California wine industry asks feds to tighten labeling standards

Vintner calls for tougher federal wine labeling rules regarding where a wine’s grapes were grown are being answered with proposed new regulations. Wine growers say the changes are needed to protect consumers and the reputation of area wine-producing regions.

“This was our baby,” said Rex Stults, who heads up government relations for the Napa Valley Vintners trade group. “We are such passionate advocates for the integrity of the Napa name.”

Under the proposal, the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau would have more authority to go after rogue out-of-state operators, said Richard Mendelson, an attorney for the Napa Valley Vintners.

The Brooklyn Winery, for example, has made a name for itself in the Big Apple by crafting boutique, small-batch wines that appeal to affluent consumers around the New York metro region. It sources grapes from New York state but also reaches beyond, even to Sonoma County, trucking grapes in a refrigerated truck almost 3,000 miles to make its wine.

About 40 percent of its grapes come from the West Coast. Its 2012 pinot noir from the Carneros region sells for $45 and, because of federal rules, can only be sold within New York.

The bottles are labeled as coming from the “Los Carneros” region. The new proposal could mean that the label wording would need to be changed, given that the wine must be fully finished in the state where the grapes were sourced.

In another example, the Napa vintners group found one Southern vintner that produced a bottle of wine labeled as “Napa Valley” wine, even though there was no way to verify that the grapes actually came from there, Stults said. The vintner sold the bottle out of state as well, which would be against federal rules.

Under American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) rules administered by the bureau, vintners may use an AVA designation on the bottle if at least 85 percent of the grapes come from that particular region and the wine is produced inside the state where the AVA is located. The bureau, however, has limited authority over products sold solely within the boundaries of the state in which the wine is produced.

Much of the wine involved comes from the bulk market, processed wine that typically has not been bottled and is being sold as excess. The proposed rule would allow a winery to use a particular AVA label through an exemption if they have purchased bulk wine that has been finished in the state where the AVA is located and bottled elsewhere, according to WineAmerica, a trade group representing wineries across the country.

Brooklyn Winery winemaker Conor McCormack, who honed his skills in California, said his winery will obtain legal counsel to determine if Brooklyn Winery’s current labeling practice would run afoul of the proposed regulations, especially given he does all the production on-site in New York.