There is nothing like sitting in front of a charcuterie plate laden with prosciutto and at least a triple crème, honey chevre (goat cheese), and maybe a huntsman cheese while sipping on a slightly chilled, smooth white burgundy, perhaps a Grand Cru Corton- Charlemagne from Louis Latour on midsummer’s Friday afternoon. Or maybe you prefer an Opus One Bordeaux-style wine from Napa, California, or an Octagon from Barboursville, Virginia? Regardless, most of the world loves and drinks some kind of wine.

The oldest evidence of wine production was discovered in Georgia, where archaeologists found pottery fragments with wine residues from over 8,000 years ago. Wine finally found its way to Europe around 1600 BCE, when the Greeks were filling amphoras and shipping them across the Mediterranean until grape vines could be found in places like France and Italy.

The Jamestown folks tried (and failed) to grow grapes in our lovely United States terroir. Still, the first commercial vineyard wasn’t in business until 1799 when a French-Swiss immigrant, Mssr. Jean-Jacques Dufour, founded the aptly named “First Vineyard” in Nicholasville, Kentucky, along the Kentucky River. Yes, that’s right – the first American winery was in Kentucky! There is a lot more to the history, but suffice it to say, we are all glad it somehow worked out.

After more than 8,000 years as our companion, wine is more than just a beverage; it is part and parcel of culture, geography, and identity. To protect these things, people started making laws about how one could produce and sell wine, beginning with what I believe is the very first set of laws in human history, the Code of Hammurabi, which includes specific regulations concerning the pricing and production with severe punishment for violation. A tavern keeper who illegally overcharged or diluted wine could be executed by “being thrown into the water.” I suppose they assume the tavern keeper could not swim.

Let’s dive into some modern law, starting with the United States.

The United States: American Viticultural Areas (AVAs)

In the United States, the primary system for regulating wine geographical origin is the American Viticultural Area (AVA) designation, established by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and regulated by the Treasury Department’s Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). AVAs are specially defined grape-growing regions with specific geographic features that influence the type of wine produced. As of today, in 2024, there are more than 260 unique AVAs. So, what does it take for a US wine to be labeled with an AVA? We turn to the Code of Federal Regulations, specifically 27 CFR § 4.25, which states that at least 85% of the grapes in an AVA must be grown in that AVA, and it must be “fully finished” in the state where the AVA is located. This means that to be labeled a “Napa Valley” wine, it can only have 15% of its grapes from elsewhere and must be fermented, aged, blended, filtered, and bottled in California.

Labeling is also tricky. Every label has to be approved by the TTB and must also stick to stringent requirements, 27 CFR § 4.30-4.39, and include the producer’s name, the alcohol content, a health warning, and if a specific grape type, like Cabernet, for example, is mentioned, then at least 75% of the wine must be made from that grape.

International Regulations: The Old World

European countries have a more traditional and frankly more confusing set of rules in the European Union’s Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) systems. They are further regulated locally by each EU country and internally by each region within the European country. France is an excellent example of this with its Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC), where each AOC has its own rules and testing requirements to meet to bear the AOC label. For example, a Bordeaux wine must be made from grapes grown in the Bordeaux region, can only be made from specifically approved grape varietals, must adhere to vine yield limits, vine density rules, specific methods for pruning and training vines, and a host of other requirements that are way above and beyond anything required in the United States, including Tasting Panels to assess wine color, aroma, and flavor.

The New World: Adapting Traditional Practices

So-called “New World” wine producers in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa have adopted rules similar to traditional European practices like Australia’s and New Zealand’s Geographical Indications (GI).

Conclusion

Wine laws are complex and require a lot of careful planning if you are a winemaker or merchant. Having represented winemakers, distributors, and retailers in all the parts it takes to get the grape from the vine to your glass, I promise you that what I have shared today is a mere sip of the bottle. Nevertheless, if you find yourself savoring a bold Napa Cab from Screaming Eagle or contemplating another glass of King Family’s Viognier, hopefully, you can drop some new wine knowledge at your next cocktail party. Cheers!

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