Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/197178
EAST COAST WATCH MARGUERITE THOMAS tors passed a bill declaring that if a winery claims "Washington" as the appellation of origin, the wine must contain at least 95% in-state grapes. In Oregon, if the label states or implies "Oregon," an Oregon county or an AVA wholly within the state, 100% of the grapes must be from Oregon and 95% from the labeled appellation of origin. feel differently, but according to current regulations, we can label wine as 'Virginia' if at least 75% of the grapes are from the state. That means that wines with 24.9% out-of-state fruit can be labeled as being from Virginia. That just doesn't work for me." Dave McIntyre, wine columnist for The Washington Post and cofounder of Drink Local Wine, an organization dedicated to increasing awareness of wine produced in all 50 states, agreed that stricter regulations might indeed be beneficial in the long run. "If the label says 'Virginia' or 'Maryland' or wherever, then I think the wine should be from that state," he said. "After all, if wineries want to build a state identity, they can't do it with out-of-state fruit." In the short term, however, some emerging wine regions may not be ready to embrace a state identity. Donniella Winchell, execu- SOME CALL IT CHEATING Some in the eastern U.S. would like to see the adoption of more stringent policies along these lines. Jim Dolphin, owner and winemaker at Delaplane Cellars in Virginia, is one of them. "My personal opinion is that even though it's legal, the use of out-of-state fruit (particularly if it comes from California) or juice (including concentrate) is a form of cheating the consumer by producing, selling and/or serving a product Jim Dolphin of Delaplane Cellars in Virginia views wineries' use of out-of-state fruit as a form of cheating. that is something less than 100% authentic," he said. "Maybe if labeling laws were stricter in terms of disclosing fruit sources, I might The #1 barrel rack supplier in the world. Keeping employees and barrels safe. WESTERN SQUARE I N D U S T R I E S Stockton, CA 209.944.0921 WesternSquare.com • Find us on and Lean, Green and Made in America w w w. v w m m e d i a.com VWM_Safety_1/2h_4c_NovDec2013.indd 1 N ov - D ec 2013 | V INE YA RD & W INE RY M A N A G EM EN T 9/17/13 1:18 PM 29