Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/60007
FEBRU AR Y NEWS Oregon Wine: Beyond Willamette C Wine Board to boost two regions with low profiles to prominence ulver, Ore.—One small step by the Oregon Wine Board promises to be a giant leap in terms of profile for wineries in Central Oregon and downtown Portland. With marketing-savvy Tom Danowski now at the helm, the board plans to add emphasis about Portland's ur- ban wineries and those in remote Central Oregon to its website's "Explore Wine Re- gions" section in the coming weeks. "We are going to create a tab for Central Oregon and the Portland Urban wineries as well. This is merely for their convenience in helping people find the wineries in those two areas," Oregon Wine Board spokesperson Charles Humble told Wines & Vines. The state has 538 wineries overall, according to WinesVinesDATA, with just 36 located outside the main viticultural areas of the Willamette and Columbia valleys and Southern Oregon. Multnomah County, which includes downtown Portland, boasts APPROVALS TTB LABEL Low per-label costs Gov't. Liaison Negotiations or Footwork Reasonable Hourly Rates TRADEMARK SEARCHES As Low as $185 Your trade names or designs are searched at the U.S. Patent Office to help establish valuable ownership or avoid costly legal liability. Over 100 years' total staff experience handling every government liaison need for industry. 200 N. Glebe Rd., Suite 321 Arlington, Virginia 22203 Phone: (703) 524-8200 Fax: 525-8451 TOLL-FREE 1-800-642-6564 Major Credit Cards Accepted www.trademarkinfo.com Since 1957 18 Wines & Vines FeBRUARY 2012 GovtLiaison_Dir08 11/29/07 2:00 PM Pag Doug Maragas experiments with 40 grape varieties on a 2-acre vineyard in Culver, Ore. 20 wineries, while the Central Oregon counties of Jefferson and Deschutes are home to Maragas Winery, 1,200-case Volcano Vineyards and Faith, Hope and Charity Vineyard and Events Center. Central Oregon also has half a dozen vineyards growing both noble and hybrid grapes. The region has its own industry association, the Winegrowers Association of Central Oregon. Until now, though, the region has had a very low profile, even within the state. "There was very little winesandvines.com ability for someone that didn't know we had wineries and vineyards in Central Oregon to find us through any substantial channel," said Doug Maragas, who opened 3,000-case Maragas Winery tasting room in Bend in 1999 but has since relocated to the vineyard property in Culver—quite literally in the middle of nowhere. Learn more: Search keywords "Oregon wine." —Peter Mitham es Moines, Iowa—Iowa vintners will begin using the Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) label for Iowa-pro- duced wines available to con- sumers. Only wines fermented and bottled by Iowa wineries are eligible for participation in the Iowa VQA program. Iowa wines debut VQA seal D The wineries must be members of the Iowa Wine Growers Association (IWGA) and pay the group's annual dues of $250. All wines must first pass laboratory chemical analysis at the Iowa State University's Midwest Grape and Wine Industry Institute in Ames, Iowa. Wines that pass the lab test are submitted for sensory evaluation by a five-member panel. The panel uses a modified 20-point Davis scoring system. To be eligible for the IVQA seal, a wine must receive a score of at least 13 points. Wines that qualify are awarded one of two quality seals. The "Iowa Quality Wine Seal" is awarded to varietal wines made from a minimum of 75% Iowa-grown grapes. The "Quality Wine" seal is awarded to wines produced from less than 75% Iowa-grown grapes, other fruits and/ or other winemaking materials and pro- cessed according to IVQA guidelines. Wineries with qualifying wines may purchase stickers to place on their bottles. "The real benefit behind this program is that it has gotten all wineries to improve wine quality," said Michael L. White, Iowa State University extension viticulture specialist. —Hudson Cattell Phone or write for details.