Cisco Changes Labeling And Bottle

The makers of Cisco, one of the most potent fortified wines in the country, are altering the product's bottle and labeling to quell accusations that the wine is deceptively marketed as a lower-alcohol wine cooler.

Cisco's parent company, Canandaigua Wine Co. of Canandaigua, N.Y., has announced it will issue a new bottle shape and label warnings this spring. The new bottle will have dark green glass, a long neck and a label that says in bold graphics, ``THIS IS NOT A WINE COOLER.'' The smaller, 375 milliliter bottle will advise, ``This container serves four persons and is best served over ice.''

Some new Cisco labels already in stores say the product is not a wine cooler, according to Canandaigua. But some bottles available in Washington carry no such warning.

The changes respond to charges by U.S. Surgeon General Antonia Novello and other health advocates that Cisco's appearance has duped consumers into drinking high concentrations of alcohol instead of something that looked like a wine cooler. Each 375 milliliter, or 12-oz., bottle of Cisco has the alcohol equivalent of five shots of 80- to 100-proof vodka; Cisco also comes in a 750-milliliter size.

Unlike most fortified wines, Cisco comes in five flavors: orange, peach, red, berry and gold. The current 375-milliliter bottle - the same size as individual wine coolers - is clear and labeled in pastels. Many stores keep Cisco separate from wine coolers, however, and some display it only behind the counter.

At 20 percent alcohol by volume, Cisco has more ``kick'' than Thunderbird, Nighttrain or Richard's Wild Irish Rose (a dessert wine also produced by Canandaigua), all known as relatively cheap, quick routes to intoxication. Wine coolers average between 5 percent and 6 percent alcohol by volume, and table wines usually are about 12 percent.

Cisco was responsible for 10 cases of alcohol poisoning or extreme intoxication involving adolescents in Washington, D.C., last year and for seven other cases requiring hospital treatment around the nation, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and the American Association of Poison Control Centers, Inc.

Richard Sands, president of Canandaigua, said the company has no direct evidence anyone has confused Cisco with wine coolers. He said CSPI will not reveal how doctors learned from the victims that they were drinking Cisco.

``Was the question asked before or after the person was intoxicated? Did they ask about Cisco, or was it an open-ended question?'' Sands said.

None of the reported cases occurred in Washington state. But surveys have shown wine and wine coolers are the drugs most commonly used by the state's middle- and high-school students, as well as by college students under 21.

``That sweet taste does appeal to young people not used to the taste of alcohol,'' said Jack Baker, chairman of the Washington State Substance Abuse College Task Force.

Baker said wine coolers themselves have been deceptively marketed like soft drinks to target young people experimenting with alcohol.

Sands said he hasn't seen figures on underage consumption of Cisco, but believes the surgeon general's action and the ensuing hubbub actually may have exacerbated that.

``It's very possible that when young people experimenting with alcohol are warned against it, they go out and try it,'' Sands said.

Sands said, however, that the company is doing everything it can to ensure that Cisco doesn't get into the hands of underage drinkers.

Vic Santus, owner of Vic's Beverage House in Renton, said he stopped stocking Cisco several years ago. ``It's a young people thing, a get-drunk-fast kind of thing,'' Santus said. He said he did not sell the beverage to minors.

Washington state Liquor Board members are pleased with the company's changes, said spokesman Carter Mitchell. The board approved Cisco's packaging and labeling when the product was first introduced here three years ago, but has declined to allow sale of the product in state stores.

Sid Eland Distributing Inc., Cisco's local distributor, won't release state sales figures for the product or say where it can be purchased. ``It has very limited distribution. We really don't promote the product,'' said wine sales manager Mike Sansone.

Cisco is not available at any of Washington's large chain stores, partly because of the state's high tax on wines that are more than 14 percent alcohol by volume.

CSPI is urging retailers to boycott Cisco until the new bottle shape and label warnings are available.