Second Maker Suspends Sales of Cheap, High-Alcohol Wines on L.A.’s Skid Row

Responding to an effort by the county Board of Supervisors to reduce alcohol-related social problems on Los Angeles’ Skid Row, a second wine maker has voluntarily suspended sales of its cheap, high-alcohol wine in the downtown neighborhood.

But Canandaigua Wine Co. of New York, which produces Wild Irish Rose and Cisco brands, did not go as far as E & J Gallo Winery, which last week halted sales of its Thunderbird and Night Train brands in Skid Row areas throughout the country.

Canandaigua chairman Marvin Sands said Tuesday that he wants to see if the six-month test reduces alcoholism before expanding the ban to other areas.

The supervisors Tuesday urged the remaining producers of the “fortified” wines to follow suit.

The cheap, syrupy wines--which have twice the alcohol content of chablis or burgundy--are the beverage of choice of curbside alcoholics, according to county health officials. A typical 13-ounce bottle of fortified wine contains about 18% alcohol and sells for about $1.30.

“Although we think that only a small percentage of our Wild Irish Rose consumers are Skid Row alcoholics,” Sands said in an interview, “we’re interested in protecting that other 99% of our business.” He contended that fortified wines are consumed largely by “moderate, responsible drinkers who are hard-working Americans.”

“We want to do everything possible to find a solution to the Skid Row problem,” he added.

Critics of the test ban have suggested that alcoholics deprived of fortified wine will turn to other alcoholic drinks.