Life in the OLCC

I know it sounds like the reality show love child of MTV and the WB, but in fact it stands for the Oregon Liquor Contol Commission. The fine folks here have given in to the wishes of Roxylee Winery as well as a few other wineries and are permitting the use of the word 'claret' on labels of wine produced in Oregon. The original article doesn't go into too much depth so I did some snooping around and found the O.D. (original document).

For those not familiar with the word 'claret', its roots are English. At various times throughout history, it has meant a few different things but the most widely accepted interpretation of the word is that 'claret' is red wine from the Bordeaux region of France. And according to the document,

"Under the new rules, Claret must be a mixture of at least two of these grape varieties: Cabernet franc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Carmenere, or Malbec."

Guess where all these varieties are indigenous to. That's right, Bordeaux. In fact, the Bordelais have similar legislation specifying which grapes can be grown there. While it is no surprise that I am full on pro place-name labeling, I was a bit curious to see that this would even be an issue in Oregon. After all, the word 'claret' is an English (as in England) word and there is no place (that I know of) named 'Claret', so who cares. From the minutes of the OLCC meeting:

"Commissioners amended OARs 845-010-0905 (definitions) and 845-010-0915 (graper variety names) to allow the label change effective Dec. 1, 2004. The first change removed Claret from the list of semi-generic designations, whicha re generally prohibited in Oregon. THe second rule was change to indicate that Claret doesn't derive from or refer to a geographical area of feature."

So what should we take from this? While I agree with the interpretation of the word 'claret' it seems that someone in the past had some amount of respect for place-names and as such wrote it into law that they were not to be used. In doing so, they put the onus on the winemakers of Oregon to come up with another name to describe their product. This is what should be happening everywhere. I understand it's not as convenient as using an existing name (who doesn't know what Champagne is? as it turns out, quite a few people), but that's the whole point. The established have worked for years to become just that, established.

Dig in an get ready for the long haul. If the same amount of energy afforded the promotion of 'true' Champagne was spent on promoting Oregon, they won't need to worry about what to call it.