Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/74662
Arton_Jan11.qxp 12/7/10 2:43 PM Page 1 TTB answered by saying that the approv- als given to these products were given in error and that they would be rescinded. This set off an expensive fight on the part of the wineries involved to retain the name martini on their products, and a couple of trade publications ran stories about a small Canadian winery that was causing all this oversized trouble. As for Vineland Estates, it simply changed the product's name to "Vicetini." Vineland trademarked both names and uses Vicetini on bottles marketed in the United States and Vice on bottles sold in Canada. In terms of marketing, winery execs believe that TTB did them a huge favor by insisting they name their product Vicetini. Trade publications ran stories about a small Canadian winery causing oversized trouble. Vice was first placed on the market in July 2009. During the first year the winery sold 10 bottles of Vice for every bottle of ice wine. Marketing slogans included "Discover your new Vice!" and "Vice is the duality of an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other." In the United States, sales began in early 2010 in Las Vegas and California, and a distributor in New York City made a trip to the winery in September to talk about distributing Vicetini there. Vice is a fortified white wine with neutral spirits added. At 21% alcohol, it is stylistically similar to a white port. The decision to promote it as a cocktail rather than a dessert wine is in recognition of the fact that in the ice wine marketplace only 2% of consumers will purchase ice wine, while 30% of liquor purchasers will buy vodka, flavored vodka or a vodka derivative. That is the market Vineland Estates is after and, to date, no imitators have emerged. WE Wines & Vines JAnUARY 2011 113 WineEast Vance_Jan11.qxp 11/23/10 9:29 AM Page 1