'The Opposition Just Made Our Case for American Wine'

California Association of Winegrape Growers posted an extraordinarily powerful post supporting a bill that passed the California Assembly and now sits before the California Senate Governmental Operations Committee.

The bill provides that any wine sold in California that's labelled "American" must contain 100% American grapes. Currently, wines need only meet the Federal standard, which allows 25% of the wine to be imported.

In so many words, CAWG accused major California producers of talking out of both sides of the mouths. And they documented it.

• After reciting how proudly it owns and operates California wineries, Treasury Wine Estates announced it will sell surplus vineyards and wineries, end vineyard leases and not renew grape contracts.
• Gallo announced its suspending crush operations in Lodi after closures in thre other cities.
• Delicato Family Wines asked, “How’s a grower going to sell me grapes at $400 a ton in Lodi when it costs $600 to $800 a ton to grow grapes now?”
• A Liberty Creek package by E&J Gallo Winery displays the Librty Bell and notes it “Celebrates our proud heritage rooted in the rich soils of the United States.”

"They made our case," CAWG says. "The opposition made them for us. They told the Legislature they proudly own California wineries, then called those wineries surplus. They wrap their wine in the flag, then fight a bill that would require the wine to match the label. At Wine Paris, the Wine Institute, the trade association leading the opposition, armed its members with talking points insisting that "wines from one part of the world are not interchangeable with wines from another." Now it's fighting the California bill that says exactly that. Every claim the opposition takes to the Senate is contradicted by something they've said or done."

You can read this exceptionally effective piece for yourself here.