The Rutherford family winery’s 2025 Sauvignon Blanc is among the first Napa Valley wines to list its ingredients, and Michael Honig hopes his neighbors follow.
RUTHERFORD, Calif. — Nov. 9, 2026 — Honig Vineyard & Winery has added an ingredient list to the back label of its 2025 Sauvignon Blanc. It’s the winery’s first wine to carry the information and one of the first in Napa Valley, as Wine Spectator reported. Later releases of Honig’s other wines will carry ingredient labels too.
U.S. law doesn’t require it. The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) has no ingredient-labeling rules for wine; it began discussing them in 2022, but the effort has stalled. Honig made the decision himself after the European Union’s labeling requirements took effect in 2023.
“It’s an opportunity to demystify wine a bit. We’ve been making wine for thousands of years. It’s a pretty basic product. We’ve got three ingredients.” MICHAEL HONIG, PRESIDENT, TO WINE SPECTATOR
The idea came from a tasting where Honig poured wine next to other drinks. A woman told him she didn’t drink wine, and it wasn’t the taste. “She said, ‘It’s not that I don’t like it. I don’t understand it,'” he recalled. For Honig, that’s t he barrier: wine isn’t transparent enough for many people, especially the younger drinkers the industry needs.
Honig says the winery didn’t change how it makes wine before listing the ingredients. It uses bentonite clay to clarify t he wine but doesn’t list it, because none is left in the bottle. That’s in line with the EU’s standard of listing only what’s in the finished wine. The winery does list yeast, because yeast explains how grape juice becomes wine.
“It’s not us v. them. There’s no winning here; these are my neighbors… I think the Napa Vintners would be really smart to take this on. Let’s be the area that wants to tell our story. Let’s be the leader.” MICHAEL HONIG, TO WINE SPECTATOR
THE WINE
- 2025 Honig Sauvignon Blanc. Released fall 2026.
- Ingredients on the label: grapes, yeast and sulfites. Also on the back label: no added sugars, vegan, gluten free.
- Next: later releases of Honig’s other wines will also carry ingredient labels.
WHY IT’S NEWS
- Ingredient labels are voluntary for U.S. wine; the TTB hasn’t set rules.
- Only a handful of U.S. wineries list ingredients, including Ridge Vineyards (since 2011).
- EU rules now require an ingredient list, nutrition declaration or QR code for wines from the 2024 harvest on.
- Honig sees transparency as a way to bring in younger wine drinkers.
ABOUT HONIG
Honig Vineyard & Winery is a family-owned winery in Rutherford, Napa Valley, known for Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s led by president Michael Honig, a third-generation Napa vintner, and winemaker Ashley Egelhof.
