Top Label Errors

Alexis Jewel from the TTB made her way out from Washington, DC to give the Oregon Wine Symposium the latest and greatest information on wine label approvals.  Avoiding these top label errors can save you lots of pain.  Alexis gave a wonderful overview of basic requirements, but also highlighted the most common reasons for rejection in Oregon – these are the specific problems that she is seeing on wine label submissions in our region, so please make sure you aren’t guilty of these:

  1. Type and Class missing from Brand label
  2. Name or trade name incorrect (does not match name on Winery Permit)
  3. Clarification needed (conflicting information on the label or between the label and the form)
  4. Application omission (required information left blank on application form)
  5. Application not submitted by Bottler (Bonded Winery permit must be used/referenced)
  6. Wrong label uploaded as BRAND label (this is typically – but not always – the front label)
  7. Misleading information (confusing reference to region or AVA)
  8. Appellation conflict – application doesn’t match label
  9. Fanciful name includes grape variety

There are obviously many other ways to make mistakes and get your label rejected, but these are things to watch for.  Because they show up so often, the inspectors are looking closely for these errors.

We are Always Learning

We always try to attend the Oregon Wine Symposium to keep learning.  The COLA (certificate of label approval) is not technically the responsibility of the label printer – it’s ultimately on the winery to do this correctly.  But, because we want you to succeed, we try to learn the latest trends and pass them on.  We want to be a resource for you beyond just being a great printer that puts ink on paper.  We want to help you avoid these top label errors!

Partner with Professionals

Use your resources!  Trade associations, seminars, and your vendors are all good sources of information.  Use them to help you succeed.  Most people don’t fully utilize the expertise of their service providers but they should – most often they have free knowledge to offer besides what they are actually selling you.  We learned so much last year that we couldn’t stay away from the Oregon Wine Symposium this year.

Thank You Customers!

Besides staying current on the latest TTB label trends, the Oregon Wine Symposium is a great way for us to connect and reconnect with our good winery customers.  Thanks you to all of you that said hello and enjoyed a glass of wine with us during this event.

Cheers!