I was just reading that under the AVA laws of the United States, when a wine carries the designation "American Appellation" on its label, it is not allowed to carry a vintage.

I am sure I had a bottle of Leonetti that carried this AVA on its label. And I'm sure that the vintage was stated. (96??)

Can anyone back me up on this or am I dreaming about wine too much?

You're dreaming about wine too much.

that's a fairly esoteric labeling term, but 'American' is indeed the exception in terms of vintage labeling, which sets it apart from other political designation. NOTE that I say political designation, not AVA. American is not an AVA. Nor is California or Napa County or any other area that would appear on a regular state/country map. AVA's are granted by the BATF by petition (Lodi, Napa Valley, Oakville, etc), while political designations have always existed.

I quote from the ATF CFR's:

(b) An appellation of origin such as ``American,'' ``New York,''
``Napa Valley,'' or ``Chilean,'' disclosing the true place of origin of
the wine, shall appear in direct conjunction with and in lettering
substantially as conspicuous as the class and type designation if:
(1) A varietal (grape type) designation is used under the provisions
of Sec. 4.23;
(2) A type designation of varietal significance is used under the
provisions of Sec. 4.28;
(3) A semi-generic type designation is employed as the class and
type designation of the wine pursuant to Sec. 4.24(b);
(4) A product name is qualified with the word ``Brand'' under the
requirements of Sec. 4.39 (j); or
(5) The wine is labeled with the year of harvest of the grapes, and
otherwise conforms with the provisions of Sec. 4.27. The appellation of
origin for vintage wine shall be other than a country.

****this subpart (5) is the important phrase, and I follow it to quote from part of section 4.27:

At least 95 percent of the wine must
have been derived from grapes harvested in the labeled calendar year,
and the wine must be labeled with an appellation of origin other than a
country (which does not qualify for vintage labeling).

*****so, there you have it. American wine CAN NOT carry a vintage.

-Vitis Vinifera in Lodi

very interesting, but shame on the ATF COLA (certificate of label approval) specialists for not catching this.

Wineries will......often try to see what they can get away with, and the worst that will happen is that they will get declined (along with why). But if they sneak something past, the ATF can't then go tell Leonetti to pull all the bottles off every shelf and relabel.....after all, they approved the application. The most they could do is just not approve it for the next 'vintage', which of course is the whole issue.

But good eye on catching this in the first place.....

-Vitis Vinifera in Lodi

It was the first and last time I've ever seen American appellation on a label. So it stuck in my mind. Tasty bottle too!