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In February we posted about The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau’s proposed rule to add new names to the approved list of grape variety names that can be used to designate United States wines. The original post is available here. The TTB has completed its rulemaking process and the revised rule will go into effect November 28, 2011, the Monday after Thanksgiving. More than 50 new names were added to the list, including some popular well known varietals like Grenache Blanc and Grüner Veltliner. To aid in locating information within the new and lengthy list, the TTB also included synonyms for a number of entries. Full details on the revised rule are available here.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) has updated the Certificate of Label Approval (COLA) form used to apply for label approval.  The application, which is form TTB F 5100.31, now requests information about any grape varietals listed on a proposed wine label.  Additionally, the COLA form has been updated to consolidate items needed for a pre-COLA evaluation, which is required for some products.  The application form now consolidates these requirements into a “formula” field.  The new COLAs online application system will also be updated to reflect these changes, but for the present time, COLAs filed electronically will not be required to include grape varietals.

Imbiblog is published for general informational purposes only and is not intended as legal advice. Copyright © 2010-2011 · All Rights Reserved ·

 Only a grape variety name approved by the TTB may be used as a varietal “type” designation for American wine.   The TTB is considering adding more than 50 names to their list of approved varietals to catch up with the explosion of U.S. wines made from obscure grape varietals.  The full list of varietals up for public comments is here.

Some of the proposed varietals are not so obscure (e.g. Blaufränkisch, Carignan, Garnacha, Grenache blanc, Grüner Veltliner, Lagrein, Vermentino), but others are extremely unusual, particularly the submissions from the Minnesota Grape Growers (Louise Swenson, Sabrevois, St. Pepin), which highlighted the cold-weather resiliency of the grapes

Imbiblog is published for general informational purposes only and is not intended as legal advice. Copyright © 2010-2011 · All Rights Reserved ·