California lawmakers and vintners are pushing federal regulators to make sure that out-of-state vintners aren’t falsely advertising their bottles as Californian, says The Sacramento Bee. Current federal law demands that all wines labeled as coming from a California wine region (e.g. Napa Valley or Edna Valley), must source at least 85 percent of their grapes from that region. For example, “A wine labeled with the appellation ‘Napa Valley’ but also labeled with a statement that indicates that the wine is produced outside of California, such as ‘Produced and bottled by ABC Winery, Anytown, Illinois,’ would not meet the (requirements),” said federal officials.
Responding to a letter signed by nearly the entire California Congressional delegation, the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau has proposed that the same rule be extended to wines sold within a single state. As it is now, the rule applies only to interstate wine sales. The rule change is open for public comment until August 22nd.