Harrell recounts battle over wine label– "America's 1st Wine"

October 14, 2008

With an important national holiday just over the horizon – Columbus Day, Oct. 12 – and this seems a perfect time to reflect on the historical significance of the wine label: America's First Wine!

When you are shopping for wine, whether buying for a special occasion or for your own pleasure and enjoyment, checking the wine labels is important.

As you are surveying the many wines displayed in wine shops and grocery stores, have you ever thought about how the wine labels just seem to "grab" you? They seem to be tantalizing you, the "wine lover," with colorful labels portraying the bold, the daring, the beautiful and the historical by seeming to scream, "Take me, take me!"

While you are studying the labels to decide on which special wine to buy, have you ever stopped to really think about how much your interests and emotions influence your taste? Perhaps your interest and taste are both influenced more by history, especially if you live here in eastern North Carolina.

Now for a little history! As previously reported, all wine labels must be approved by the ATF, which can take months for a decision. While I was awaiting their decision for approval, several meetings were held with the agents. Then, guess what? At the last meeting, I was informed that the ATF could not approve the "America's First Wine" label because "the Colonists brought wine with them when they settled in Manteo!"

I was more than disappointed! I was stunned! I could not believe their reason for denying approval!

Needless to say, I immediately responded with, "The colonists brought wine made in Europe from grapes grown in Europe."

You should have seen their faces when I continued with my response: "I'm talking about wine made in America from grapes grown in America!" My prompt reply startled the group. They quickly proclaimed in unison with, "We never thought about that!" Then the America's First Wine label was approved immediately.

The ATF approval gave Bennett Vineyards the sole right to use Colonial names and pictures that reflect the history of our great country and our great state.

Now, as you, the "wine lover" are viewing the labels in your quest for choosing the best wine, please note the colorful Bennett Vineyards label that pictures two great American presidents – George Washington and Thomas Jefferson – overlooking a vineyard and a colonial sailing ship pictured below.

As you continue your search for just the right wine, you will be impressed with the historical names of our wines listed under the picture of the Colonial ship beginning with:

1) Mount Vernon White – named for George Washington's plantation home on the Potomac River;

2) Blackbeards Choice – named for the famous Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, the pirate, who hung out in Bath and sailed Queen Anne's Revenge in our waterways, the Outer Banks, Ocracoke Island, and finally Teaches Hole Channel. It was there that his ship was cornered by HMS, sloop Jane, and beheaded on Saturday, Nov. 22, 1718, by Royal Navy Lt. Robert Maynard.

It is rumored that Blackbeard and his crew often "partook" of local supplies including wine, which was one of his favorite drinks!

3) Roanoke Red – named for the four-first English settlements in North America on Roanoke Island.

4) Charlestowne Red – named for the Charleston, S.C., port that became the mecca of exports and imports of supplies on the last coast.

5) Elizabeth II – named for North Carolina's unique Elizabeth heritage and it's contribution to the cultural beginnings of our Great Nation.

6) Gold Crown – named for King Charles II in honor of his 1500-acre land grant to the Bennett family in the late 1700s.

America's First Wine is wine made in America by Bennett Vineyards in Beaufort County. We use only Native American grapes: Scuppernongs and Muscadines.

Oh, yes! We also use an original 1840 recipe to make our tasty, historical wines that "smell like grapes and taste like grapes!"

For more information, go to www.NCWines.com and our website: BennettVineyards.org

Buddy Harrell, Bennett Vineyards