How does a society measure its progress? Perhaps by the growth of its gross national product or the improvement of its technology or the efficiency of its transportation. \n At the Kenwood Vineyards in Kenwood, Calif., progress is being measured a different way. There, in the Sonoma Valley, progress is the return of the nude to the cabernet wine label. \n The owners at Kenwood Vineyards placed the "Naked Lady" on their bottles 20 years ago as the business began its Artist Series of Wines. The idea was to put fine art on the label of Kenwood's best cabernet sauvignon. The art selected was a drawing by label artist David Lance Goines of a nude woman reclining on a hillside in a vineyard. In her hair was a garland of flowers. \n By law, approval for wine labels must be received from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. When the federal agency saw the nude lady in 1978, it turned down the request. The design was just too risque, the bureau said. \n The winery issued an immediate recall for all the bottles that had gone out with the "Naked Lady" drawing on the label. Most were retrieved but a few had been sold. Those bottles, sold at the time for $6.50, are now considered collectors' items and can sell for $500 or more. \n This year, observing the 20th anniversary of its Artist Series, Kenwood Vineyards tried again to put the nude on the label. This time, the bureau had no objections. The new bottles of cabernet sauvignon, a blend of cabernet franc and merlot grapes from the 1994 growing season, will go for $60 each. \n Why the change of heart by the ATF? We'll never know. A spokesman said merely there had been a change of policy over the years. \n The artist who drew "Naked Lady" speculates that a nude woman in a vineyard just doesn't shock people as it did two decades earlier.
All models were at least 18 years old at the time of their performance. 18 U.S.C. 2257 Record-Keeping Requirements Compliance Statement.
