Petaluma, California, October 28, 2016 – The Federal Government’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) has announced that they will open the public docket for the proposed Petaluma Gap AVA (American Viticultural Area). This starts the 60-day public comment period, which will close December 27, 2016. The public will be able to read the proposed ruling, the petition, and all the submitted exhibits on the TTB website at https://www.ttb.gov/wine/wine-rulemaking.shtml under Notice No. 163. During the comment period, the public will be able to electronically submit comments on the proposal and read comments submitted by others.
“We are very pleased to receive this notification” said Rickey Trombetta Stancliff, president of the Petaluma Gap Winegrowers Alliance. “The Petaluma Gap AVA petition was submitted in February of 2015, so today’s announcement by the TTB indicates that our efforts have paid off and we’re getting very close to the granting of the AVA.”
The proposed AVA would cover some 200,000 acres within southern Sonoma county and northern Marin county. Where most AVAs are defined solely by physical factors such as topography, soils, geology and climate, the Petaluma Gap’s uniqueness comes from the wind that blows through the area on a daily basis. “It is the regularity and intensity of the afternoon wind during the grape growing season that makes the Gap unique to surrounding areas from a viticultural perspective” according to Doug Cover, local grower and chair of the Petaluma Gap AVA committee.
For members of the public or wine trade interested in tasting the wine produced within the proposed AVA, the Alliance will be holding their second Wind to Wine Festival on Sunday, November 6, 2016 at the Sheraton Sonoma County in Petaluma. The event will feature panel discussions and a Grand Tasting showcasing more than 100 Petaluma Gap-grown wines. Ticket information can be found on the Petaluma Gap Winegrowers Alliance website: http://petalumagap.com/
