Last Thursday I attended the first open meeting of Governor Cuomo’s new alcohol beverage industry working group. The group, whose main mission is to modernize New York’s alcohol beverage laws by reviewing current statutory provisions, spent the entire meeting identifying a list of issues for further discussion and/or consideration. The first…
Month: November 2015
NYSLA Must Release Communications and Cuomo Announces Industry Working Group
Last week, as reported by the Times Union, a decision by Acting Supreme Court Justice Debra Young ruled against the New York State Liquor Authority (“NYSLA”) with respect to an ongoing legal battle with Colonie-based retailer Empire Wine. See In Empire Wine Case, SLA Must Release Communications With Illinois Officials. Empire originally sought production…
TTB Reopens the Comment Period for Proposed Viticultural Area and a Realignment
On October 26th, TTB released a press release stating the agency planned to public a notice in the Federal Register the following day which would reopen the comment period for the proposed Lewis-Clark Valley American Viticultural Area (AVA), which is comprised of 306,650-acres found in locations including Nez Perce, Lewis,…
TTB Makes Small Change to COLA Process
In an industry circular dated October 2, 2015, the TTB announced that it made a minor administrative change—and perhaps a very welcome update—to the label approval process. TTB will no longer return label applications to fix discrepancies between what appears on the label and what is stated on the application itself with…
Recent Publication: Label Lawsuit Lessons
The November/December 2015 issue of Vineyard & Winery Management magazine features one of my most recent articles, Label Lawsuit Lessons. The article details the implications the 2014 Supreme Court case POM Wonderful LLC v. Coca-Cola Co. may have on the wine industry. Specifically, the article looks at the idea that a COLA may simply be…