Sonoma Portworks is caught in a Name Game
Story Jennifer Frances
Photos David Bolling
Volume 1, Issue 3 Valley of the Moon 43
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What’s in a name? That which we call port by any other name might taste as sweet, but stripping port of its historic identity could be a bitter pill for the industry to swallow.
That’s the challenge facing Bill and Caryn Reading, a Sonoma couple whose petaluma-based Sonoma Portworks is theoretically exempt from, but nevertheless threatened by, rules being sought by the European Economic Commission (EEC) to restrict use of the term to its nation and region of origin—Portugal.
“Our government agreed to stop wineries from using that word (port) unless they had prior approval,” explains port maker bill reading. “only people who are already interested in the category know anything about it at all, if anything,” he says. As such, “very little is being done about it. people have struggled.”
The name game began nearly a decade ago when the united states and the eec signed an agreement on wine trade after many years of negotiations. In addition to wide-ranging issues related to production, labeling and import requirements, the 2006 agreement addressed “semi-generic names of origin” on non-eu wine being sold in the u.s. It determined that certain wines known by place names—such as cham- pagne, burgundy, sherry or rhine, to name a few—could not be labeled as such unless produced by the country associated with that name (France, spain and Germany, respectively).
Port should not be included in that list, though, according to the readings.
“Here’s the thing,” says Bill. “We don’t have another name to call this product. but the portuguese do, and they’re using it extensively … the word is ‘Oporto,’ which is the name of the town where the ports are made. many of the Portuguese ports sold here and throughout the world are labeled ‘Oporto’ instead of ‘Port.’”
“My feeling is, that word (‘Oporto’) is Portuguese: It’s authentic, it’s a place. that word should be protected and preserved just for the Portuguese,” Bill says. “but the word ‘port’ is an english word, and it really describes the english involvement in the history of the product—more so than (that of) the Portuguese.”
The British did, in fact, popularize both the word and the product in the 17th century, after war with France cut off their supply of Bordeaux reds. It could be said that the Portuguese invented it and the British marketed it to the world.
The resistance to port makers calling their product ‘Port’ poses a conundrum reminiscent of the contract dispute that prevented music icon prince from using his given name for many years. prince solved the dilemma by making his identity a visual symbol, prompting media to refer to him as ‘the Artist Formerly Known as Prince.’
Unlike Prince, however, port doesn’t have the broad recognition of a superstar to sustain it through its obscurity, putting the category’s ability to grow and thrive at serious risk.
“If you don’t call it ‘port,’ what is it?” Bill asks. “Right now you’ve got this very small industry that doesn’t know what lies ahead for it in the future, and so there’s no incentive for new people to get into the industry. there’s no incentive for the big wineries to have more resources to promote a category, let alone themselves. there’s no incentive for them to get into the category,” he says.
Bill and Caryn got into the category more than 20 years ago, after much creative experimentation. “this is a man who loves a challenge,” says Caryn. After trial and error, bill and vintner pal Harry parducci created what would become sonoma portworks’ debut port. launched in 1994, Deco was the first-ever port infused with dark-chocolate essences. “It was very successful,” says caryn. “so much so that literally hundreds of wineries around the world have copied us, including quite a few here in sonoma county.”
Deco helped change wine packaging as we know it, too. Caryn explains: “At that point in time, the ports that were available were in 750ml bottles, with very boring black-and-white labels. (Bill) knew he didn’t want to create another package just like everything else. He sourced (olive oil) bottles from Italy and ended up with that tall (500 ml) bottle profile.” And working with Sonoma Valley-based designer Gina Bostian, Sonoma Portworks created an Art Deco package that “was really, really striking. there wasn’t anything else like that in the market at the time,” Caryn says.
“Now a lot of people are using the tall bottle or some version of it, and a lot of people now have really beautiful, colorful labels that are so different from 20 years ago,” she says.
Port is traditionally an after-dinner drink, a desert wine, a notch up the alcohol spectrum from wine. It is loosely associated, sometimes, with romance, given its warm, sweet essence. And that’s a quality that seems to have been infused into the read- ings relationship. When a photographer asked them to do something, anything, to enliven a static tasting room shot—even, God forbid, kiss—they commenced to smooch with abandon. And when it was suggested they sip port through a straw, just for the comic effect, they did it without second thoughts.
Two decades earlier, the Reading’s Portworks was fully ensconced in the Valley of the Moon, with a tasting room first in Kenwood and then in Glen ellen. they bounced from one facility to another, but in 2003, when the perfect brick and mortar space opened up in petaluma’s Foundry Wharf area, they jumped at the chance for a more permanent and prominent position. Now their production and sales are under one roof, and the commute from Sonoma is a breeze.
In addition to offering the only tasting room in petaluma, the couple enjoys being in the company of so many “artisan pro- ducers of consumables in and around the petaluma area—distillers, bakers, cheese- makers” and more, says caryn.
With her knack for discovering delectable food and wine pairings, Caryn heads up regular tasting events at Sonoma Portworks that utilizes the local bounty. A recent summertime pairing involved port and ice cream from three twins, just down the street; their “post Holiday blues” event paired four different local blue cheeses with their wines. everything in the tasting room, including the bar and decorative barrels, is on wheels, so the space can be reconfigured in short order for group events.
The company’s offerings include Grappa, Sherry, “Almost Vinegar,” and of course, Port. In fact, “we’re the only ones that specialize in it,” says Bill. “We have the largest selection of ports in the county.”
And because they actually crush their grapes the (very) old fashioned way (with human feet) the resulting must—seeds, stems and skin—is not overwhelmed by bitterness. As a consequence, their grappa is unusually smooth and fruity. A special treat is a fig-infused Grappa called Fig’N Awesome which is, in fact, an accurate description. A short sip will linger on your tongue, and in your memory, for many long moments.
But their business was built on one product, the serendipitous marriage of dark chocolate essence and port. the result was an instant hit and is still an addictive sensation. sip a couple ounces and you’ll want a couple more.
The same can be said for the reading’s 2008, clarksburg Petit Syrah Port, which at first blush seems rather volatile on the nose and the finish, but once it breathes there is a delightful blanket of cherry, plum and cranberry fruit with faint hint of chocolate. lovely stuff, but “stuff” isn’t a label-appropriate term.
At this point, Sonoma Portworks can still call their fortified wine ‘port,’ due to a grandfather clause in the USEEC agreement that allows ports created before 2006 to maintain their identity. but the issue “may be coming to a head again, because the european economic commission is coming back to the us government and fighting the 2006 agreement,” says bill. “they would like to have that (grandfather clause) scratched and eliminate the ability to use the word ‘Port’ on any port product, whether it was approved before 2006 or not.
“We have many ports that are grandfathered in, and my ability to use ‘port’ is an asset,” Bill says. “that’s to my benefit. but it’s not to the industry’s benefit. And ultimately, if it’s not to the industry’s benefit, then it’s not to my benefit.”
The Readings hope the sweet and Fortified Wine Association will take bolder steps to fight the 2006 agreement, and say that the Association has been too “timid” in dealing with the name issue.
“This is our livelihood. this is our category. We have a 300-year history of producing ports in this country that is darn near as long as the Portuguese.”