An attorney representing the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board has sent a letter to former PLCB Chairman Jonathan Newman asking him to quit using the agency's "Chairman's Selection" trademark while marketing his private business.

Specifically, the letter says an ongoing promotion by a Wilmington, Del., wine store featuring Mr. Newman's wine recommendations and called "xChairman Selections" -- a play on Mr. Newman's former position with the PLCB -- could be confusing to consumers.

It also cites a Web site for Mr. Newman's own business, Newman Wine and Spirits, which displayed a bottle of a 2004 Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon with the barely discernible words "Chairman's Selection" on the label.

The letter from Philadelphia attorney Roberta Jacobs-Meadway of Eckert Seamans, a copy of which was provided to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by Mr. Newman, asks him to stop using "Chairman's Selection" references by May 15.

Mr. Newman yesterday said he had not noticed that the bottle pictured on his Web site had "Chairman's Selection" on its label because the print is so small.

"A simple phone call [from the PLCB] and I would have been happy to take it down," he said. He has since replaced the image with that of a different bottle.

Mr. Newman also questioned whether he has the authority to tell a private wine merchant to rename its program.

"I work with 90 retailers," he said. "I can't control how they market their products. It's up to each of them."

In a statement released yesterday, PLCB spokesman Nick Hays said: "The Board's interest is in protecting the taxpayers; this is not personal. But it is a private matter that Mr. Newman has chosen to make public. The Board will continue to address it professionally and privately."

The "xChairman Selections" title was the idea of Frank Pagliaro, owner of Frank's Union Wine Mart in Wilmington, less than 10 miles from the Pennsylvania state line. He said "it was 100 percent my intent" to link the promotion to Mr. Newman and Pennsylvania's Chairman's Selection program.

"Pennsylvania wine lovers know Jonathan, they know his name, they know what he's all about and they know what he's done for the PLCB system. People are looking for it now," he said.

Mr. Pagliaro said Mr. Newman had relayed the PLCB's request to him, but "that doesn't necessarily mean I'm going to change the name," he said.

"I'm one store, one independent wine shop that is just basically trying to promote my business in a way that I feel will drive customers to my door. It amazes me that they think that one very small Delaware wine shop is going to bring down the whole PLCB Chairman's Selection program."

The Web site for Mr. Pagliaro's store prominently displays the "xChairman Selections" promotion and has a photo of Mr. Pagliaro and Mr. Newman. He also places silver stickers with a red "X" on the featured wines in his store.

Mr. Newman resigned from the board in December 2006 in protest of its abrupt hiring of former state Sen. Joe Conti to a newly created chief executive officer position at Gov. Ed Rendell's urging.

Last fall, Mr. Newman started Newman Wine and Spirits, which uses a similar business model as the Chairman's Selection program but works with retailers outside of Pennsylvania. In effect, the former chairman is now competing with the PLCB to find the best deals on premium wines.

Mr. Newman yesterday called the PLCB letter "petty and intimidating," adding that instead of hiring law firms to go after an out-of-state retailer's promotional program "they should worry about the value and quality of the wines they're presenting to Pennsylvania consumers."