Label controversy in Calistoga

CALISTOGA -- Roger Louer made his first vintage of Calistoga Cellars wine from 100 percent Napa Valley grapes in 1998.

Nobody had a problem with the name then.

Not the federal government, which approved the label.

Not the Napa wine establishment, which had bigger fish to fry.

And not wine drinkers, who were presumably more interested in how the wines tasted than whether the grapes came from vineyards around this quaint tourist town at the northern end of the Napa Valley.

But 10 years later, Calistoga Cellars has become the latest flashpoint in the "truth in labeling" debate that has raged throughout the U.S. wine industry in recent years.

The battle has pitted established high-end wine regions like Napa and Sonoma against wineries that use labels which give consumers the impression the wines are from exclusive regions -- when they are in fact made from grapes grown in less expensive areas.

The classic case was Napa Valley Vintners' successful battle to block the Bronco Wine Company from using a loophole in federal law allowing the maker of Two Buck Chuck to legally produce wines like Napa Ridge using cheap Central Valley fruit.

But Louer is no Fred Franzia, the combative owner of Ceres-based Bronco Wine Company, the fourth-largest winery in the nation.

Instead of millions of cases of inexpensive wine, Louer is making a mere 10,000 cases of high-end wines, priced between $20 and $50 a bottle, and all from Napa Valley fruit.

But his neighbors complain that Louer is up to the same games as Franzia, only on a smaller scale.

"The entire business plan of Calistoga Cellars is based on misleading labeling," says Bo Barrett, winemaker at Chateau Montelena Winery, one of the most respected wineries in the Napa Valley.

Currently, Calistoga Cellars sources about 20 percent of its grapes from the Calistoga area. The rest come from other areas of the Napa Valley, such as Pope Valley, St. Helena and Carneros. Its wines are labeled as Napa Valley, and have been made in Ukiah since 2000. The winery built its own winemaking facility in Calistoga in 2002 but sold it in 2006 for financial reasons.

Louer and another newer winery -- Calistoga Estate -- have requested an exemption from new rules that would create a grape-growing area specific to Calistoga.

If the new grape-growing area is approved, Calistoga Cellars would be required to procure 85 percent of the grapes from a small area around Calistoga.

"That really puts the clamps on you, and I don't think that's fair," Louer said Wednesday from the tasting room he opened in downtown Calistoga last fall.

The winery, for example, would not be allowed to use chardonnay grapes from the cool Carneros region at the southern end of the Napa Valley. Calistoga, one of the hottest spots in the Napa Valley, is not known for its chardonnay, Louer said.

Louer would also no longer be allowed to use cabernet sauvignon grapes from a 24-acre vineyard he owns in St. Helena. Grapes from that vineyard went into the award-winning 2000 vintage that was a huge boost for the small winery, he said.

The federal Tax and Trade Bureau set off a firestorm in the fall when it proposed to exempt Louer's winery from the new AVA.

But Napa Valley Vintners, the powerful industry group with 300 members, is fighting the proposal. Earlier this week, at their request, state Sen. Patricia Wiggins proposed a resolution opposing the exemptions.

The regulations "will allow deceptive and dishonest wine labels," the Santa Rosa Democrat said in a statement. "Consumer protection would be eroded, while the integrity of the wine industry would be challenged."

Terry Hall, spokesman for Napa Valley Vintners, said the group is worried that grandfathering more brands reopens the door they spent years trying to slam shut on Bronco .

"We're creating illegitimacy within our own industry," Hall said.

Barrett thinks the issue is far simpler than Louer and others are trying to make it to be.

"I just think that if it says Calistoga, it should come from Calistoga," he said.

But federal alcohol labeling law is notoriously arcane, and the Bronco case took years and millions of dollars in legal fees to resolve.

There was no Calistoga viticultural area in 1998 when the winery started, so Louer feels it's not fair to change the rules on him after he and his partners have spent millions building up the wine's position in 30 markets around the nation.

Far from diluting the integrity of the region, Louer feels the opposite is true.

"Our feeling is our winery has helped with the name recognition and helped bring people to Calistoga," he said.

The public comment period on the proposed rules ends March 20.

You can reach Staff Writer Kevin McCallum at 521-5207 or kevin.mccallum@pressdemocrat.com.