Really of interest to wine fiends only.

[gridlore]

Calistoga appellation gets the OK

After holding their breath for six years, Napa Valley winemakers can now put the name "Calistoga" on wines made from grapes grown in that historic town, federal regulators have ruled.

The decision (read it here in PDF) ends a long slog through regulatory red tape, and completes a crucial piece of the valley's intricate system for labeling its wines — one that stands to make bottles from the area even more valuable.

"We're all fired up," said James "Bo" Barrett, proprietor of the Chateau Montelena winery, who began petitioning the Treasury Dept. in 2003. "I didn't realize it was going to be a federal project, but it turned out to be one."

The decision by the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, which regulates U.S. wine and wine labels, will allow any wine made from grapes grown in the Calistoga appellation, surrounding the town in northern Napa County, to include the name on the label starting early next year. A state law backed by Napa vintners requires that the words "Napa Valley" also appear on labels.

"Today's a good day for us," said Terry Hall, spokesman for the Napa Valley Vintners, the trade group that represents many of the valley's top wineries.

The vintners' group said that the approval came about in large part because of efforts by Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, to press the bureau to take action.

The petition to add Calistoga to labels, officially launched in 2005, hit a major snag in November 2007, when the bureau announced it was considering changing the rules for the approval process for place names, or appellations.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/wine/detail?entry_id=52862#ixzz0YgP1iPQO

Good decision. Calistoga has unique soil conditions and weather that produces interesting wines. This brings the number of California appellations to 94.

http://www.californiawineinfo.com/regions.html