I recently returned from an incredible trip to the Douro Valley and Oporto, Portugal, courtesy of the Center for Wine Origins and the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto (“IVDP”). This trip presented to me the opportunity to explore the region, to learn about both Port and Douro…
Upcoming Trip to Porto, Portugal and the Legal Protections of Port Wine
An epic adventure awaits me this upcoming week as I travel to Porto, Portugal, courtesy of Center for Wine Origins of Washington, D.C., to learn about the legal protections Portugal is pursuing to protect its highly-esteemed wine called Port. Port wine, under the federal law of the United States, is…
Wine Law Seminar in Texas October 20th & 21st and a Special ‘On Reserve’ Discount
Law Seminars International presents the Third Annual Comprehensive Conference on Texas Wine Law, to be hosted in Austin, Texas this October 20th and 21st at the Hilton Austin Hotel. It is recommended that “[a]ttorneys, vineyard operators, grape growers, wine producers and distributors, government regulators involved with the production and distribution…
Australia Corks its Use of the Term Champagne as of September 1st
A strong congratulations is in store for Australia (and France), whose laws—as of today, September 1st—no longer permit the labeling of “Champagne” for any sparkling wine produced in Australia’s wine regions. (For more information, see France Takes Back ‘Champagne’ Label From Aussie Winegrowers; see also Protection of Champagne Name Increasing…
Third Party Providers and the Future of Wine Laws in America
This summer I had the absolute pleasure of working with the legal and regulatory compliance department of Lot18, a dynamic and rising flash sale site for premium wines and epicurean products. Lot18 is a budding company stationed in New York City and embraces an enthusiastic—and highly admirable—dedication to customer service…
Australia Completes Final Step in Protecting Wine Place Names
Reprinted with the permission of Kate Connors of the Center for Wine Origins and the Champagne Bureau, United States. In just three weeks, Australia will become the latest country to join the global movement toward robust truth-in-labeling laws that protect consumers by requiring that wine growing place names are reserved…
Domitian’s Vine Edict: The Story of the First Wine Law
Wine Law. Is it of contemporary origin? Or does it have a past as complex as its present? Does it predate written history? Is there a story behind this unique field of law? Indeed, there is—and it is one that is just as distinctive as its present-day overtones. The research…
Revisiting the Volstead Act: The Power Behind the Eighteenth Amendment for Prohibition
The Volstead Act: the legislative measure whose primary intent was to frame the execution of the Eighteenth Amendment, a curt and inexorable constitutional revision whose overtones still reside in contemporary American society even upon its repeal almost one hundred years ago. The legal supremacy of the Eighteenth Amendment, however, often overshadows…
Friendlier Legislation for New York State Farm Wineries
As a New York resident—and a very strong advocate for both New York wineries and the development of the state’s wine law—I am excited to announce that the New York State Governor, Andrew Cuomo, signed a bill, entitled the Fine Winery Bill, on Friday that significantly reduces the regulatory burdens…
Life After Champagne: Synopsis of the 2011 Wine & Law Summer Program
Life’s greatest levels of enlightenment derive from the journeys you take and the people you meet; for me, this idiom could not have possibly stood stronger during the 2011 Wine & Law Program on Transnational Wine Trade Law in Champagne, France. My acceptance to the Wine & Law Program last…