Victory for truth in wine labeling laws -- meet Napa Valley's newest AVA

[Auggie]

NAPA VALLEY REGISTER, 12-4-09

The battle of Calistoga ended Thursday with a federal decision to grant a new American Viticultural Area appellation to Calistoga, forcing one local winery to change its business.

The decision ends a years-long battle between vintners who grow grapes on the edge of the Upvalley city but who have been blocked from using the name Calistoga on their wine labels and Calistoga Cellars, which has the name but uses grapes from other parts of wine country. Another small winery that uses grapes from Sonoma County, Calistoga Estates, is also a loser in Thursday’s ruling.

The decision comes after persistent efforts from Rep. Mike Thompson, D- St. Helena, the Napa Valley Vintners and others who sought to make Calistoga the 15th sub-appellation within the Napa Valley.

“I think it is fantastic,” said Bo Barrett of Chateau Montelena, Calistoga’s best-known winery. “Now we can put where we grow the grapes on the label. That’s all we ever wanted.” Barrett is the vintner who petitioned the federal government for recognition of Calistoga, saying it had distinctive soils and growing conditions, as well as a rich history of grapegrowing and winemaking. On Thursday, Barrett said he’d already put in the call to change the look of his next release of red wines. “We’re going to be bottling our 2008s in March,” he said. “We will get Calistoga on the label.”

The effort to have Calistoga recognized by the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau goes back six years. At times, the fight has been contentious, as when vintners protested the grand opening of the Calistoga Cellars tasting room on Lincoln Avenue in Calistoga in 2007, and when Thompson threw some hard questions at trade bureau Administrator John Manfreda at a 2008 congressional hearing.

LINK: http://naparegister.com/articles/2009/12/04/news/local/doc4b184e7894a3a234192625.txt
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Thanks to Blue Dog Rep Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena) for his support and efforts. This is good news for wine producers and consumers.

Calistoga is at the very northern tip of the Napa Valley, about an hour and 45 minute drive from San Francisco.