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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 […]
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If you aren’t in the winery compliance world, don’t write about it!
Nails on a chalkboard. Folks, there is already a lot of incomplete or flat-out wrong information shared about winery compliance. Let’s not add to it! Stay in your lane. If you’re not actually in the winery compliance world, please spare all of ...
Eight takeaways from the CalRecycle training webinar on CA CRV requirements.
I joined in with the group of around 500 other folks who showed up live to CalRecycle's informational webinar on what the CA CRV reporting will mean for wineries.
A fun way to kill a couple of afternoon hours on a Friday afternoon!
But ...
Next steps for CA wineries: Setting up their CalRecycle portal account
It's not necessarily a happy new year for California wineries in that their compliance task list has now gotten longer due to the CalRecycle reporting requirements which came into effect this month. Since this is a brand new requirement with a ...
Year end “compliance harvest” for CA wineries
After CA wineries have survived the swarm of activity that is the grape harvest each year, they are then faced with another flurry of activity in the form of reports, which are due across different dates in January each year. This is our own ...
CA wineries & wine businesses are you an EZ or regular 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 ...
Online Training! How to complete the CA Grape Crush report
This year's harvest is finishing up for most CA wineries. After dealing with receiving, crushing, fermenting, and pressing all their grapes not too long afterwards they then are required to file a report to the CDFA on those grapes. This ...
Guidance For Starting a Wine Business
A solid chunk of what keeps my office busy is filing applications for businesses that are making the leap into the wine world by starting their own wine business. At the beginning of these interactions, when they first reach out to my office ...
Online Registration with CalRecycle a Simple Process
California wineries and wine business owners have been hearing plenty about the CRV labeling and registration requirements coming as a result of the CA bottle bill.
All businesses selling wine in California will first need to register with ...
Helpful TTB manual & book for wine label requirements
A wine label. The cover on the finished book of a wine’s life. That’s how I’ve often referred to them. In my world they are also the easiest way to explain to someone what it is that I do. Believe it or not most people’s faces gloss over when you tell them “I’m a winery […]
Three TTB Websites For Managing Your Winery Compliance
The TTB, the Alcohol & Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau which all US wineries must comply with for their permitting, records and reporting requirements has been very efficient at creating online platforms so all of you never have to ...
The value of “produced by fermentation” for US wineries
*This is a recycled post from October of 2022. The message is relevant once again, as US wineries are experiencing "produced by fermentation" right now as they complete their ongoing 2023 fermentations!
Produced and Production. Two words ...
What wineries want and need to keep doing if the government shuts down
*NOTE: This is a recycled post from last year, however this same scenario is now looming once again. (February 2024) Why are these government shutdowns becoming a household term? I don't remember ever hearing of them until a few years ago. ...
7 No Nos on Weigh Tags
The grape harvest continues to be a slow one to kick into gear this year. For wineries one thing that means is they haven't filled out many "weigh tags" yet. To clarify, whenever I write or speak about "weigh tags" what I am always referring to ...
Video: Wineries don’t do this on your weigh tags!
Once again it’s game on for harvest ! Once the grapes start rolling in things heat up pretty fast. (No fermentation-related pun intended) Things can also quickly become rather chaotic when it comes to harvest related recordkeeping. Specifically your weigh tags. If you are someone who fills out weigh tags- I’ve got a warning […]
Just in time! Harvest compliance training for wineries
What is the most common missing link for wineries with their compliance? Plain and simple, the missing link is effective training. This results in records being kept incorrectly (or not at all!), reports being completed incorrectly and winery ...
