Winery Pressed for a Name With Taste

SAN FRANCISCO —  After a few months’ delay, Fetzer Vineyards of Hopland, Calif., is rolling out a 1991 Chardonnay and 1990 red table wine made entirely from organically grown grapes.

The labels read, simply, Fetzer. But that doesn’t begin to tell of the convoluted search for a moniker.

Two years ago, the Mendocino County winery thought about using Calpella, the name of a nearby town.

But that belonged to a small Italian winery.

Next came Sanella, but restaurateurs warned that it sounded too much like “senile” or, worse, “salmonella.”

Brown-Forman Corp., which bought the winery last year, thought using Bonterra, another suggestion, was silly. It sounds like you’re trying to hide behind another name, executives said. So Fetzer it was.