Blog
The TTB is exploring combining two winery reports
All US wineries are required to file two primary reports with the TTB, the Alcohol & Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau. One of those reports, which must always be filed by wineries regardless of their activities, drives whether wineries are required to also file the...
If a winery’s reports aren’t up to date the TTB won’t process their permit applications
If I asked you "is your winery up to date in filing all your TTB reports?", would you have a confident yes as a response? Or would you pause, and respond with an unsure "uhhhhhhh" or worse yet "what TTB reports?". Well US wineries the TTB is now starting to catch up...
Question: Who is always responsible for filing TTB label approvals?
OK wine industry folks, let’s clear this up once and for all. When a TTB label approval (COLA) is required for the bottling of a wine who is the responsible party? A. The winery that bottles the wine B. The winery that bottles the wine C. The winery that bottles the wine D. All of […]
What wineries are getting wrong on their labels
I've said for years that there is a lot going on behind a wine label. A lot of compliance that is. When an average consumer picks up a bottle of wine they would probably be very surprised to know all the requirements that wine labels must meet, and the minimum...
All US wineries are bonded but not all of them have a bond
According to the internet gods this phrase, "what is a bonded winery" is a common wine related search. The term bonded, or just simply the word bond are commonly thrown around in the winery world, however few people could accurately tell you exactly what they mean....
Wine Label Compliance Class in Napa April 19th
Wine Compliance Alliance, based in Napa CA will be hosting an in person course on wine label compliance. The course will be held on Wednesday, April 19th from 9 am to 1 pm. This will be an in person course. A webinar version of the course will also be offered later in...
Wine label compliance, part 2 the back side
In my post on February 14th, I shared about the TTB requirements for the items required to be listed on wine labels and a bit about how those required items are connected to the label approval process. I mentioned how over years of teaching about wine labels I've come...
Wine label compliance, part 1 the front side
It's the beginning of the year, which means bottling season has gotten underway for a lot of US wineries. With bottling comes labels, and with (actually before!) labels comes label approvals. The most recognizable area of winery compliance is labels. Not only have all...
Wine Compliance Alliance partners with Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance to host training on TTB requirements for wine labels
Wine Compliance Alliance, a winery compliance consulting office based in Napa became an associate member with Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance in 2022. As part of its offerings to members, the PRWCA offers many training opportunities. On February 7th Ann Reynolds,...
Are the ownership details on your TTB basic permit up to date? (part 2) How and when to file them
In my post from January 5th I shared about the TTB starting to take a stricter enforcement stance on a regulation that's been on their books forever, which is their within 30 day filing requirement when either a winery has changed hands from one business to another...
Are the ownership details on your TTB basic permit up to date? (part 1)
Starting in November of last year I began seeing blog posts talking about the TTB (alcohol and tobacco tax and trade bureau) starting to crack down on US wineries that haven't updated the ownership details on their basic permit. First there was this one posted by a...
CDFA now offers an EZ version of the CA Grape Crush Report!
California wineries as well as certain wine businesses are required to file a report each year to the California Department of Food & Agriculture, the CDFA. The report is the California Grape Crush report, which is due by January 10th each year, for the previous...
Wine Compliance Alliance partners with Napa Valley Vintners for training course
Education in compliance is still lacking for many who work for wineries. Sometimes this will end up in two common results specific to wine labels. Either they are missing a required item, or they list a word they aren't allowed to. In late 2021 the Napa Valley...
The TTB is paper free!
Not surprisingly, one of the most common reasons for the unpopularity of managing winery compliance is the piles and piles of reports required. Add to that the fact that many of the regulating agencies are still in the dark ages world of paper filing for their...
The value of “produced by fermentation” for US wineries
Produced and Production. Two words often used by the media when they are referencing a winery's activities. Interestingly enough, when either of those terms are used by the media, for example they will mention the "production" of a winery or how much a winery...
