garnering significant attention beyond the purchased advertising,” Heyburn wrote. These efforts have cultivated something akin to a cult following of the brand among whisky enthusiasts.”

Heyburn declined to award damages, saying Cuervo violated the trademark, but did not focus its marketing efforts on the red wax seal to the point of damaging Maker’s Mark’s brand. Cuervo spent only about $500,000 of its $100 million overall branding budget on the Reserva tequila and sold its bottles for $100 each, while Maker’s Mark went for about $24 a bottle, Heyburn found.

“The price difference in products suggests that Reserva appeals to connoisseurs,” Heyburn wrote.

Wine Region: Sta. Barbara County – Santa Maria Valley AVA

Established in 1981 and amended AVA status in 1985, Santa Maria (SM) is the oldest of such in Santa Barbara county. What is unique about this region is its climate: Santa Maria is only area in California coast whose mountain range runs East to West whereas all the other regions run North and South. What this means is as the weather gets hotter in other areas, Santa Maria gets cooler while getting direct access to Pacific Ocean. However, cooler climate can easily make grapes under ripe and and over acidic, particularly those vineyards that are low-lying. Annual rainfall is low which allows longer growing season that brings out intensity and flavors.

Much of this region’s vineyard is owned by farmers, rather than wineries. And that’s why you get wine names associated with names of vineyard such as Bien Nacido. Home to 50 plus winery labels, BN puts SM on the map for sure. Beside BN, there is Au Bon Climat, an organic certified vineyard, whose estate wine is world-renowned.

Some other notable estates include Foxen, Cambria, Fess Parker, Byron, McKeon & Phillips, etc. I can’t forget to mention my man, Josh Klapper of Le Fenetre wines. I have represented his wines in my portfolio in the past and have done well in sales/distribution.

Fact is there are so many highly respectable producers from Santa Maria than I can ever remember. What I enjoy about wines from this region is its elegance and feminine characters that are food friendly and balanced. Sure, Sta. Rita puts out great wines that are flesh and structured AND well balanced but in relative terms, Sta. Maria is the delicate , even fragile in the way it represents. Soft red fruits dominate as opposed to black fruits of berries and currants.

This is real deal; the wines deserve attention especially from those who enjoy old, world Burgundian style wines. You will be impressed.

Wine Region: Santa Barabara County, California

I love Santa Barbara county, California. Not for the Neverland, but for her beautiful wine producing regions. As a resident of Los Angeles, I have access to great local juice that is top-notch in quality. Sadly though, there are still way more wines out there that I still haven’t had opportunity to taste. I need to hustle and get busy with tasting them all. I won’t stop until I taste them all…

So today, I wanted to sort of break down wine regions of Santa Barbara county and gain perspective on just who’s making what wines in this area so I can divide and conquer my mission, if you will.

Here is a map of SB county with regions broken down:

There are five wine growing areas in Santa Barbara Wine Country, of which four are AVAs (American Viticultural Area), namely Santa Maria, Sta. Rita Hills, Sta. Ynez and Happy Canyon. Notice Los Alamos is not one of them. Instead you have Happy Canyon which is newest AVA of Santa Barbara county as of November 2009.

To cover all of the above regions in one posting is a daunting and arduous task; each day, I will cover one region – its soil, weather, history, character and producers. Then I will share my experiences of wines I have either tasted or currently selling to retail clients.

My hope is that many of you would choose to participate on this posting in order to make it much more detailed, interactive and informative. Certainly I couldn’t make it complete or exhaustive doing it myself. I need you guys and gals to cover for me, do you know what I mean?

One of the reasons why I am writing about this appellation is because recently while on a tasting appointment with one of my clients, I was asked a question pertaining to the specifics of this area of which I failed to answer confidently. So it hit me that I should really dig deeper and learn more about each regions within the county of Santa Barbara; after all, it can only help me provide better service to my retail clients and help distinguish myself from ever-growing number of wine sales reps around me.

Stay Tuned~

Chris Riccobono, the man of great work ethic: watch this video

As a subscriber of his online video wine blog, Pardon That Vine, I’ve got much respect for him. In this video, he is about an hour away from his wedding ceremony. And he still turns on his video camera, and reviews three wines that are featured on his very wedding while fighting nervousness and obviously time. Here is the video: Ghostblock, Sycamore, Ruffino.

Minerality…integral part of a good wine

What determines good, high quality wine? Well, certainly minerality is one of main components in a good wine. Wes Hagen, Vineyard Manager at Clos Pepe explains where it comes from in this video:

1. Thick skin which is derived from calcium in soil which becomes absorbed by the grapevine
2. High acid, low pH…think of acid as a “frame” that holds up the minerality

Made a simple, fun eCard for my brother, David.

A free ecard by Smilebox

Very easy to use, fun and best of all, free!

Fast food wine

What does fast food mean to you? For many, fast food is perceived to unhealthy, processed, high calorie and fat, unfresh, frozen, etc.

So what do I mean by fast food wine? I call it manipulated wine; adulterated wine. Manufactured wine. Here is a documentary video by Dispatches, Ch. 4 U.K. uncovering some of the scandals of winemaking:

This topic of “manufactured” winemaking is intriguing to me as I embark on exporting wines to Asia. And there is high demand for cheap, bulk wines from Asian countries. More wines in this category is likely to receive a series of treatment in order to make the wines more palatable, fruitier and more structured with less flaw.

So some of the additives that many winemakers resort to are Mega Purple, acid, water, excess sugar, artificial flavoring, artificial/flavored yeast, etc.

Mega Purple has garnered spotlight of controversy because this concentrated grape extract can perform magic when used to make inferior wine from inferior grapes – add color, structural backbone, aroma and hide green-ness. It is not illegal to use this extract; after all, many claim using it is no different than blending other grape varietals to achieve consistency, style and quality such as in Cab Sauvignon blended with little bit of Syrah or Merlot.

Unlike food industry in which strict labeling law and regulation offers consumers information, wine industry does not. And perhaps many of us including myself do not like surprises that our beloved wine contains more than what nature has allowed us to enjoy. Certainly the money we pay to play takes different meaning when we learn there are many additives and excess pesticides/fungicides are used to produce wines.

As public becomes more knowledgeable about how wines are made, I hope the industry cleans up some dirty acts while consumers smartly make decisions to consume wine and eventually make wine more accessible and honest.