Turf Wars: Proposed Expansion of the Sta. Rita Hills AVA

/

In “The Law of Location: Reign of Terroir,” we explored the regulatory side of terroir. Now, a long-simmering battle in California wine country has started to boil, and terroir is at the heart of the dispute. This winter, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (“TTB”) will decide whether to expand the famed Sta. Rita Hills AVA, a 33,380-acre[1] appellation situated in picturesque Santa Barbara County, by about 2,300 acres. [Notice No. 145: Proposed Expansion of the Sta. Rita Hills Viticultural Area. The agency is accepting public comments on the proposed expansion through Friday, December 5, 2014.[2] This is a good opportunity to explore the Sta. Rita Hills AVA and the process of establishing and modifying an AVA. The petition, filed by geographer Patrick L. Shabram on behalf of John Sebastiano Vineyards and Pence Ranch Vineyards, is available here.

Read More
/ /
, , ,

Love, Labor, and Wage and Hour Laws

/

Wine production is a labor of love, and as one California winery learned this past summer, the labor is just as important as the love. Westover Winery in Castro Valley was fined $115,000 for using volunteer workers, a practice that is said to be common throughout the region. The state Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) cited Westover’s failure to pay minimum wage, provide wage statements, and pay workers' compensation insurance as grounds for the fines. For an industry that is often driven as much by passion as by profit, this is a sobering reminder that wage and hour laws still apply.

Read More
/ /
, , ,

Empire Wine Strikes Back: A Shipping Showdown

/

A New York court may soon decide whether the New York State Liquor Authority (NYSLA) overstepped its jurisdiction when it took action against an in-state retailer for sending booze to customers outside the state. On August 1, 2014, NYSLA charged Albany wine store Empire Wine with “improperly” shipping wine directly to consumers in 16 other states. The maximum penalty, according to NYSLA’s Notice of Pleading, is revocation of Empire’s off-premises retail license and forfeiture and revocation of its bond. Empire responded by suing the agency in the Albany County Supreme Court.

Read More

Liquor License Wars

/

When I tell people about my blog, they usually ask me how wine and law are related. "How connected are they really?" "Aren't you limiting yourself?" "Will you have enough to write about?" One answer is that in a densely populated city like New York, alcohol laws are at work right under our noses—or, more likely, right under our apartments. Every New York establishment that sells alcoholic beverages, whether for consumption on the premises or elsewhere, must obtain a liquor license from the New York State Liquor Authority (NYSLA) pursuant to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law ("ABC Law").

Read More
/ /
, , , ,