"other than standard orange wine"

[Robert Lauriston]

This is apparently a legal category of spirits in the US. The two examples I've seen are both 24% alcohol. What the hell is this? Is there another category called "standard orange wine"?

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&safe...

[Toddyblend]

Actually, I work at a company that distributes liquor flavored wines, otherwise known as "other than standard orange wine." Although it may sound substandard, this product is mostly just used for restaurants that only have beer and wine licenses, but would like to serve mixed drinks and cocktails. The most common types are tequila, rum, vodka, and triple sec. When mixed into things such as margaritas or daiquiris, I guarantee most people cannot tell a difference. In fact, a local Greek place that uses our product recently won a consumer's choice award for "best strawberry margaritas in Houston." If you'd like more info, check us out at www.toddyblends.com. Our products are called Terlingua, Rico Bay, Voschka, and Tri-Nector.

[EvergreenDan]

Thank you for the explanation. That plastic gallon jug of "Frozen Drink Base" scares me.

[vininfo]

It is a category of wine, not spirits.

[Mischelle40]

I found this term on a bottle of premixed liquor that is a coconut drink using this agent as a flavoring. The drink was 14% alcohol by volume and resembles a coconut rum but is sweeter. I purchased it at Aldi's and it is produced and bottled in Minnesota. I don't think this is substandard, as much of Aldi's products are made by large manufacturers, but rather a term that means it is not used as a drinking wine, but rather as an additive, as others on this site have said.

[sku]

From what I gather, "other than standard" is a term used for substandard wine which does not meet legal definitions because of the level of acidity, additives or some other reason. This would just be the orange wine version of that. It appears that the orange version is used largely as a flavoring agent.

http://www.winedefinitions.com/learni...

[Robert Lauriston]

it's not used as a flavoring, nor is it wine, it's cheap plain alcohol, apparently used to make cheap substitutes for rum, tequila, and so on.

http://www.floridadistillers.com/bulk...

[JMF]

I disagree that it's not used as a flavoring, and that "it's cheap plain alcohol, apparently used to make cheap substitutes for rum, tequila, and so on." It's used as a flavoring agent to make liqueurs like triple sec and curacao.

Here's from the Code of federal regulations for wineries/distilleries.

Other than standard wine: Wines products that are classified in 27 CFR Part 24 Subpart J as not standard wine, including nonbeverage wine products, heavy bodied blending wine, vinegar stock, distilling stock, and artificially flavored wine.

27 CFR Part 24 Subpart J
The following classes of wine are not standard wine:

(a) High fermentation wine, produced as provided in §24.212;

(b) Heavy bodied blending wine, produced as provided in §24.213;

(c) Spanish type blending sherry, produced as provided in §24.214;

(d) Wine products not for beverage use, produced as provided in §24.215;

(e) Distilling material, produced as provided in §24.216;

(f) Vinegar stock, produced as provided in §24.217; and

(g) Wines other than those in classes listed in paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), and (f), of this section produced as provided in §24.218. (Sec. 201, Pub. L. 85–859, 72 Stat. 1387, as amended (26 U.S.C. 5388))

[Robert Lauriston]

So what is "orange wine"?

Florida Distillers refers to OTSOW under "bulk alcohol products."

[JMF]

It's a "bulk" flavoring agent used to make liqueurs like triple sec and curacao, and in "alcopop", wine coolers, RTD's (pre-mix, ready to drink cocktails), frozen alcoholic drink mixes (like frozen daiquiri's), food products, etc.

[Robert Lauriston]

The two items I saw labeled "other than standard orange wine" were cheap 24% alcohol imitations of tequila and rum.

[JMF]

what were the products called?

[Robert Lauriston]

Something like Tequeeza and Rumbero.

[JMF]

sounds more like pre-mixed cocktails

[Robert Lauriston]

No, they were just alcohol. I presume the idea is that a restaurant with a beer and wine license could use them to make mixed drinks.

[JMF]

well, if you ever find them again, post links. I couldn't find anything about them.

[Robert Lauriston]

Neither could I, that's why I asked here. I suspect they're marketed wholesale only. Unfortunately my business partner threw them out. (I bought a restaurant and inherited a binload of odd booze.)

[JMF]

"Other than standard" does not mean that it is sub-standard, it just means that it doesn't fit the exact definition that the federal gov't decided upon for the definition of wines. "Sub-standard" is a different classification, and has to be labelled as such.

There are many products being made that don't fit legal definitions. As a distiller it can be annoying when making a product that doesn't meet the very narrowly defined definitions. And the definitions are changed every now and then. As an example, there used to be a category called "New England Rum" and the term was used for hundreds of years, but after Prohibition there weren't any rum distillers left in New England, so in 1968 the term was struck from the definition list. Now I'm going to try to get TTB to add the definition back to the list because there are several rums being made in New England starting around 5-6 years ago.

In this case "other than standard orange wine" is too high a proof to legally be called an orange wine, but it isn't made to be drunk as a wine, because as you say, it is meant as a flavoring agent.

[sku]

Interesting. Thanks for the info JMF.

[vininfo]

It is really not a flavoring, but more of a neutral wine alcohol base.