Sta. Rita Hills AVA Expansion

On Monday, August 22, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) published a final rule expanding the Sta. Rita Hills viticultural area.[1] This long-awaited decision, which will take effect September 21, 2016, will add approximately 2,296 acres to the 33,380-acre region located in Santa Barbara County, California. The 2,296-acre expansion area contains three vineyards, two of which were already partially within the original boundaries of the Sta. Rita Hills viticultural area. Beginning September 21, wines produced by these vineyards will be authorized to bear the Sta. Rita Hills name on their labels.

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Medium-plus Arsenic: A California Wine Lawsuit

In a fraud and product liability lawsuit filed in the Los Angeles County Superior Court on March 19, four plaintiffs allege that more than 80 well-known California wines contain “toxic levels of inorganic arsenic.” The plaintiffs, Doris Charles, Alvin Jones, Jason Peltier, and Jennifer Peltier, claim that more than 25 defendant wine companies[1] knew or should have known that their wines contained dangerously high levels of arsenic, and that these companies actively concealed this fact from consumers by marketing their wines as safe for consumption. The plaintiffs seek, among other things, compensatory and punitive damages, restitutionary disgorgement, and injunctive relief. They also request class certification. The allegations have some consumers worried, as the allegedly contaminated wines include several very popular brands.

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