Two-Buck Chuck is out of Luck -- Kathleen Sullivan Available to Comment on Appellate Court Ruling on California Wine Labeling Laws; Quinn Emanuel's Appellate Practice Chair Delivers Second Major Wine Victory for Clients in May.

SILICON VALLEY, Calif. -- Kathleen M. Sullivan, chair of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges' (www.quinnemanuel.com) appellate practice, delivered an important victory for the Napa Valley Vintners Association last week, when the Third District Court of Appeal rejected Bronco's claims with respect to California's wine labeling rules. Fred Franzia, owner of Bronco and the popular "Two Buck Chuck" Charles Shaw wines, also makes some wines like "Napa Ridge" out of grapes that are not from Napa. He claimed that California's labeling rules requiring wines with Napa brand names to use Napa grapes violate his constitutional rights of free speech, constitute a "taking" of his products' value and interfere with interstate commerce.

"This ruling is critical for Napa Valley vintners because Franzia or other purchasers of Napa brand names are capable of producing wine in very high volume," said Sullivan, a leading authority on constitutional law and a Stanford law professor. "Had the company continued to use the labels in question, it could have flooded the market with wines not made from Napa grapes which would have jeopardized the Napa name."

A California law passed in 2000 prohibits the use of any geographic designation on a label unless 75 percent of the wine's grapes come from the region. This is the general rule of thumb under federal law although an exception was introduced in 1986 that grandfathered in existing wine labels that didn't meet the geographic requirement.

Bronco lost on the free speech claims because the court found that labels containing the Napa name but not grapes from the region are inherently misleading and therefore subject to regulation. The court also found that California's interest in protecting and preserving the reputation and integrity of its wine overrides any other burden on interstate commerce, and that there was no taking of Franzia's property.

This victory comes close on the heels of a case that Sullivan successfully argued in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of California wineries and consumers. In that case the Court ruled that states may not have discriminatory laws that bar out-of-state vintners from distributing product directly to consumers, thereby swinging the door wide open for smaller wineries to reach markets they have been unable to penetrate due to existing state laws.

Kathleen Sullivan can be reached at: [phone]

Or call Anne Sage at [phone] to arrange an interview