What’s in a Name?

As a former English teacher, I spent many weeks each year exposing my adolescent students to the joys of Shakespeare. I’m not going to lie: This sometimes took some serious educational acrobatics on my part. While I prefer Hamlet and Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet was more accessible to most of my students. They could relate to it on a teenage love level. Plus, I could show them the Leonardo DiCaprio movie version of it. That made everything better.

Perhaps the most famous line from R&J is the one about a rose, spoken by Juliet in a moment when she thinks she’s alone: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet.” She’s not really talking about a rose, of course. She’s talking about Romeo’s last name and trying to convince herself that it doesn’t matter. And we all know how that ends.

But her point is a good one, and it came to mind when GM Dave first shared his idea for a new name for 4.0 Cellars. Does our name really matter? Sure, we’re established in the Texas wine industry, but is our name really what we do and who we represent?

To be honest, the name “4.0” has often been difficult to explain and is often misunderstood. Over the years, many customers have asked me about our fourth winemaker. There isn’t one. Other customers have assumed that we had a fourth winemaker at some point but that he or she left. That didn’t happen. My colleagues and I have had to explain our name in ways that I’m betting associates in other tasting rooms haven’t had to.

And here’s the thing: As we finalize our name change (and order LOTS of new swag!), what people have come to love about us isn’t going to change. We’ll continue to pour the same award-winning, superior wines. You’ll see the same faces behind the bar. Dotty will continue to pass out gold stars. Carl will continue to share his deep knowledge of all things wine. Chuck will continue to regale listeners with stories of the Texas high plains. Kirk will continue to wear his kilts. And Martin will continue to be crotchety.

Much of our calendar of events will remain the same, too. We’ll still provide live music on Saturdays. We’ll still host Wine Club Sundays and daily cheese and wine pairings. We’ll still hold dog-friendly events benefitting the SPCA. We’ll still share online, interactive pairings featuring tasty wines and delicious foods.

But moving forward as the Texas Wine Collective, we’ll offer so much more. Look for opportunities to participate in unique blending sessions, blind tastings, and varietal tastings that invite you to compare varietals from different regions. Be on the lookout, too, for new wine brands created in house by our team. We’re also going to expand what we started this fall with our Halloween candy and holiday cookie pairings and add even more unique food pairings (next up in January: Super Bowl snacks!). In essence, we’re going to offer MORE of the things you love about us. 

So, yes, we’re changing our name, and this change is good. Welcome to the Texas Wine Collective!