PLCB rule change gives Pa wineries more flexibility for its fermented fruit drinks
The Pa. Liquor Control Board (PLCB) decision last week to approve revisions to Advisory Opinion 25 won’t change the wine-buying landscape like Bill 39 did in 2016, when grocery and convenience stores and craft beverage distillers were given the green light to sell Pennsylvania wines.
But it should certainly help increase the state’s production of fermented fruit drink (FFB) in the state, a grape product that is legally allowed to contain no more than 8.5% alcohol. It is primarily a cash wine for producers and a convenience item for stores such as beer retailers, which are not permitted to sell what would be considered traditional wine.
Advisory Opinion 25 establishes requirements for products to be sold as alcoholic cider, mead and fermented fruit drinks. Here is a link to the board.
According to a press release sent by the PLCB last week: “Although these drinks are generally treated as beer under state law, they are classified as wine under federal law, which confused labeling requirements and marketing and sales opportunities. To resolve this conflict, the PLCB revised Advisory Opinion 25 to remove the ban on those products referring to themselves in product packaging as “wine” or similar names. “
This is a response to a complaint from Spring Gate Vineyard and Winery owner Marty Schoffstall who disagreed with the label’s requirement that the word “wine” or a name of grape does not appear on the label or on the outside of the container. As he explained earlier this week, the PLCB’s position contradicted the Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Commerce (TTB), which must give its approval on any type of labeling before a wine-based product can be sold.
“The point is, labeling is a federal matter,” Schoffstall said. “They demanded that the wine be removed from the label, which is not what the law says. It was a situation where we were stuck between state law and federal law.
Authorization to make and market a fermented fruit drink came last August, but the PLCB demanded that the products be registered, which partly delayed things until March of this year. But disagreement over what was allowed to be put on the label or the container continued until last week.
The change is significant because, although growers can sell a single FFB grape (Spring Gate, for example, sells Concord, Niagara, and Blush Niagara in its Just Grape series), any product that contains more than one grape is government mandated. federal to have the word “wine” on the label. So the dilemma.
Schoffstall said the rule change would allow him to start selling Spring Gate products such as Deuce (a blend of Concord and Niagara) and Troika (a blend of three grapes) with the word “wine” on the packaging. Simply, this change would bring them and others making mixtures into compliance with amended state regulations.
Springgate, located outside of Harrisburg in Lower Paxton Township, already has several products on the market, packaging these FFBs in boxes, bottles and pouches. York County Allegro vineyard uses bottles and neighbor Wyndridge Farm uses cans. of Montgomery County Cardinal Hollow Vineyard, who made a name for himself when he started making jalapeño a few years ago, is bottling his product.
The Allegro Winery Unplugged series of fermented fruit drinks.
It looks like others will consider starting to make this low-end wine option that will follow the lead of Spring Gate and Allegro, who have decided to sell them through beer retailers. Several in York County were contacted on Friday and are not wearing them, although a store has said it is deciding whether or not to transport the FFBs. Shrewsbury Beer and Soda in southern York County said they have the Spring Gate canned FFBs and the Allegro range in stock, both around $ 10.
Noting that the majority of beer distributors are “mommy and pop” and owned by local owners, “they should be the natural partners of the local winery,” said Schoffstall. “It’s a much more natural alignment than trying to get into a multi-billion dollar grocery chain.” While Act 39 gave wineries a lot more pop to their cast, Schoffstall said it could in some ways do the same. “I could see that it would become 35% of the wine business in two to three years,” he said. “This is a huge opportunity for growth. “
The Pennsylvania Beer Alliance, which represents 30 beer wholesalers in the state, has its own interests in the future of FFBs.
Jay Wiederhold, the chairman of the alliance, said this week his organization is working to change the current definition of fermented fruit drinks to include products marketed as “wine” or “wine spritzers” or containing some kind of wine in the product.
“We can currently sell different FFBs, but we need a change in the law to allow us to sell products like MOVO which is made by MolsonCoors,” he said. “These are new products that the consumer could have more convenient access to through the beer wholesale system. Again, these are products that have a blood alcohol level of 8.5% or less. “