[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 27, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 27CFR4.27]

[Page 24-25]
 
            TITLE 27--ALCOHOL, TOBACCO PRODUCTS AND FIREARMS
 
 CHAPTER I--ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO TAX AND TRADE BUREAU, DEPARTMENT OF THE 
                                TREASURY
 
PART 4_LABELING AND ADVERTISING OF WINE--Table of Contents
 
                Subpart C_Standards of Identity for Wine
 
Sec.  4.27  Vintage wine.

    (a) General. Vintage wine is wine labeled with the year of harvest 
of the grapes and made in accordance with the standards prescribed in 
classes 1, 2, or 3 of Sec.  4.21. The wine must be labeled with an 
appellation of origin other than a country (which does not qualify for 
vintage labeling). The appellation must be shown in direct conjunction 
with the designation required by Sec.  4.32(a)(2), in lettering 
substantially as conspicuous as that designation. In no event may the 
quantity of wine removed from the producing winery, under labels bearing 
a vintage date, exceed the volume of vintage wine produced in that 
winery during the year indicated by the vintage date. The following 
additional rules apply to vintage labeling:
    (1) If an American or imported wine is labeled with a viticultural 
area appellation of origin (or its foreign equivalent), at least 95 
percent of the wine must have been derived from grapes harvested in the 
labeled calendar year; or
    (2) If an American or imported wine is labeled with an appellation 
of origin other than a country or viticultural area (or its foreign 
equivalent), at least 85 percent of the wine must have been derived from 
grapes harvested in the labeled calendar year.
    (b) American wine. A permittee who produced and bottled or packed 
the wine, or a person other than the producer who repackaged the wine in 
containers of 5 liters or less may show the year of vintage upon the 
label if the person possesses appropriate records from the producer 
substantiating the

[[Page 25]]

year of vintage and the appellation of origin; and if the wine is made 
in compliance with the provisions of paragraph (a) of this section.
    (c) Imported wine. Imported wine may bear a vintage date if all of 
the following conditions are met:
    (1) It is made in compliance with the provisions of paragraph (a) of 
this section;
    (2) It is bottled in containers of 5 liters or less prior to 
importation, or it is bottled in the United States from the original 
container of the product (showing a vintage date); and
    (3) The invoice is accompanied by, or the American bottler 
possesses, a certificate issued by a duly authorized official of the 
country of origin (if the country of origin authorizes the issuance of 
such certificates) certifying that the wine is of the vintage shown, 
that the laws of the country regulate the appearance of vintage dates 
upon the labels of wine produced for consumption within the country of 
origin, that the wine has been produced in conformity with those laws, 
and that the wine would be entitled to bear the vintage date if it had 
been sold within the country of origin.

[T.D. ATF-53, 43 FR 37676, Aug. 23, 1978, as amended by T.D. ATF-195, 50 
FR 763, Jan. 7, 1985; T.D. TTB-45, 71 FR 25752, May 2, 2006]