Do you hear an echo in here, CJ… or is that just the sound of the pettifog rolling in on little cat’s feet?
Brunello: I’m pretty sure the entire DOCG uses one label. (And don’t get me started on Sauternes.)
Well then, forget everything I said…
Twenty Bench and Harlan Estate
According to the Alysian website, they started in 2007. Maybe the bottles in cellartracker are user input errors or low quantity experimental bottles? The quantities in cellartracker are 0 to 8 bottles until 2007, and then 500+ thereafter.
Reading through their brand overview, there are a lot of similarities to Rhys in it. But that’s a little bit like saying that someone whose trying to make good wine is copying someone else’s style who is also trying to make good wine. Still, the more I look at it, the more that Alysian bottle looks like a copy, especially given the rest of the info on their website.
http://alysianwines.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Brand_Overview.pdf
Listen to the (almost) hidden background vocals on The Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp on the same album. It was clearly intentional.
Colgin vs. Schrader…
Considering they were a couple when Colgin Cellars debuted, the similarities there are at least understandable.
Agreed…but not a couple when Fred started his wine venture…
Either way you look at it they are extremely similar.
Everyone in the valley knows that the Schrader label is a complete rip off off Colgin. Not similar, exact.
and Carter and Schrader are friends as well.
even the bottles are of similar shape
And then there is this from Antica Terra:
Adieu Erratica
This first change is pretty sad for us…and equally embarrassing. We designed the label and first used the name Erratica on our rosé in 2009. And while we may be OK at winemaking apparently we’re terrible at remembering to file for trademarks. Last year, another winery took a shine to the name, decided to trademark both the name and the label image and sent us a friendly cease and desist letter. Our fault, we know. We don’t blame them for wanting it…it’s a really good name.
That’s odd. From the US Patent and Trademark Office search, I only find one trademark application for Erratica, and that was by Antica Terra, though it expired in 2013. There isn’t any other trademarks on that name.
Maybe they’re also terrible at searching the TM database.
We bottled a wine from the 2008 vintage called Nefarious. Never bothered with a trademark search. Whoops. There is a whole winery named that in Washington. They were cool about the whole thing, sent them a six-pack of it and since the distribution was pretty much through the winery only and it was a one-time bottling with a very distinct label they were happy with that. Taught us a lesson about assuming that oddball names aren’t being used by other people though.
That’s a happy ending, Jim. The moral of the story is probably that the catchier the name, the more likely it’s already taken.
