Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2014/07/18/2014-16919/establishment-of-the-upper-hiwassee-highlands-viticultural-area
Timestamp: 2019-09-20 16:25:41
Document Index: 568812704

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 9', 'art 9', 'art 4', 'art 4', '§\u20094', '§\u20094', '§\u20099', '§\u20099']

Federal Register :: Establishment of the Upper Hiwassee Highlands Viticultural Area
79 FR 41891
41891-41894 (4 pages)
2014-16919
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2014-16919 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2014-16919
Section 4.25(e)(1)(i) of the TTB regulations (27 CFR 4.25(e)(1)(i)) defines a viticultural area for American wine as a delimited grape-growing region having distinguishing features as described in part 9 of the regulations and a name and a delineated boundary as established in part 9 of the regulations. These designations allow vintners and consumers to attribute a given quality, reputation, or other characteristic of a wine made from grapes grown in an area Start Printed Page 41892to the wine's geographic origin. The establishment of AVAs allows vintners to describe more accurately the origin of their wines to consumers and helps consumers to identify wines they may purchase. Establishment of an AVA is neither an approval nor an endorsement by TTB of the wine produced in that area.
TTB received a petition from Eric Carlson, owner of Calaboose Cellars, on behalf of himself and members of the Vineyard and Winery Operators of the Upper Hiwassee River Basin group, proposing the establishment of the approximately 690-square mile “Upper Hiwassee Highlands” AVA. The proposed AVA is located in the southern Appalachian Mountains within the upper Hiwassee River basin in all or portions of Cherokee and Clay Counties in southwestern North Carolina and Towns, Union, and Fannin Counties in northwestern Georgia. The proposed AVA contains 26 commercially producing vineyards, growing approximately 54 acres of French-American hybrids, American grape varieties, and Vitis vinifera. According to the petition, present vineyard operators estimate they will expand their plantings by an additional 75.5 acres within the next 5 years. Five wineries were operating within the proposed AVA at the time the petition was submitted. According to the petition, the distinguishing features of the proposed Upper Hiwassee Highlands AVA include topography, temperature, and soils.
TTB published Notice No. 139 in the Federal Register on July 12, 2013 (78 FR 41891), proposing to establish the Upper Hiwassee Highlands AVA. In the document, TTB summarized the evidence from the petition regarding the name, boundary, and distinguishing features for the proposed AVA. The distinguishing features of the proposed AVA include topography, temperature, and soils. The document also compared the distinguishing features of the proposed AVA to the surrounding areas. For a description of the evidence relating to the name, boundary, and distinguishing features of the proposed AVA, and for a comparison of the distinguishing features of the proposed AVA to the surrounding areas, see Notice No. 139.
In Notice No. 139, TTB solicited comments on the accuracy of the name, boundary, climatic, and other required information submitted in support of the petition. The comment period closed on September 10, 2013.
In response to Notice No. 139, TTB received a total of 37 comments, all of which supported the establishment of the Upper Hiwassee Highlands AVA. Among the commenters were the Clay County (NC) Chamber of Commerce; the Clay County Travel and Tourism Board of Directors; the Clay County Economic Development Commission; the Cherokee County (NC) Director of Economic Development; the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners; the Cherokee County Tourism Development Authority; the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce; the Agricultural Extension Agent for Cherokee County; the Director of Economic Development for Tri-County Community College in Murphy, North Carolina; Southern Appalachian Family Farms, which promotes local and alternative sustainable markets for agricultural products; the Director of Fermentation Sciences at Appalachian State University; the Georgia Department of Agriculture; the Tourism Division of the Georgia Department of Economic Development; the Towns County (GA) Chamber of Commerce; a Commissioner for Union County (GA); and the Blairsville-Union County Chamber of Commerce. After the comment period closed, TTB received a comment by mail from Senator Johnny Isakson of Georgia, expressing support for the proposed AVA. The Senator's comment was added to the rulemaking docket. TTB received no comments opposing the Upper Hiwassee Highlands AVA, as proposed.
After careful review of the petition and the comments received in response to Notice No. 139, TTB finds that the evidence provided by the petitioner supports the establishment of the approximately 690-square mile Upper Hiwassee Highlands AVA. Accordingly, under the authority of the FAA Act, section 1111(d) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, and part 4 of the TTB regulations, TTB establishes the “Upper Hiwassee Highlands” AVA in Cherokee and Clay Counties, North Carolina, and Towns, Union, and Fannin Counties, Georgia, effective 30 days from the publication date of this document.
Part 4 of the TTB regulations prohibits any label reference on a wine that indicates or implies an origin other than the wine's true place of origin. With the establishment of this AVA, its name, “Upper Hiwassee Highlands,” will be recognized as a name of viticultural significance under § 4.39(i)(3) of the TTB regulations (27 CFR 4.39(i)(3)). The text of the regulation clarifies this point. Once this final rule becomes effective, wine bottlers using the name “Upper Hiwassee Highlands” in a brand name, including a trademark, or in another label reference as to the origin of the wine, will have to ensure that the product is eligible to use the AVA name as an appellation of origin.
The establishment of the Upper Hiwassee Highlands AVA will not affect any existing AVA. The establishment of the Upper Hiwassee Highlands AVA will allow vintners to use “Upper Hiwassee Highlands” as an appellation of origin for wines made from grapes grown within the Upper Hiwassee Highlands AVA, if the wines meet the Start Printed Page 41893eligibility requirements for the appellation.
For a wine to be labeled with an AVA name or with a brand name that includes an AVA name, at least 85 percent of the wine must be derived from grapes grown within the area represented by that name, and the wine must meet the other conditions listed in § 4.25(e)(3) of the TTB regulations (27 CFR 4.25(e)(3)). If the wine is not eligible for labeling with an AVA name and that name appears in the brand name, then the label is not in compliance, and the bottler must change the brand name and obtain approval of a new label. Similarly, if the AVA name appears in another reference on the label in a misleading manner, the bottler would have to obtain approval of a new label.
2. Subpart C is amended by adding § 9.234 to read as follows:
§ 9.234
(b) Approved maps. The 24 United States Geological Survey (USGS) 1:24,000 scale topographic maps used to determine the boundary of the Upper Hiwassee Highlands viticultural area are titled:
(c) Boundary. The Upper Hiwassee Highlands viticultural area is located in Cherokee and Clay Counties, North Carolina, and Towns, Union, and Fannin Counties, Georgia. The boundary of the Upper Hiwassee Highlands viticultural area is as described below:
(5) Proceed initially southerly and then easterly along the meandering 2,400-foot elevation line and continue to follow the elevation line in an overall clockwise direction through Cherokee and Clay Counties, North Carolina, and then Towns and Union Counties, Georgia, crossing over as necessary the McDaniel Bald, Marble, Andrews, Topton, Peachtree, Hayesville, Shooting Creek, Rainbow Springs, Macedonia, Hightower Bald, Tray Mountain, Jacks Gap, Hiwassee, Blairsville, Cowrock, Coosa Bald, Neels Gap, and Mulky Gap maps and ending on the Wilscot map, at the intersection of the 2,400-foot elevation line with the Union-Fannin County boundary line at Skeenah Gap; then
(6) Proceed northerly along the meandering Union-Fannin County boundary line, crossing over the Mulky Gap and Nottely Dam maps and onto the Culberson map, to the summit of High Top Mountain; then
(11) Proceed northeasterly in a straight line approximately 2.15 miles, crossing onto the Persimmon Creek map, to the line's intersection with the wagon and jeep track at the southernmost summit of Vance Mountain in Cherokee County, North Carolina; thenStart Printed Page 41894
(19) Proceed north in a straight line approximately 0.95 mile to the summit of Candy Mountain, and then continue north-northwest in a straight line approximately 0.45 mile to the line's intersection with an unnamed light-duty road known locally as Candy Mountain Road; then
(21) Proceed northerly in a straight line approximately 1.2 miles to the southernmost peak of Ghormley Mountain (within the 2,440-foot elevation line); then
(23) Proceed northerly on Lower Bear Paw Road approximately 0.35 mile, crossing onto the Unaka map, to the road's intersection with an unnamed light-duty road known locally as Hiwassee Dam Access Road; then
Approved: May 7, 2014.
[FR Doc. 2014-16919 Filed 7-17-14; 8:45 am]