Preferred Partner Spotlight 

William R. Hill and Company, Inc. was founded in 1910 by William R. Hill, Sr., the grandfather of the present owner, William R. Hill, III. They are a general line distributor of glass, plastic and closures dating back over 45 years ago. They can supply you with bottling and packaging needs. They serve all of Virginia.  

VWA Silver and Gold members receive a special cash discount of 2% -10 days or 1%-20 days from wine bottle purchase. (discount does not apply to pallets, freight or credit card purchases)

Visit http://wmrhill.com/ or call Jennifer Porter at 804-226-4464

Deadline Approaching!  

The 2012 membership fee of $300 for CQA will be waived for wineries who enter at least one wine before July 31, 2012.  If you have not heard, we have a new partner to the CQA program, Enartis Vinquiry. Enartis Vinquiry will be performing both the sensory and lab testing with  complementary 2 day shipping for all wines entered into the CQA program.

Here are some of the benefits to submitting wines to the CQA program:    

* The CQA seal may be placed on all approved bottles of Virginia wine, distinguishing Virginia's quality wines to the consumer, ultimately selling more wine and Virginia grapes as well as driving more visits to Virginia's wineries. The CQA seal ensures that the wine is made with 100% Virginia grapes.

* Stickers with the CQA seal will soon be included as part of the program. 

* CQA Approved wines may enter the Governor's Cup for free.

*  Receive both a chemical analysis and a sensory panel evaluation with free shipping for $170.  

* Results returned from the analyses in a week or less.

* Submit bottled or pre-bottled wines for analysis, allowing time for adjustments, if needed.

* The CQA is wine specific, not winery specific. Therefore, a winery can submit a portion of their wines for CQA approval if they so choose.

* The Virginia Winery Distribution Company (VWDC) has included a sort feature for CQA wines in their online ordering system for retailers.

* The CQA website lists participating wineries & each approved wine.

* Provides additional marketing for Virginia wines made from Virginia grapes.

 We also expect to receive grant funding to further expand the marketing of the CQA program and CQA wines. For more information about CQA, please click here or visit the website. For the new CQA submittal forms, click here. For shipping instructions, please click here. 

Don't Delay - Enter your wines today!

As a reminder, those retailers that are monthly filers will be required to submit their sales tax returns and payments electronically online beginning with their July collections payment in August. Quarterly filers will be required to do the same beginning July of 2013. Also, there are hardship provisions for those that do not have internet access or for other extenuating circumstances. The TAX Department has provided a video tutorial to help filers familiarize themselves with the 3 options for filing. Click here for the video.

Please do not wait until the last minute to begin filing. This is a new process for many filers. We have heard from wineries that have used the system that they had several issues, including previously submitted information being entered incorrectly, no access to representatives via telephone and long waits for the electronic chat.

For the more information, click here for the mailing that was sent by the TAX Department. 

Marterella Case And  Definition of Agriculture

In February, the Virginia Wineries Association along with the Virginia Farm Bureau submitted a Motion and Brief in support of the Marterellas that we believed would assist relating to the agricultural nature of activities conducted by farm wineries. Last month, the Marterellas prevailed. The defendants petitioned the Virginia Supreme Court to allow them to make additional arguments and to reconsider their judgment. They denied that petition. 

The Court's decision didn't solidify the definition of agriculture because the court didn't rule per se on that point. However, it didn't hurt the definition of agriculture because if any other attorney tries to utilize the circuit court judge's ruling as case law then the Supreme Court has ruled that the judge wasn't entitled to make his ruling and utilize his authority to define agriculture.  Therefore, the statute was upheld because there were no changes to the statute noted in either case.  

In the future, other attorneys for farmers could point to the jury's verdict in the circuit court level to define what was included in farm wineries and what wasn't and it solidifies that decision because the Virginia Supreme Court upheld the verdict.

The Compliance Corner

By Mary Beth Williams

Fewer COLAs in your future

Often a winery will make changes to its labels throughout the life of the product. This used to cause issues for wineries, as many of these small changes would necessitate the winery applying for a whole new COLA, and waiting for approval before they could sell any product. The exceptions to this rule were pretty limited. As of July 1, 2012, there are a number of additional changes that can be made to labels without needing to apply for a new federal Certificate of Label Approval (COLA).  

The changes with the greatest impact on Virginia wineries are summarized here. The following are new changes you can make to your labels WITHOUT needing to apply for a new COLA:

1)  Add, delete, or change the vintage of your wine.   It was previously allowed to change or delete vintage without a new COLA, but now you can go from a non-vintage product to a vintage product as well.

2)  Reposition any label information, change the color of text or background, shape of the label, text and font. You can also go from an adhesive label to an etched label without additional approval.

3)  Add, delete, or change UPC codes, QR codes, and other 2D mobile bar codes.

4)  Add, delete, or change company logos and social media icons, websites, and other basic company information.

5)  Add, delete, or change optional information about awards or medals.

6)  Add, delete, or change holiday and/or seasonal themed graphics, artwork, or greetings. Essentially, you could put out a special version of your label for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, or even St. Patrick's Day, if you felt so inclined.  

All your mandatory information and size requirements for labels still exist, and you're still obligated to comply with the limitations on labeling that currently exist (including false claims, intimations of the use of spirits, lewd or vulgar language or graphics, etc.). These changes should give wineries a bit more flexibility to update their labels without having to go through the process of getting a new COLA for each change. The full list of acceptable changes can be found here, along with a couple of examples of the now-acceptable changes to make it a bit easier to understand. It should be noted that we're still waiting for feedback from the states as to whether they'll allow registration of the products in their states when the label and COLA do not match. There are currently a number of states that will not register products for sale unless the label submitted exactly matches the COLA. It is possible that if you plan to sell your products in those states, you'll still need to get a new COLA in order to be able to pass their brand registration process. Just because TTB says you don't HAVE to apply for a new COLA doesn't mean you CAN'T, and some states may stick to their guns on this issue. We'll be sure to let you know as we get additional information on this issue.

Mary Beth Williams is the President of Williams Compliance, a compliance services provider based in Hanover County, Virginia. For more information, contact Mary Beth at Marybeth@williamscompliance.com or (804) 445-2924.