WASHINGTON — Read the label on that Thanksgiving bottle of wine now chilling in the fridge. It might get edited, if federal regulators step in.
Wine labels would add new “serving facts,” under one proposal. Major allergens would be listed, under another.
And regulators could impose stricter definitions on label terms such as “estate,” “reserve” and “vineyard.”
Makes sense, some say.
“ 'Estate’ should only be used on bottles if the fruit is in fact grown, produced and cellared on the property it claims,” Arroyo Grande, Calif., resident Jackie Ross said in a comment to the government on the proposal. “It is otherwise misleading to consumers and takes away from the charm of these hard-working wineries.”
Ross is one of dozens of individuals to weigh in on the label definitions, through comments submitted to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.
The Treasury Department agency first floated the notion of tighter wine label definitions last November.
In the year since, regulators have gotten an earful. What they’ll do next, and when, is uncertain.
“It’s a trial balloon,” said Wendell Lee, general counsel of the Wine Institute, an advocacy group for the California wine industry, of the label proposal. “They threw this idea out there to see what people were thinking.”
But stricter definitions, Lee noted, are not the only potential changes coming to wine labels, nor are they necessarily the most controversial.
Since at least 2007, federal wine-label regulators have been considering whether to require “serving facts” concerning fat, calories, carbohydrates and protein. This still-pending proposal leaves a sour taste with many.
“Consumers already receive adequate information on the identity of wine,” the Family Winemakers of California cautioned in public comments, adding that “extensive and costly laboratory testing and relabeling requirements will undermine industry growth and dampen product innovation.”
Since 2006, similarly, regulators have been considering whether to require wines, distilled spirits and beer to list major allergens on their labels. For now, the allergen listing is optional.
