Labeling wine (or what appears to be wine) in the United States can often times prove to be quite confusing. Generally speaking, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (hereinafter “TTB“) of the U.S. Department of Treasury (or, formally, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, hereinafter “BATF”) has…
Last Day to Register for UC Davis Wine Law Conference is May 24th
I already posted an article (See UC Davis to Host Upcoming Wine Law Seminar on Appellations and Wine Trade Names) with respect to the upcoming wine law conference, Toward a Common Standard: New European Union Label Laws and Geographic Indicators of Origin, hosted by University of California Davis, but Whitney…
Canadian Radio Host Terry David Mulligan Protests Outdated Prohibition-Era Wine Laws
To protest what he believes to be an outdated, Prohibition-era law, radio host Terry David Mulligan “carried a wooden case containing nine bottles of wine and one bottle of Penticton beer across the Alberta-B.C. border at noon on Friday.” (See Radio Host Mulligan Protest Provincial Liquor Laws.) Despite planning his illegal…
Progressive Change for Polish Winemaking Laws
Note: Unfortunately, I was unable to find more information on this alert other than one article. However, I found the topic interesting enough to post as a wine law update, as I have never come across Polish wine law in my studies. If you are familiar with this new provision,…
San Diego Superior Court Rules in Favor of Tiered Winery Ordinance
Special thanks to Dennis from Eagles Nest Winery in San Diego, California for pointing out this new update with respect to a suit filed by San Diego Citizenry Group challenging the San Diego County Tiered Winery Ordinance under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) (See prior On Reserve entry Group…
Canada Fights Outdated Prohibition-Era Wine Law
Canada is a country that struggles with outdated Prohibition-era wine laws, quite similar to those of the United States. As opposed to encountering restrictive laws with respect to interstate shipments, Canada grapples with laws from its own Prohibition time period that limit the importation of wine across the boundaries of…
Costco Wholesale Corp v. Hoen and Federal Antitrust Law
The SCOTUS Granholm decision of 2005 is far-reaching with respect to subsequent issues entailing the three-tier distribution system. Many states allowed wineries to self-distribute their wines directly to retailers and bypass the wholesaler intermediary. This was the issue in Costco Wholesale Corp. v. Hoen, a case decided by the United…
Trademark Infringement Suit Filed in California Court Between “Mommyjuice” and “Mommy’s Time Out”
On Monday, a lawsuit was filed in a federal court in California claiming that the “Mommyjuice” of California-based winery Clos Lachance Wines violates the trademark of “Mommy’s Time Out,” a wine marketed by a New Jersey wine distributor. (See Wine for “Mommy” Sets off Trademark Fight.) Both “Mommyjuice” and “Mommy’s Time Out”…
New Information on Wine in America: Law and Policy
This weekend I received an e-mail from Richard Mendelson of Dickenson, Peatman & Fogarty in reference to his upcoming publication, Wine in America: Law and Policy. For those On Reserve readers who are as excited about wine law publications as I am myself, I thought it may be of interest…
Fifth Annual Wine Law Seminar in Seattle, Washington to Focus on Financial and Legal Regulation
Seattle, Washington is the location for the Fifth Annual Comprehensive Seminar on Wine Law in Washington: The Ins-and-Outs of Operating Wineries in the Current Regulatory, Legal, and Financial Environments on May 2, 2011. The conference, which will be held at the Seattle Hilton Hotel, will focus on the current legal…