In August, the New York State Liquor Authority (“NYSLA”) charged a New York retailer, Empire Wine & Spirits, with sixteen counts of improperly shipping wine to out-of-state consumers in states including California, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. See New York Retailer Charged with Illegally Shipping Wine to Out-of-State Consumers. The charges…
Category: Contemporary Wine Law Issues
TTB Expands List of Allowable Revisions to Approved Labels for Alcohol Beverages
On Monday, in Industry Circular Number 2014-02, TTB announced the expansion of its list of allowable revisions to approved labels for alcohol beverages, also known as Certificate of Label Approvals (“COLAs”). The agency currently maintains a list of allowable revisions to approved labels that outlines the permitted changes that can be…
Thank You for Attending the Wine Law CLE
Special thanks to all On Reserve readers who attended last week’s CLE course on wine law in New York City. The course surveyed an introduction to wine law, and highlighted some of the major legal issues with respect to federal regulation, state regulation, and direct shipping. Although many issues affect the…
Pennsylvania Attorney’s Wine Collection Seized and May be Destroyed by Government
Arthur Goldman, a Pennsylvania attorney, was recently accused of selling wine without a license. The story goes that Mr. Goldman privately procured high-end wines for friends and colleagues, selling the wine directly to multiple parties through his personal cellar as opposed to shipping the wine through Pennsylvania’s state-controlled liquor stores. (For the…
Introducing LabelVision: The 21st Century COLA Search
Last week, the folks at ShipCompliant officially rolled out a new service called LabelVision. To many in the wine, beer, or spirits industry, this new resource is a game changer. Instantly, we have access to over 1.5 million federally approved labels as far back as 20 years. To some, such a system may…
The Rudy Kurniawan Sentencing and the Wine Label Certification Statement
On Thursday, August 7, 2014, Indonesian wine collector Rudy Kurniawan was sentenced to ten years in prison by U.S. District Judge Richard Berman. Mr. Kurniawan is purported to have swindled more than $20 million worth of fake wine that he allegedly created in his California home and later sold to collectors….
The Trademark Battle of Jamieson Ranch Vineyards and Pernod’s Irish Distillers
In March, Jamieson Ranch Vineyards launched a declaratory judgment suit against Pernod Richard’s Irish Distillers Limited, owner of the renowned Jameson Irish Whiskey, in response to the Ranch’s receipt of a cease and desist letter. See Jamieson Vineyards Takes On Pernod Ricard’s Irish Distillers. According to Jameson Clashes with Jamieson Over Name, the letter issued by Irish Distillers…
District Court Denies Duck Walk’s Motion to Dismiss Against Duckhorn
Last year, California-based Duckhorn Wine Co. filed a complaint against Long Island-based Duck Walk Vineyards alleging consumer confusion and breach of settlement agreement that resolved a prior trademark infringement action between the two parties. See Duckhorn Wine Co. Files a Complaint Against Duck Walk Vineyards Alleging Consumer Confusion on Wine Labels; see also Duckhorn…
The Minimalistic Wine Label Approach: Are We Heading Toward Textless Labels?
There’s been some chatter recently about Uproot Wines and its newly introduced color-coded labels that represent the wine’s flavor palette. See, e.g., Millennials Targeted with Color-Coded Labels. The colored boxes on the true front label of the wine feature what Uproot Wines declares is a flavor palette, or a profile of…
TTB Suspends Ruling on Bottling Taxpaid Wine in Growlers
Several weeks after TTB announced its third ruling of Year 2014, the Bottling Taxpaid Wine in Growlers or Similar Containers for Consumption Off of the Premises, TTB issued a subsequent announcement declaring the suspension of the ruling. (The original ruling held that filling growlers and similar containers for consumption off of the…