TTB announced last week that it administratively approved two new grape varieties for use on American wine labels. The new grape varieties, Mustang and Riverbank, can be used on American wine labels contingent upon TTB’s next rulemaking to update the list of approved varieties in the CFR (i.e., at 27 CFR…
Tag: TTB
The (Legal) Truth Behind American Viticultural Areas
What are American Viticultural Areas (AVAs)? Are they appellations? AVAs are types of appellations—but not all appellations are AVAs. For example, California and Texas and Napa County and Sonoma County are considered to be an appellation of origin with respect to wine labeling. But they are not AVAs. Both appellations…
TTB Updates Guidance on Shelf Plans and Shelf Schematics
On February 11, 2016, TTB issued Ruling 2016-1 titled “The Shelf Plan and Shelf Schematic Exception to the ‘Tied House’ Prohibition, and Activities Outside Such Exception.” The ruling concerns promotional activities commonly associated with category management programs and looked at such practices with respect to the federal tied house laws. The agency…
TTB Administratively Approves New Grape Variety Coda di Volpe
Very much in line with one of On Reserve’s recent posts, The Importance of Grape Varieties on American Wine Labels, TTB announced last week that it administratively approved a new grape variety for use on American wine labels. The new grape variety, Coda di Volpe, can be used on American wine labels…
Proposed Willcox Viticultural Area and Establishment of The Los Olivos District Viticultural Area
On January 21, 2016, TTB published a notice in the Federal Register proposing the establishment of the Willcox Viticultural Area, which is located in portions of Graham and Cochise Counties in Arizona (but is not currently located within, nor does it contain, any other established American Viticultural Area). The proposed Viticultural Area…
The Importance of Grape Varieties on American Wine Labels
Using a grape variety on an American wine label is not mandatory, but many winemakers choose to do so for several reasons, such as perception of quality to the consumer. Using or naming the variety on the wine label may also convey a better story about what is in the…
TTB Reopens the Comment Period for Proposed Viticultural Area and a Realignment
On October 26th, TTB released a press release stating the agency planned to public a notice in the Federal Register the following day which would reopen the comment period for the proposed Lewis-Clark Valley American Viticultural Area (AVA), which is comprised of 306,650-acres found in locations including Nez Perce, Lewis,…
TTB Makes Small Change to COLA Process
In an industry circular dated October 2, 2015, the TTB announced that it made a minor administrative change—and perhaps a very welcome update—to the label approval process. TTB will no longer return label applications to fix discrepancies between what appears on the label and what is stated on the application itself with…
TTB Revises Regulation Regarding Excise Taxes and Return of Wine to Bonded Premises
On Tuesday, September 15, 2015, TTB published a rule in the Federal Register detailing the agency’s revision of wine regulations that govern the return of wine to bonded premises. See Return of Wine to Bonded Premises. The final rule was issued without prior notice and comment. The new rule is summarized below: TTB’s…
Proposed Establishment of the “Champlain Valley of New York” Viticultural Area
TTB is accepting comments through August 31, 2015 on a proposed American Viticultural Area (“AVA”) called “Champlain Valley of New York,” as per a proposed rule in the Federal Register on June 30, 2015. The proposed AVA is as follows: The petition proposing the new AVA was sent to TTB by Colin…