Napa Valley Vintners last week filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court to defend its Napa Name law

Food & Drink Weekly, Feb 21, 2005

Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) last week filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court to defend its Napa Name law. The document was filed by the trade body in response to Bronco Wine Company's petition requesting that the US Supreme Court overturn a decision handed down by the California Supreme Court in favor of the NVV.

At issue is whether the state law is preempted by federal law. The California law states that a wine with the word Napa in its brand must have Napa grapes in the bottle. The case was originally heard by the Ninth Circuit Court in San Francisco where three justices sided with Bronco. The NVV and the State appealed that ruling to the California Supreme Court and the Court ruled in favor of the NVV that the state law was not preempted.