[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 75 (Monday, April 19, 2004)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 20823-20825]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-8827]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau

27 CFR Part 9

[T.D. TTB-10; Re: ATF Notice No. 958]
RIN 1513-AA40


Temecula Valley Viticultural Area (2001R-280P)

AGENCY: Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), Treasury.

ACTION: Final rule; Treasury decision.

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SUMMARY: This Treasury decision renames the ``Temecula'' viticultural 
area in southern California as the ``Temecula Valley'' viticultural 
area. The size and boundaries of the Temecula viticultural area remain 
unchanged.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This final rule is effective on June 18, 2004. Approved 
labels using the former name for the area may continue to be used until 
June 19, 2006.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: N. A. Sutton, Specialist, Regulations 
and Procedures Division (Colorado), Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade 
Bureau, 6660 Delmonico Drive, No. D422, Colorado Springs, CO 80919; 
telephone 415-271-1254.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Effect of Homeland Security Act

    Effective January 24, 2003, the Homeland Security Act of 2002 
(Public Law 107-296, 116 Stat. 2135 (2002)) divided the Bureau of 
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) into two new agencies, the Alcohol 
and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) in the Department of the 
Treasury and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in 
the Department of Justice. The regulation of alcohol beverage labels, 
including viticultural area designations, remains the responsibility of 
the Treasury Department and is a function of TTB. References to ATF and 
TTB in this document reflect the time frame, before or after January 
24, 2003, of the viticultural area petition process.

[[Page 20824]]

Background on Viticultural Areas

TTB Authority

    The Federal Alcohol Administration Act (FAA Act) at 27 U.S.C. 
205(e) requires that alcohol beverage labels provide the consumer with 
adequate information regarding a product's identity while prohibiting 
the use of misleading information on such labels. The FAA Act also 
authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to issue regulations to carry 
out the Act's provisions. The Department's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and 
Trade Bureau (TTB) administers these regulations.
    Regulations in 27 CFR Part 4, Labeling and Advertising of Wine, 
allow the establishment of definitive viticultural areas and the use of 
their names as appellations of origin on wine labels and in wine 
advertisements. Title 27 CFR Part 9, American Viticultural Areas, 
contains the list of approved viticultural areas.

Definition of an American Viticultural Area

    Title 27 CFR, section 4.25(e)(1), defines an American viticultural 
area as a delimited grape-growing region distinguishable by geographic 
features whose boundaries have been delineated in subpart C of part 9. 
These designations allow consumers and vintners to attribute a given 
quality, reputation, or other characteristic of a wine made from grapes 
grown in an area to its geographic origin. We believe that the 
establishment of viticultural areas allows wineries to describe more 
accurately the origin of their wines to consumers and helps consumers 
identify the wines they may purchase. Establishment of a viticultural 
area is neither an approval nor endorsement by TTB of the wine produced 
in that area.

Requirements To Establish a Viticultural Area

    Section 4.25(e)(2) outlines the procedure for proposing or amending 
an American viticultural area. Any interested person may petition TTB 
to establish a grape-growing region as a viticultural area or modify an 
existing area. A petition for a new area should include:
     Evidence that the proposed viticultural area is 
locally and/or nationally known by the name specified in the petition;
     Historical or current evidence that the 
boundaries of the proposed viticultural area are as specified in the 
petition;
     Evidence of geographical features, such as 
climate, soil, elevation, and physical features, that distinguish the 
proposed area from surrounding areas;
     A description of the proposed area's specific 
boundaries, based on features found on United States Geological Survey 
(USGS) or USGS-approved maps; and
     A copy of the appropriate USGS-approved map(s) 
with the boundaries prominently marked.
    A petition requesting the modification of an established 
viticultural area must include information, evidence, and the 
appropriate maps to support the requested change(s).

Impact on Current Wine Labels

General

    This viticultural area's name change may affect bottlers who use 
brand names containing the terms ``Temecula'' and ``Temecula Valley.'' 
If you fall in this category, you must ensure that your existing 
products are eligible to use the new name of the viticultural area, 
``Temecula Valley,'' as an appellation of origin. For a wine to be 
eligible, at least 85 percent of the grapes in the wine must have been 
grown within the viticultural area.
    If the wine is not eligible for the appellation, you must change 
the brand name and obtain approval of a new label. Different rules 
apply if you label a wine in this category with a label approved prior 
to July 7, 1986. See 27 CFR 4.39(i) for details. Additionally, if you 
use the viticultural area name on a wine label in a context other than 
appellation of origin, the general prohibitions against misleading 
representation in part 4 of the regulations apply.

Use of the Name ``Temecula'' as an Appellation of Origin

    From November 23, 1984, until June 18, 2004, the effective date of 
this final rule, the viticultural area's name was ``Temecula.'' Since 
this is the first time we have changed the name of a viticultural area, 
we are allowing a two-year transition period during which approved wine 
labels bearing this viticultural area's former ``Temecula'' name may be 
used.
    When this final rule takes effect, we will approve wine labels that 
show ``Temecula Valley,'' not ``Temecula,'' for the name of this 
appellation of origin. We have considered the following elements before 
approving this name change:
     The viticultural area has been known 
interchangeably by the ``Temecula'' and ``Temecula Valley'' names prior 
to, and since, the 1984 original approval of the viticultural area;
     Commenters confirm the area has been known by 
either name in the past, but emphasize that the newly approved 
``Temecula Valley'' name is accurate and appropriate for the 
viticultural area; and
     The ``Temecula Valley'' name is distinctive and 
is incorporated into numerous business and area names found within the 
established boundaries.
    Two years after the effective date of this rule, approved labels 
using the original name for this viticultural area, ``Temecula,'' as an 
appellation of origin will be revoked by operation of this regulation. 
We have added a note to this effect as paragraph (d) of the Temecula 
Valley regulation at 27 CFR 9.50.
    If we receive other petitions to change the names of existing 
viticultural areas, we will request comments on appropriate transition 
rules and make a decision based on the facts and circumstances of each 
case.

Rulemaking Proceedings

Temecula Viticultural Area

    ATF established the Temecula viticultural area (27 CFR 9.50) in 
Treasury Decision ATF-188, published in the Federal Register on October 
23, 1984 (49 FR 42563). Located in southern California, the 33,000-acre 
Temecula viticultural area is in southwestern Riverside County in the 
Temecula Basin. The viticultural area covers the southern portion of 
the former Vail Ranch, and its outer boundaries generally follow those 
of the historical Santa Rosa, Temecula, Little Temecula, and Pauba land 
grants.
    The original Temecula petitioners desired to use a true, historical 
name for the viticultural area and not the more recent commercial name 
of ``Rancho California,'' which some growers in the area favored at 
first. Treasury Decision ATF-188 noted that the name ``Temecula'' is 
derived from the Luiseno Indian word ``Temeku,'' which means ``a place 
where the sun breaks through the white mist.'' The original Temecula 
petition stated that this description applied to the entire 
viticultural area, which is in a valley characterized by bright sun and 
misty marine air that flows inland from the Pacific Ocean. The 1984 
decision noted that it is this marine air, which enters the Temecula 
Valley through gaps in the Santa Ana Mountains, that allows grape 
growing in this area.

Temecula Valley Petition

    In August 2001, the Temecula Valley Winegrowers Association 
submitted a petition to ATF requesting that the ``Temecula'' 
viticultural area's name be

[[Page 20825]]

changed to ``Temecula Valley.'' The petition stated that this name 
change would provide a more accurate description of the Temecula area's 
geography and greater clarity as to the area's location for wine 
consumers and the public. The petition did not request any change to 
the established Temecula viticultural area's boundaries.
    The 2001 petition noted that when the Temecula viticultural area 
was originally established twenty years ago, the area was largely rural 
and agricultural. It added that the then small, unincorporated village 
of Temecula is now an incorporated city, larger in size, with a growing 
population. The city of Temecula's growth, the petition stated, 
accentuates the differences between the city and the surrounding 
agricultural region known as the Temecula Valley. The 2001 petition 
stated that when ATF approved the viticultural area's establishment in 
1984, area residents and businesses used the terms ``Temecula'' and 
``Temecula Valley'' interchangeably. The name change petition noted 
that the original Temecula Treasury Decision (ATF-188) cited Tom 
Hudson's 1981 book ``A Thousand Years in the Temecula Valley'' 
(Temecula Valley Chamber of Commerce) with its many uses of the term 
``Temecula Valley.'' The 1984 decision additionally noted the planned 
establishment of the Temecula Valley High School within the 
viticultural area's boundaries.
    The Temecula Valley Winegrowers Association's 2001 petition also 
noted that local Temecula telephone directory lists numerous businesses 
and agencies using the name ``Temecula Valley'' in conjunction with 
their operating name.
    Their petition also related that the organization is a merger of 
the Temecula Valley Vintners Association and the Temecula Winegrape 
Growers Association. The new Association stated in the petition, ``To 
continue to mandate the term `Temecula' is to honor a loose and ill-
defined use of the term.'' The petition cited the use of ``Napa'' and 
``Napa Valley'' as an example of how the differences between a city 
(Napa) and the surrounding agricultural area (Napa Valley) are 
recognized in a viticultural area name.

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

    ATF published a notice of proposed rulemaking regarding the name 
change from ``Temecula'' to ``Temecula Valley'' in the October 21, 
2002, Federal Register as Notice No. 958 (67 FR 64573). In that notice, 
ATF requested comments by December 20, 2002, from all interested 
persons concerning the renaming of the Temecula viticultural area as 
the Temecula Valley viticultural area. ATF received three comments, one 
with the petition and two in response to Notice No. 958, all in favor 
of the Temecula Valley viticultural area name change.
    Mr. Gary McMillan, one of the original Temecula viticultural area 
petitioners, sent his supporting comment in with the 2001 name change 
petition. He recalled in his comment that the names Temecula and 
Temecula Valley were used interchangeably at the time of the original 
petition. His comment provided some supporting historical information 
on the names' interchangeability. The other two commenters, Mr. Peter 
Poole of Mt. Palomar Winery and Mr. Joe Travis Hart of Hart Winery, 
also supported the viticultural area's name.

TTB Decision

    TTB finds that the petitioners provided sufficient evidence 
supporting their request to rename the ``Temecula'' viticultural area 
as ``Temecula Valley.'' Temecula is no longer the small, agricultural 
village of 20 years ago. It is now a much larger city of 75,000 people 
covering 18,050 acres (see demographic information at http://www.cityoftemecula.org). We agree that ``Temecula Valley'' is now the 
more accurate name for this viticultural area. This change allows 
growers to better describe the origin of their grapes and helps 
consumers differentiate between the city of Temecula and the 
surrounding agricultural area in the Temecula Valley.

Regulatory Analyses and Notices

Paperwork Reduction Act

    The provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 
chapter 35, and its implementing regulations, 5 CFR part 1320, do not 
apply to this rule because we impose no requirement to collect 
information.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    We certify that this regulation will not have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. This 
regulation imposes no new reporting, record keeping, or other 
compliance burdens on a substantial number of small entities. Any 
benefit derived from the use and reputation of a viticultural area name 
is the result of a proprietor's own efforts and consumer acceptance of 
wines from that area. Accordingly, a regulatory flexibility analysis is 
not required.

Executive Order 12866

    This rule is not a significant regulatory action as defined by 
Executive Order 12866. Therefore, no regulatory analysis is required.

Drafting Information

    The principal author of this document is N. A. Sutton (Colorado), 
Regulations Division and Procedures Division, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax 
and Trade Bureau.

List of Subjects in 27 CFR Part 9

    Wine.

Authority and Issuance

0
For the reasons discussed in the preamble, title 27, Code of Federal 
Regulations, Part 9, American Viticultural Areas, is amended as 
follows:

PART 9--AMERICAN VITICULTURAL AREAS

0
1. The authority citation for part 9 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 27 U.S.C. 205.

Subpart C--Approved American Viticultural Areas

0
2. Section 9.50 is amended by revising the section heading, paragraph 
(a), and the introductory text of paragraphs (b) and (c), and by adding 
paragraph (d) to read as follows:


Sec.  9.50  Temecula Valley.

    (a) Name. The name of the viticultural area described in this 
section is ``Temecula Valley.''
    (b) Approved map.The approved maps for determining the boundary of 
the Temecula Valley viticultural area are seven USGS quadrangle maps in 
the 7.5 minute series, as follows:
* * * * *
    (c) Boundary. The Temecula Valley viticultural area is located in 
Riverside County, California. The boundary is as follows:
* * * * *
    (d) From November 23, 1984, until June 17, 2004, the name of this 
viticultural area was ``Temecula''. Effective June 18, 2004, this 
viticulture area is named ``Temecula Valley''. Existing certificates of 
label approval showing ``Temecula'' as the appellation of origin will 
be revoked by operation of this regulation on June 19, 2006.

    Signed: November 26, 2003.
Arthur J. Libertucci,
Administrator.
    Approved: March 19, 2004.
Timothy E. Skud,
Deputy Assistant Secretary (Tax, Trade, and Tariff Policy).
[FR Doc. 04-8827 Filed 4-16-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-31-P