policy

Sen. Charles Schumer spoke at a Finger Lakes winery late last week and said many wine labels take too long to get approved. He was especially concerned about labels submitted to TTB by New York’s more than 300 wineries. MPNnow.com reported:

the delays — sometimes up to three months — result in wineries not being able to market their wines. The Washington, D.C., agency’s staff has been shaved by budget cutbacks over the last decade while the tide of label-approval applications from wineries nationwide almost doubled from 69,000 in 1999 to 132,500 in 2010, said spokesman Tom Hogue. “And that doesn’t take into account any of the time going back and forth with applicants to make sure labels they’ve submitted actually meet the legal requirements,” Hogue said.

John Martini, co-owner of Anthony Road Wine Co. said:

label approval used to take a week. One label he submitted online May 12 was approved June 15, but he said he has heard horror stories of approvals taking 75 to 90 days. He said new wineries often have long delays because their labels don’t meet the specifics of the label law, which was approved after Prohibition ended. However, he said, “Every winery has a goofy TTB label story.”

The Senator’s press release, and letter to TTB, are

About two years ago we showed spirits in the form of whipped cream. Last year we showed spirits in the form of an ice pop (more commonly known as a popsicle). Just last week we showed various chocolate wines, to underscore the movement toward “The Dessertification of Beverages.” Nathan added a comment, asking how long until a convergence between spirits and ice cream. Within the same week, TTB approved a line of ice cream products, with about as much alcohol content as a light beer. snoBaR is made by Brothers International Desserts, of Irvine, California. Brothers seems to be mainly an ice cream company, more than a spirits company. So far, Brothers has approvals for Pink Squirrel (with brandy and amaretto, as above), Grasshopper (with brandy and creme de menthe), and Brandy Alexander (with brandy and creme de cocoa). All of them are about 4% alc./vol. — a fair amount more than the rum raisin ice creams of an earlier era. Baskin-Robbins tends to suggest that their Rum Raisin is made with little if any rum, while Häagen-Dazs suggests that at least a little rum is used.

It doesn’t go quite as far as Roth Vodka, which mentions something like a vintage date. But in some ways, Napa Vodka goes further — because it refers to the specific grape varietal and the vaunted Napa origin — rather than just California more generally. Wines & Vines explains:

The vodka was made from 2008 grapes harvested from a single vineyard in Napa Valley and fermented into wine, then distilled in a Vendome copper pot still at Stillwater Spirits in Petaluma, Calif. … It takes nearly 2 tons of grapes to produce the 3,000 gallons of wine needed to make 300 gallons of high-proof spirits, which are then diluted to 500 gallons. … While there appears to be no legal requirement, [owner Arthur] Hartunian secured approval from the Napa Valley Vintners and Napa Valley Grapegrowers for his project.

It sells for about $75 per bottle, and the Napa, California distillery produced only about 2,600 bottles.