New Law Lets Wineries Use Video to Promote Retail Events
The Napa Valley Vintners-sponsored bill, signed into law this month, ends a decade-long fight over California’s tied-house advertising rules and takes effect Jan. 1, 2027.
ST. HELENA: Napa Valley wineries will soon be able to use video on social media to promote winemaker dinners and tasting events held at restaurants and other licensed retailers, under legislation sponsored by Napa Valley Vintners that has been signed into law.
Senate Bill 1273, authored by State Sen. Christopher Cabaldon and coauthored by Sen. McNerney and Assemblymember Aguiar-Curry, takes effect Jan. 1, 2027. The bill allows winery advertisements for instructional events at a retailer’s premises to include videos up to 60 seconds long, and it drops a rule that required pictures, illustrations and other depictions to be relatively inconspicuous compared with the rest of the advertisement.
The way consumers discover wineries and events has changed dramatically since these rules were last updated in 2018. Video is now one of the most effective ways to reach consumers, especially for small, independent wineries with limited marketing resources. This legislation brings the law in line with how people communicate today and gives wineries across California another important tool to connect with consumers.Michelle Novi, in-house counsel, Napa Valley Vintners
A decade in the making
The new law caps an advocacy effort that Napa Valley Vintners says began nearly a decade ago to modernize California’s tied-house laws, the rules limiting what alcohol producers may say about retailers. Through compliance seminars and legal guidance for its members, the trade group identified restrictions that made it difficult for wineries to promote events held at restaurants and other licensed retailers.
Video is now one of the most effective ways to reach consumers, especially for small, independent wineries with limited marketing resources.
In 2017, the organization began pursuing changes to the law, leading to the passage of its sponsored AB 2452 in 2018. That measure expanded what wineries could share when promoting eligible events, allowing pictures and illustrations and permitting reposting on social media. Video was expressly excluded, and Napa Valley Vintners says it kept looking for an opportunity to close that gap, ultimately sponsoring SB 1273.
Napa Valley Vintners says it worked with outside counsel Dickenson Peatman & Fogarty and its Sacramento lobbyist, Platinum Advisors, on the development and passage of the bill.
The trade association, founded in 1944, says it represents nearly 550 member wineries and advocates for the Napa Valley wine region at the local, state, federal and international levels. It also says it has invested more than $248 million in community healthcare, youth development and the environment in Napa County.
The new rules still carry conditions: video ads for the covered events may not include the retail price of the wines or laudatory references to the retailer beyond its participation in the event, and reposting of social media posts, including posts by the retailer, is permitted when the reposts meet the law’s requirements. For Napa’s wineries, video joins the marketing toolkit on Jan. 1, 2027.
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