Lewis-Clark Valley appellation proposed

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau published a notice of proposed rulemaking on April 14 to establish the more than 300,000-acre Lewis-Clark Valley AVA (American Viticultural Area) in portions of Idaho and Washington.

The bureau also proposed to modify the boundary of the existing Columbia Valley viticultural area in Washington to eliminate a potential overlap with the proposed Lewis-Clark Valley region.

The proposed boundary modifications would decrease the size of the Columbia Valley AVA, which is currently about 11,370,000 acres by approximately 57,000 acres.

The proposal is in response to a petition filed by vintners and grape growers of the Lewis-Clark Valley area that includes portions of Nez Perce, Lewis, Clearwater, and Latah counties in Idaho and Asotin, Garfield, and Whitman counties in Washington.

Viticultural areas are designated by the bureau to allow vintners to better describe the origin of their wines and allow consumers to better identify wines they may purchase.

Comments on the proposed viticultural region will be accepted up to June 15, 2015. A link to the proposed rule docket is posted on the bureau’s website at http://1.usa.gov/1aXexG6.