§ 4.25a - Appellations of origin.

(a) Definition—(1) American wine. An American appellation of origin is: (i) The United States; (ii) a State; (iii) two or no more than three States which are all contiguous; (iv) a county (which must be identified with the word “county”, in the same size of type, and in letters as conspicuous as the name of the county); (v) two or no more than three counties in the same States; or (vi) a viticultural area (as defined in paragraph (e) of this section).

(2) Imported wine. An appellation of origin for imported wine is: (i) A country, (ii) a state, province, territory, or similar political subdivision of a country equivalent to a state or county; or (iii) a viticultural area.

(b) Qualification—(1) American wine. An American wine is entitled to an appellation of origin other than a multicounty or multistate appellation, or a viticultural area, if:

(i) At least 75 percent of the wine is derived from fruit or agricultural products grown in the appellation area indicated; (ii) it has been fully finished (except for cellar treatment pursuant to § 4.22(c), and blending which does not result in an alteration of class or type under § 4.22(b)) in the United States, if labeled “American”; or, if labeled with a State appellation, within the labeled State or an adjacent State; or if labeled with a county appellation, within the State in which the labeled county is located; and (iii) it conforms to the laws and regulations of the named appellation area governing the composition, method of manufacture, and designation of wines made in such place.

(2) Imported wine. An imported wine is entitled to an appellation of origin other than a viticultural area if:

(i) At least 75 percent of the wine is derived from fruit or agricultural products grown in the area indicated by the appellation of origin; and (ii) The wine conforms to the requirements of the foreign laws and regulations governing the composition, method of production, and designation of wines available for consumption within the country of origin.

(c) Multicounty appellations. An appellation of origin comprising two or no more than three counties in the same State may be used if all of the fruit or other agricultural products were grown in the counties indicated, and the percentage of the wine derived from fruit or other agricultural products grown in each county is shown on the label with a tolerance of plus or minus two percent.

(d) Multistate appellation. An appelation of origin comprising two or no more than three States which are all contiguous may be used, if:

(1) All of the fruit or other agricultural products were grown in the States indicated, and the percentage of the wine derived from fruit or other agricultural products grown in each State is shown on the label with a tolerance of plus or minus two percent;

(2) it has been fully finished (except for cellar treatment pursuant to § 4.22(c), and blending which does not result in an alteration of class or type under § 4.22(b)) in one of the labeled appellation States; (3) it conforms to the laws and regulations governing the composition, method of manufacture, and designation of wines in all the States listed in the appellation.

(e) Viticultural area—(1) Definition—(i) American wine. A delimited grape growing region distinguishable by geographical features, the boundaries of which have been recognized and defined in part 9 of this chapter.

(ii) Imported wine. A delimited place or region (other than an appellation defined in paragraph (a)(2)(i) or (a)(2)(ii)) the boundaries of which have been recognized and defined by the country of origin for use on labels of wine available for consumption within the country of origin.

(2) Establishment of American viticultural areas. Petitions for establishment of American viticultural areas may be made to the Director by any interested party, pursuant to the provisions of § 70.701(c) of this title. The petition may be in the form of a letter, and should contain the following information referred to in § 9.3(b) of this title.

(3) Requirements for use. A wine may be labeled with a viticultural area appellation if:

(i) The appellation has been approved under part 9 of this title or by the appropriate foreign government;

(ii) Not less than 85 percent of the wine is derived from grapes grown within the boundaries of the viticultural area;

(iii) In the case of foreign wine, it conforms to the requirements of the foreign laws and regulations governing the composition, method of production, and designation of wines available for consumption within the country of origin; and

(iv) In the case of American wine, it has been fully finished within the State, or one of the States, within which the labeled viticultural area is located (except for cellar treatment pursuant to § 4.22(c), and blending which does not result in an alteration of class and type under § 4.22(b)).

(4) Overlap viticultural area appellations. An appellation of origin comprised of more than one viticultural area may be used in the case of overlapping viticultural areas if not less than 85 percent of the volume of the wine is derived from grapes grown in the overlapping area.