By David Stoneberg
STAFF WRITER

The St Helena Star
Thursday, December 6, 2007 12:10 AM PST

It was a lovefest Thursday afternoon as Assemblymember Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) celebrated the formal opening of the Vintners Hall of Fame at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone.

Evans also used the occasion to honor the three Napa County vintners who inspired AB 323, which rewrote statutes dealing with donating and pouring wine. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed AB 323 in July.

Standing in front of a plaque honoring Robert Mondavi, the first honoree in the Hall of Fame, Charles Henning, the CIA’s managing director, said, “There couldn’t be a better room for the Hall of Fame than the CIA’s Barrel Room.” The plaque of Mondavi’s likeness was attached to the front of a 2,200-gallon wine barrel.

Evans presented to Henning a framed and signed Assembly proclamation marking the establishment of the California Vintners Hall of Fame. The resolution commends the CIA for creating a forum to honor those people who have been responsible for the establishment, growth and world-wide prestige of the California wine industry. Henning said, “We are honored to receive this recognition and support from Assemblymember Noreen Evans and the California State Assembly and Senate. The CIA’s Vintners Hall of Fame is the first of its kind in the world and this resolution further legitimizes its celebration of the California wine industry and the people behind its growth.”

During Mondavi’s induction ceremony nine months ago, the CIA also honored six of the wine industry’s “founders” (Andre Tchelistcheff, Georges de Latour, Charles Krug, Agoston Haraszthy, Gustave Niebaum and Brother Timothy) and two industry “icons” (Maynard Amerine and Harold Olmo.) The funds raised from the reception and dinner ceremony have endowed new scholarship programs for the Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies and have contributed to the development of wine and food programs on the CIA’s campus. Henning announced the 2008 dinner will be held March 7.

Henning added, “This is a great moment to share the proclamation, to celebrate the wine industry and to make a new start for you in the wine business.” Henning was referring to the passage of Evans’ bill, AB 323, which modified the rules enforced by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

The need to modify those rules became clear when ABC agents cited a number of vintners for pouring their donated wine at a Tiburon fundraiser in May 2006. Three of those vintners were from Napa Valley: Bill Wolf of Eagle Eye Wines, Rutherford; Ken Nerlove, Elkhorn Peak Cellars, Jamison Canyon; and Claudia Sansone of Napa’s StoneFly Vineyard. Each of those cited hold two ABC licenses: Type 17 (wholesaler) and Type 20 (retailer via the Internet and direct sale to consumers). Before Evans’ AB 323 bill became law, the holders of those licenses could donate wine to some nonprofit agencies but they could not pour it at fundraising events for any nonprofit agencies.

A ‘substantial’ fine

On Thursday Sansone said she had poured her donated wine at the Tiburon fundraiser many times before and was surprised when ABC agents photographed her and others pouring their wines. She said the prohibition against donating and pouring wine was contained in some “380 pages of fine print” and that she didn’t know about it. After being cited, she said some vintners paid the fines, which she called “substantial” while she joined others in appealing the fines. After their appeal failed before an administrative law judge in September 2006, the ABC suspended their licenses for 10 days, but stayed half of it.

The three vintners also decided the law was not a fair one and needed to be changed. “This was about nonprofits and not being able to give away our wine to them. Without us, many nonprofits would fold,” she said.

Sansone, who with her husband, Rob Hampton, own StoneFly Vineyard, said they give away a lot more wine than the industry’s norm, because they choose to do that. “Being in the wine industry is a privilege. We have been blessed and to those of us who have much, much is required. It is important to give back to the community,” she said. “In fact, it is part of our mission statement.”

Wolf said changing the ABC’s rules were “very important to us. We give our wine to nonprofits, in part, to get our wine known and because it’s very difficult to get new wines into the market.” He added, “As a team, we were able to make a difference and to change the laws.”

Evans said most 17/20 vintners did not know that donating or pouring wine was a crime. “There was a lot of confusion about the law. After these vintners got in trouble, many important fundraisers which constitute a financial lifeline for nonprofits were cancelled out of fear,” Evans said. “Vintners are supportive of nonprofits and it was simply an outrage. We had a discussion how to change the law and I thought it would be easy, but in Sacramento, nothing is ever easy.”

Before Evans wrote her bill, she gained the support of the industry, including the Napa Valley Vintners and the Wine Institute. Rex Stults, NVV industry relations director, said changing the law took 14 to 16 months. He added it was possible because the NVV worked closely with the Wine Institute and the focus of the new law was narrow: just allowing holders of 17/20 licenses to donate and pour wine for nonprofit agencies.

There are approximately 1,400 vintners in California operating with those licenses. In 2006, the state’s wine industry made more than $115 million in charitable contributions.

(The Napa Valley Register’s Jack Heeger contributed to this story.)