We never thought we’d see a TTB controversy make it into a big ad in the national media — let alone a full page ad in Time Magazine. The yellow ad is on page 69 of the December 29, 2008 “Person of the Year” double issue and it covers the entire page. The French Office of Champagne is not at all pleased that some non-French wines qualify to be called Champagne, under US law. The ad says “Masquerading as Champagne … isn’t fair. … A legal loophole allows” some names to be misused. In 2006, after many years of negotiations between the US and the European Union, and agreement, TTB set forth the current US rule in TTB Industry Circular 2006-1:

the U.S. made a commitment to seek to change the legal status of [terms like Champagne] to restrict their use solely to wines originating in the applicable EU member state, with certain exceptions. Because the IRC specifically defines semi-generic names, this law must be changed in order to restrict the usage of the names to wines originating in the EU. Assuming the law is so changed, the Agreement contains an exception to this rule. We refer to this exception as the “grandfather” provision. Under the “grandfather” provision, any person or his or her successor...

It is likely that all beer, wine and spirits labels will change dramatically in the near future. TTB has been working on new rules since CSPI and other groups submitted a petition in 2003. The new rules would require a “Serving Facts” panel on every container. This panel would include a lot more information, such as the typical serving size, number of servings per container, calories, carbohydrates, protein and fat. Because this is a big, controversial change, TTB has received more than 18,000 public comments during the past few years. There are far too many comments for most people to review, and so we will highlight and summarize the most noteworthy comments here. The most recent proposal and comments are here. This is comment 4 in a series; to see others, click on the “serving facts” tag below.

1. WineAmerica said “This rulemaking could lead to one of the most far-reaching revisions of wine label requirements … in the history of wine in America.”
2. Most common wines “fit into a very narrow band of calorie content per serving, about 120 calories” and this information is easy to find on the Internet. The rule could cause “information overload” and would provide “very little, if any benefit” to consumers.
3. These changes would have “very negative economic effects” on more than...

All of a sudden there are at least four cucumber flavored vodkas. All seem to be first approved during 2008. Why all of a sudden? Is cucumber especially refreshing or versatile? If so, why didn’t somebody do this decades ago, inasmuch as the venerable cuke has been around for quite some time? Maybe it’s an advance in flavor technology, finding a way to capture what would appear to be a rather delicate flavor. In an attempt to understand the rise of cucumber flavored vodka, we looked to Morgenthaler and The Intoxicologist and Alcademics but still we don’t understand why cucumber and why now. If we had to guess, we’d say it’s a tribute to Hendrick’s gin. It came out in 1999 and refers to an “‘unexpected’ infusion of cucumber and rose petals” on the back label. The producer’s chief chemist explains:

we didn’t know exactly how to introduce the cucumber into the blend. No one had ever put cucumbers in gin. We did a lot of experiments macerating and steam-distilling cucumbers before we came up with the right formula. And it was the same with the rose petals. … Hendrick’s is made in small batches using a 550-liter pot still from the 1880s. The cucumber and roses are added at the...

TTB does not usually allow presidents to be shown on alcohol beverage labels, so we were suprised to see George Washington (above) and Thomas Jefferson emblazoned upon these beers. The normal rationale is that it could misleadingly imply that the president endorsed the product. Here, the porter neck label says “Crafted following General Washington’s original recipe.” We see very few Obama beers so far, and we wonder how many TTB should allow — if any. What presidential beers do you think the government should allow?

It is likely that all beer, wine and spirits labels will change dramatically in the near future. TTB has been working on new rules since CSPI and other groups submitted a petition in 2003. The new rules would require a “Serving Facts” panel on every container. This panel would include a lot more information, such as the typical serving size, number of servings per container, calories, carbohydrates, protein and fat. Because this is a big, controversial change, TTB has received more than 18,000 public comments during the past few years. There are far too many comments for most people to review, and so we will highlight and summarize the most noteworthy comments here. The most recent proposal and comments are here. This is comment 3 in a series; to see others, click on the “serving facts” tag below.

1. The AMA believes “The public desires and deserves accurate information on ingredients and potential allergens in alcoholic beverages.”
2. “Consumers are confused about the type and amount of alcohol” in newer products such as wine coolers, “alcopops,” and “high malt content beer products with names and packaging deceptively similar to those of same-brand distilled spirits.”
3. Roughly half of all alcoholic beverages are consumed by persons with alcohol use disorders.
4. “Serving Facts” should appear in a consistent manner across all labels,...