TTB NEWSLETTER | Weekly News

June 21, 2019

IN THIS ISSUE

Greetings! This week’s top news includes that we recently launched our AVA Reading Room on TTB.gov, we’re proposing the “Tualatin Hills" and “Laurelwood District” AVAs, we’re offering a free webinar next week on the new Conditionally Approved status in COLAs Online, and a reminder to take our 2019 TTB Satisfaction Survey.

TTB LAUNCHES THE AVA READING ROOM

If you are interested in learning the details and background of the grape growing regions called American Viticulture Areas (AVAs), then now is your chance.

We are pleased to announce our new AVA Reading Room at TTB.gov. This online resource is a collection of publicly available AVA documents, including petitions, proposed rules, final rules, and public comments for established and proposed AVAs.

These documents are a useful resource for anyone interested in submitting an AVA petition, especially a petition for a boundary change or creating a new AVA within an existing one.

Up to now, most of our AVA-related documents were located across several TTB.gov pages, and a Freedom of Information Act request was required for any historical materials related to AVAs established during the ATF era.

Now, with the creation of the AVA Reading Room, you can find all the AVA-related documents we have available on a single page at TTB.gov, with just a few simple clicks.

Visit the new AVA Reading Room.

TTB PROPOSES ESTABLISHMENT OF THE "TUALATIN HILLS" AND "LAURELWOOD DISTRICT" AMERICAN VITICULTURAL AREAS

We are accepting comments through August 19, 2019, on Notice No. 181, Proposed Establishment of the Tualatin Hills and Laurelwood District Viticultural Areas, which was published in the Federal Register on June 19, 2019.  The 144,000-acre proposed “Tualatin Hills” viticultural area is located in Multnomah and Washington Counties in Oregon.  The adjacent 33,600-acre proposed “Laurelwood District” viticultural area is located in Washington and Yamhill Counties in Oregon.  TTB is proposing both viticultural areas in the same notice of proposed rulemaking because they share a common boundary. The proposed viticultural areas are both located within the established Willamette Valley viticultural area, and the proposed “Laurelwood District viticultural area is also located entirely within the existing Chehalem Mountains viticultural area.

We are making this proposal in response to separate petitions filed by local wine industry members on behalf of local vineyard and winery owners.  We designate viticultural areas to allow vintners to better describe the origin of their wines and to allow consumers to better identify wines they may purchase.

You may submit comments electronically on this proposal and view copies of the proposed rule, selected supporting materials, and any comments we receive about this proposal at Regulations.gov within Docket No. TTB–2019–0003.  A link to that docket is posted at our Wine – Notices of Proposed Rulemaking page at TTB.gov under Notice No. 181.

Read the press release.

TTB WEBINAR: NEW CONDITIONALLY APPROVED STATUS IN COLAS ONLINE

Next week, we’re launching a new application status in COLAs Online called Conditionally Approved.

This feature will further streamline the label approval process by allowing us, under limited circumstances, to propose changes to the information you entered in COLAs Online in order to make it consistent with the label you submitted with your application. You will be able to accept or decline our proposed changes.

Register Now for our free webinar to learn more about how this status will work:

Date: Tuesday June 25, 2019

Time: 2 - 3 p.m. ET

Topics:

• When we will use the Conditionally Approved status
• What you’ll need to do if that status is applied to your application
• Bonus topic: Other COLAs Online enhancements

To learn more about the Conditionally Approved status, see our feature story at TTB.gov: Coming Soon: New Conditionally Approved Status in COLAs Online.

YOU HAVE ONE MORE WEEK TO PARTICIPATE IN TTB’S 2019 SATISFACTION SURVEY

We want to hear from you, our important stakeholders!

If you received an email invitation, please take the survey—it’s hosted by SurveyMonkey® and is available through June 30, 2019.

Your feedback plays an important role in helping us understand your concerns, so we can shape our procedures and policies to better meet your needs.

Your responses are anonymous, and it shouldn’t take you more than 15 minutes to complete the survey. We look forward to hearing from you!

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