Federal Approval of Wine Labels

I've been designing wine labels since 2003. The final step in the design process is getting federal approval from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). Their label requirements are detailed in a handbook that covers how big to make the alcohol warning to the exact language used to define the wine.

Before the internet, label approval applications had to be done through the mail and it would take weeks, maybe more than a month. Now you can do it all online, mostly (https://www.ttbonline.gov/colasonline/). Sometimes a phone call or two may be necessary to clarify any corrections being required. And over the years, the online approval process has been streamlined and takes less than a week, barring any required revisions. The TTB staff are knowledgeable and helpful and facilitate a speedy approval.

The system works really well—most of time.

Last Friday, I submitted four labels on behalf of a winery in Illinois. The labels are identical except for the varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon, Red Table Wine, Chardonnay, and White Cabernet. The first three labels were approved over the weekend! That was a pleasant surprise and something I'd never experienced before. The White Cabernet required one correction; the varietal had to be White Cabernet Sauvignon. Just to be sure that was it, I called the TTB and spoke to one of their helpful customer services reps and confirmed the correction. I make the correction and then resubmit online under the original application and expect approval to come within 24 hours—easy.

The following day, I was shocked to receive notification that three more corrections would be required, and one of them was an issue I asked the TTB rep about specifically the day before. The other two correction were to make the wine classification and alcohol warning twice as big. By the time I received this, their east coast office was closed for the day so I left a scathing voice message explaning my frustration. Upon reflection, this may not have been smart because they may revoke their approval of the first three labels and require the revisions to those as well.

This brings us up to today and SURPRISE!! I had an email in my box this morning informing me that they reversed their decision on the fourth label and approved it. When does that ever happen?!

Snaps to the TTB Wine Team!