When it is said that “100% of grapes must be controlled by winery”, what does the word “controlled” mean, please?
Grown, obviously, in many, if not most instances.
But under what circumstances are wineries allowed to buy grapes from vineyards they do not own and still put them into their “estate-bottled” wine?
Logically speaking, they should need to decide on when to pick the grapes, and presumably do so themselves.
But do they need to be involved in any other way in growing the grapes, in directing vineyard operations throughout the growing season?
If a winery were to enter into agreements with a number of growers, could they not zactually have any vineyards of their own whatsoever and still call the wine “estate bottled”?
Of all the terms used in wine labeling in the US, the term “Estate Bottled” would have to be the most meaningful, although the rub is that most consumers in the US are not aware of all that it implies.
First, the law requires that the wine be 100% in agreement with the definition, and I am hard-pressed to think of another labeling requirement that gives no leeway at all.
The vineyard(s) has to be in the same AVA as the bottling winery (kind of a strange requirement if you think about it, because in the US there would be no particular reason your winery and vineyard could not be separated by considerable distance) and the grapes must be harvested, crushed, fermented, aged and bottled in a continuous process without ever leaving the bottling winery for any reason.
Sounds like you have a question with the vineyard portion, which the regulation stipulates must be owned or “controlled” by the bottling winery. Here’s the pertinent CFR:
§ 4.26 Estate bottled.
(c) Definition of “Controlled”. For purposes of this section, Controlled by refers to property on which the bottling winery has the legal right to perform, and does perform, all of the acts common to viticulture under the terms of a lease or similar agreement of at least 3 years duration.
While a little vague, a reasonable person would read that as a 3-yr lease at minimum.
Many thanks for your quick reply. I am helping to translate a text book for the Wine and Spirit Education Trust from English into French, and couldn’t figure out what “controlled” meant.
You speak about the need for “the grapes to be harvested, crushed, fermented, aged and bottled in a continuous process without ever leaving the bottling winery for any reason”.
However, the definition (CFR) you so kindly forwarded speaks of “legal right to perform, and does perform, all of the acts common to viticulture under the terms of a lease or similar agreement of at least 3 years duration”.
So, I’m still not 100% clear on this. Can a winery that just harvests grapes from a leased vineyard qualify wine from those grapes as estate bottled, or does the winery also have to be involved in the other vineyard operations leading up to the harvest ?
Sorry to be such a nuisance, but this information would really help.
Not entirely sure of your question, but yes, a leased vineyard in the same AVA as the bottling winery (or at least in the same AVA used for labeling in the case of sub-AVA’s where things are further divided up) would qualify for estate bottled. The CFR in a practical sense is saying that holding a grape purchase agreement, regardless of length of contract, will not qualify those grapes for “Estate-Bottled”.
A winery leasing a vineyard (as opposed to purchasing grapes from a grower) shifts the onus of farming and management to the lessee. If you were to lease a vineyard, the management and upkeep is up to you, so you would have no choice but to be involved in all the decisions made not only throughout the growing season, but the dormant season as well (pruning, cover-crop management, etc). A winery might have their own farming crews care for a leased vineyard if they have one in place, or, if they do not have any other vineyards to care for, might hire an outside management company to care for the leased vineyard, but in either case, the management decisions are theirs. This is in contrast to purchasing grapes, where the upkeep is up to the grower (with varying levels of input from the end purchaser depending on the situation).
A winery leasing a vineyard and taking no part in viticultural decisions up until the harvest point is a non-sensical idea. The main thrusts to wanting to lease a vineyard would be to be in complete control of these things, in addition to some possible economic benefits.
The fact the vineyard is leased means that the winery is responsible for the farming. They might choose to hire a management company and take a very hands off approach, but still which management company they choose and therefore the farming practices used would surely impact the wine. So, the choices the winery makes impact the wine in the vineyard as well, regardless of how much they defer to the management company.