California bill on "American" wine labels stalls after beverage company pushback

California grape growers are pushing for stricter labeling rules, arguing that wine labeled “American” should be made entirely from American-grown grapes.

But the proposal recently hit a roadblock at the State Capitol.

Right now, wine labeled “American” may not be entirely American-made. Federal standards allow up to 25% of wine with an “American” label to come from imported bulk wine.

Now, local grape growers are backing a bill that would require those wines to be made with 100% American-grown grapes.

“People go out of their way to buy American. Let’s give them 100% American,” said Brandon Sywassink, general manager of Manna Ranch.

Sywassink is all-American, and he wants wine labels to say the same.

“Beef has to be — if it’s labeled as American — the cow has to be born here, has to be raised here, has to be butchered here, right?” Sywassink said. “We want the same thing to kind of go for us.”

California lawmakers introduced AB 1585 to close what supporters call an international blending loophole.

“They’re able to buy product from other countries, knowing that they can put it in an American-labeled product,” Sywassink said. “When it comes down to it, we have no problem with wineries bringing product in from other countries. Just label it correctly.”

The bill passed the Assembly but was pulled from a Senate committee agenda this past week after pushback from opponents.

One of the bill’s authors, Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom, said in a statement that the opposition came from “global beverage companies.”

“This is a disservice to California’s hardworking growers, wineries, and consumers, particularly as our state produces more than 80% of the nation’s wine,” Ransom said in a statement.

Sywassink said the bill is about transparency for consumers.

“We can assume a lot of other things, why they did it, but ultimately, there’s no reason why they should have voted no on this or why they told everybody they would vote no on this,” Sywassink said. “It was a situation here where it’s straight up a transparency law to be good for the consumer.”

Sywassink, who was forced to dump his grapes last harvest, said more needs to be done to help California growers.

“They need to realize that this is being done for the people of their districts, their communities, for the state, for the nation, for the world,” Sywassink said.

Ransom said she is committed to continuing the fight next year.