Wineries settle fight over names

A small Sonoma winery has bowed to demands that it stop selling a wine named “Sumptuary” over concerns consumers might confuse it with Fetzer Vineyard's “Sanctuary” wine brand.

Meadowcroft Wines owner Tom Meadowcroft said he agreed to phase out production of the label to avoid spending up to $20,000 in legal costs to defend the name.

But he's not happy about it. Meadowcroft, who founded his winery in 2004, feels he's been bullied by the Kentucky-based spirits giant.

“It's a very big playground, and to fight over names like Sumptuary and Sanctuary is almost ridiculous,” Meadowcroft said.

Fetzer's owner, Brown-Forman, said experience has shown that consumers are easily confused by similar sounding products.

“We're not trying to be mean people,” said Phil Lynch, public relations director for Brown-Forman. “We're just trying to protect our trademark.”

The company in 2004 blocked rival Barton Inc. from selling its Ridgewood Reserve bourbon because consumers confused it for Brown-Forman's Woodford Reserve bourbon, Lynch said.

Examples in the wine industry abound, as well, Lynch said, including the fight between the makers of the Cupcake and Layer Cake wine brands.

Meadowcroft said he came up with the Sumptuary name to highlight lesser-known winegrowing regions in California.

A sumptuary is a set of laws attempting to restrain the consumption of luxury goods or other habits considered excessive, essentially making such practices taboo.

He chose the name for his Amador County zinfandel because in many places outside California, wines from growing regions other than Sonoma and Napa can be considered taboo by those unfamiliar with them.

“Once you get out of California, people don't understand these other appellations. It's very confusing,” he said.

Meadowcroft applied for the “Sumptuary” label last year for his 1,800 cases of 2007 zinfandel. He makes about 15,000 cases of wine under three other labels, Meadowcroft, Magito and Thomas Henry.

The “Sumptuary” wines, which cost between $10 and $13, have sold well because they fill a low-cost niche in many distributors' portfolio, he said.

The Sanctuary brand has three wines, a zinfandel, cabernet and pinot noir, which sell for between $25 and $35 a bottle, Lynch said. The wines are made in Hopland and Brown-Forman has owned them for nearly 20 years.

The company agreed to allow Meadowcroft to sell his remaining 900 cases.