U.S. LABELS JANUARY, 2017

John Gresham U.S. WINE LABEL REGULATIONS • All Wine Labels are controlled by the Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) • The TTB’s main goal is to collect taxes – No nutritional information is required on wine labels – Ensures wine is safe for consumers – Additions are limited to a specific list (Fining agents, etc.) • https://www.ttb.gov/wine/wine_treating_materials.shtml – Special permission is required for additions off the list – All labels are first reviewed and approved by the TTB • TTB reviews over 100,000 labels annually – No pornographic material is allowed and marketing information is reviewed before it can be used • The FDA controls nutritional labels of non-alcoholic beverages – Example: Non-alcoholic Beer falls under the FDA and has nutritional information TTB WEBSITE: www.ttb.gov/wine/ GENERIC AND SEMI-GENERIC WINE LABELS

• The simplest U.S. wine labels are Generic and Semi-generic • Generic label: , Red , and could use the term Pink • The alcohol level is between 7 and 14 percent • Could have the year but not required • Very inexpensive (Jug, Box) SEMI-GENERIC WINE LABELS • Semi-Generic wine labels are a specific U.S. label • These wine labels are defined with a European place name – But of course the wine does not come from Europe, most likely California… AMERICAN VINICULTURAL AREAS (AVA)

• The purpose of the AVA is to define the geographic origin of the fruit – There are no regulations defining the wine which comes from the geographic area, Example: must come from the Champagne region… Not the case in the U.S. • The origin of the grapes is very important in assessing their value – The largest AVA is the Ohio River Valley which covers 26,000 square miles – So is the the same across 26,000 square miles? – The smallest AVA, Cole Ranch is only 150 acres • Over 190 AVAs in the U.S. • California has over 100 AVAs MAP OF LODI AVAs FRUIT LIMITS TO GEOGRAPHIC ORIGIN

• In the U.S. the State, County, AVA or is used to define the origin of the fruit • 75 percent of the fruit must come from the State or County which is stated on the label • 85 percent of the fruit must come from AVA which is stated on the label • 95 percent of the fruit must come from the Vineyard which is stated on the label GEOGRAPHIC LABEL EXAMPLES (State, County & AVA) ADDITIONAL FRUIT LIMITS TO GEOGRAPHIC ORIGIN

• Estate Bottled refers to fruit that comes from controlled or owned by the company in question – 100 percent of the wine must come from the vineyard which the particular company runs • Need 5 gallons of topping wine? You cannot go ask Don down the road! – Topping wine must come from the same vineyard VARIETY AND VINTAGE LABELS

• 75 percent of the Variety stated on the label must be used for making the wine – Thus 24 percent of other verities can be used for blending • 95 percent of the grapes used must be of the Vintage year of , when a vintage label date is used RESERVE LABELS

• A ’s Reserve Cabernet from Napa may sell for $120 a bottle • Their regular stuff might sell for $50 a bottle • However, there is no legal requirements for Reserve wines!!! ALCOHOL AND HEALTH RELATED LABELING

• Table Wines: red, white, pink, etc. do not require alcohol levels on the label • Wines with a 14 percent or less alcohol level have a +/- 1.5 percent range – Therefore a wine label with 12.5 percent alcohol could have a range of 11 to 14 percent • Wines with alcohol levels over 14 percent have a +/- 1 percent range • PPM levels of less than 10 ppm (parts-per-million) of sulfites do not require a warning label • All wine labels have a mandatory health warning if they contain more than 0.5 percent alcohol PRODUCER LABELS – WHAT?

• The term Produced and Bottled or Made and Bottled indicates the company which makes and sells the wine – controls the process – Not required to grow the grapes, but have to ferment the wine • Example: Macchia • The term Cellared and Bottled or Vented and Bottled defines the producer who is legally responsible for the bottling process, and the product in the bottle – Allows the TTB to track issues back to the bottling process – Not required to make wine anywhere, could be a virtual winery – Can buy bulk wine and bottle with their label LABEL SUMMARY THANK YOU!