Quarterly Newsletter – January 2021

The Verde Valley AVA is on its way to the final ruling!

In June of 2017, the VVWC petitioned the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) to establish the Verde Valley as an American Viticultural Area (AVA). An AVA is a specific type of appellation of origin that may be used on wine labels. It defines a grape-growing region with specific geographic or climatic features that distinguish it from the surrounding regions and affect how grapes are grown. The designation of an AVA on a wine label allows vintners to describe more accurately the origin of their wines to consumers and helps consumers identify wines they may purchase. We expect to have final certification in the next 60 days. Preemptive Marketing plans are well underway. The VV AVA website is under construction, the logo has been finalized and the URL(s) have been secured.

This Abstract was taken directly from the TTB website

Follow this link for more information

VVWC Holds Virtual Elections for board of directors

Thank you to all of our voting Members for participating in this year’s Elections. The votes have been tallied, the Directors slate is as follows: Tom Schumacher President, Paula Woolsey Vice President, Bill Anderson Secretary, Ted Ferring Treasurer, Randy Garrison, Mitch Levy, Emil Molin, Dean Pefanis and Daniel Wood

VVWC to invoice Members March 1, 2021

Moving forward the VVWC will be invoicing all members on March 1st. Instead of January 1st. You will have 90 days to pay your membership dues. Dues can be paid on this page.

SBDC 2021 Emergency Relief Packages for Small Business

Thank You to the SBDC offices at Yavapai College for keeping us all up to date on the current relief packages available for our wineries. The new EIDL Grant looks very promising. https://covid19relief.sba.gov/#/ If you are new to the SBDC, please register at yc.edu/sbdc For help or questions contact Ruth Ellen Elinski at ruthellen.elinski@yc.edu 928-649-4580

UPDATE

Please vote YES on HB 2739
(liquor omnibus)

The Beer and Wine Distributors of Arizona urge a YES vote on HB 2739, the liquor omnibus for 2020. This consensus bill, sponsored by Rep. Jeff Weninger, came out of a six-month stakeholders’ process begun last August. There are only 11 law changes proposed, and all are all items the industry supports and the AZ Department of Liquor Licenses and Control (DLLC) is agreeable to having made.

The changes in this omnibus bill are offered to further improve and modernize our current 3-tier system of liquor laws, so the industry continues to operate in a well-regulated manner, protecting local communities without limiting consumer choice or harming business growth and competition.

Here are the key components of this year’s bill include these provisions:

Directing the DLLC to relieve a reverted retail license within two years if not reissued
Allowing a microbrewery and farm winery license to be held jointly by a bona fide educational institution for postsecondary instruction
Increasing the production limit on a craft distillery to 3,566 gallons per calendar year
Clarifying (at the DLLC’s request) that an “adult”, who can lawfully bring a minor into a licensed premise, includes a spouse, parent, grandparent or guardian of legal age
Providing that the duty of a licensee to protect the safety of customers or other persons does not extend to a person who enters or remains on the premises to disrupt or damage the premises or to cause harm to another person on the premises
Exempting commercially produced alcoholic beverages from the environmental health laws under Title 36
Extending the current exemptions from Title 4 for homebrewers to home winemakers
Increasing the sample size for producer or wholesaler-provided beer samples from 12 to 16 ounces
Clarifying that craft distillers are an exception to the primary source of supply law
Providing that a producer or wholesaler representative at a special event may consume small amounts of products, but only for the purpose of quality control
Specifying that for bottle service, if a customer removes or tampers with a locking device and pours a drink, there is no violation if the licensee takes immediate corrective action as specified

We are not aware of any opposition to HB 2739. We have spoken to representatives from the League of Cities and Towns and from the City of Phoenix. There may be a couple of wording refinements to make them more comfortable as the bill moves forward.

For questions, please contact Steve Barclay at 602-692-8298 or steve@bwdaz.com