I recently heard from 2 clients telling me they were contacted regarding their use of a sub AVA of Napa Valley on their TTB approved wine label. What they were specifically being contacted about was that their labels did NOT also list Napa Valley next to that sub AVA.

This scenario is one example of what are known as conjunctive wine labeling laws here in California. In the case of Napa Valley it is sourced from California Business & Professions code #25240 , which has existed since 1990. What it placed into law is the requirement that any wine label which lists one of Napa Valley’s sub AVAs (which we now have 16!)  must also list “Napa Valley” next to it………..Anywhere that sub AVA appears on the label by the way folks!

What might happen to your winery if you don’t do this you ask? You could be required to pull all of that bottled wine out of warehouses, retailers, etc and re-label it correctly. Or your winery could have its CA ABC license suspended or revoked.

There are currently 4 conjunctive wine labeling laws on the books in California. Besides our Napa Valley scenario here the other three are Lodi, Paso Robles & Sonoma County.

Winery staff that are involved in the compliance side of wine label design & obtaining TTB label approval need to be the watchdogs on behalf of their winery or wine cellar for this California requirement. The TTB is not going to flag your label approval submission for not meeting this state of California conjunctive labeling requirement! 

Through the wonderful technological tools now available for doing TTB COLA searches- our CA ABC offices or anyone else interested in keeping a “conjunctive labeling” eye on TTB approved wine labels can easily run searches to spot those that are out of compliance.

This is another great example of what I refer to as the “connect the dots” big picture that wineries need to have in relation to successfully managing their ongoing compliance. By “connect the dots” I mean how one item of your winery compliance, in this instance an individual wine label and its TTB label approval is then connected to meeting requirements of CA ABC law.

Who has this “connect the dots” view at your winery?