Contact

California Wine Authority serves as a public reference resource for the California wine industry — covering appellations, varietals, licensing frameworks, regulations, and industry structure across the state. This page describes how to reach the editorial and information team, what the service area covers, and how incoming inquiries are handled.

How to reach this office

Correspondence directed to California Wine Authority is accepted by email. This is the primary channel for all inquiry types, including factual corrections, coverage requests, regulatory reference questions, and trade or research inquiries. Postal correspondence is not supported for general inquiries.

The contact address is: [email protected]

Inquiries related to specific content areas — for example, appellation boundaries, California wine labeling laws, winery licensing, or direct-to-consumer shipping regulations — should reference the specific page or topic in the subject line. This allows routing to the appropriate subject area without delay.

Types of inquiry handled:

1. Industry statistics clarification or sourcing questions (cross-referenced with published data such as California wine industry statistics)

Inquiries that fall outside the scope of wine industry reference — including legal advice, investment recommendations, or retail purchasing assistance — are not within the editorial mandate of this resource.

Service area covered

California Wine Authority operates as a state-scoped reference resource. Its geographic coverage is bounded by California's wine production regions and the regulatory jurisdictions that govern them, specifically the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC), the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA).

The site covers all recognized American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) within California — a count that exceeded 140 federally approved designations as of the TTB's maintained AVA registry. This includes major regional appellations such as Napa Valley, Sonoma County, the Central Coast, the Central Valley, the Sierra Foothills, and the South Coast, as well as sub-appellations and cross-county designations catalogued in the complete California AVA list.

Coverage does not extend to other wine-producing states or to federal regulatory matters unrelated to California-specific licensing and production frameworks. Inquiries regarding wine regions outside California fall outside the scope of this resource.

What to include in your message

Clear, specific messages receive faster and more useful responses. The following structure is recommended for any substantive inquiry:

1. Subject reference — name the specific page, AVA, varietal, regulation, or topic the inquiry concerns
2. Nature of the inquiry — factual correction, missing information, regulatory question, or research request
3. Source or basis — if disputing a published fact, include the authoritative source (e.g., a TTB regulation citation, CDFA document, or court record) that supports the correction
4. Intended use — academic, journalistic, trade, or general public reference

A correction request without a named source cannot be acted on, as all reference content is cross-checked against verifiable public records. For example, a correction to an appellation boundary description would require a reference to the TTB Federal Register notice establishing or amending that boundary.

Messages that contain only a question — with no indication of the page consulted or the regulatory context — may result in a redirect to the relevant section of the site rather than a direct answer.

Response expectations

Response times differ by inquiry type. The distinctions below reflect the volume and complexity differential across categories:

Factual corrections with cited sources are reviewed and acknowledged as processing allows. Corrections that are verified against primary regulatory sources are applied to the relevant page and, where material, noted in that page's revision record.

Coverage gap requests are logged and evaluated against the editorial calendar. Not all coverage requests result in new content; prioritization is based on regulatory relevance, user demand across the California wine sector, and available reference documentation.

Research and trade inquiries that require substantive original response — rather than a redirect to existing content — are addressed as processing allows where staff capacity permits.

Regulatory questions referencing specific statutes or TTB/ABC rule sets are handled as reference queries, not legal interpretations. Responses will point to the applicable regulatory text (e.g., 27 CFR Part 9 for AVA definitions, or California Business and Professions Code §23000 et seq. for licensing) rather than offering advisory positions.

Automated or bulk submissions, unsolicited commercial outreach, and off-topic requests receive no response. This resource does not maintain a press or media relations function separate from its general editorial contact.

References

• AVA registry