Does the Alcohol Content Stated on My Wine Label Need to Indicate the Exact Alcohol Content of the Product, or Does TTB Allow a Tolerance?
A question that often comes up at wine conferences is whether a tolerance exists for the alcohol content stated on a wine label. Yes! Among other things, this tolerance may enable bottlers to use the same label from year to year, even when there are slight differences in alcohol content (assuming the other label elements remain the same).
Alcohol content may be stated as a specific percentage with a tolerance of:
- Plus or minus 1 percentage point for wines containing over 14% alcohol by volume.
- Example: A wine is labeled with the alcohol content statement “18% ALC. BY VOL.” Provided the actual alcohol content does not exceed 19% or fall below 17%, the label alcohol content statement “18% ALC. BY VOL.” is permissible.
- Plus or minus 1.5 percentage points for wines containing 14% or less alcohol by volume.
- Example: A wine is labeled with the alcohol content statement “12% ALC. BY VOL.” Provided the actual alcohol content does not exceed 13.5% or fall below 10.5%, the label alcohol content statement “12% ALC. BY VOL.” is permissible.
Regardless of the prescribed tolerances, the alcohol content statement must correctly indicate the tax class of the wine. E.g., a wine labeled as containing 15.5% ALC. BY VOL. cannot contain 16.5% ALC. BY VOL. because it would cross tax classes.
Visit Us at WineVit!
If you plan to attend WineVit, in Kennewick, WA, come visit us at the TTB booth on February 10-12. We’ll have TTB specialists on hand to answer your questions and provide on-the-spot assistance. Whether you would like to ask a compliance question, get an answer to inform a new label design, or just say hello, come see our team!
|
