Jolly

This case concerns three brand-name labels (Napa Ridge, Napa Creek Winery, and Rutherford Vintners) appearing on wine bottled and marketed by petitioners Bronco Wine Company and Barrel Ten Quarter Circle, Inc. (hereafter Bronco). These wines are made not from grapes grown in Napa County, or in the Rutherford viticultural (wine grape growing) region of Napa County, but instead from grapes grown in areas far from Napa, such as Stanislaus County and the environs of the City of Lodi—areas where the cost of grapes, and often their perceived quality as well, is considerably lower. The challenged bottle labels have been approved by the federal agency charged by Congress with enforcing federal labeling law but violate a four-year-old California wine labeling statute, which requires that, when the word “Napa” (or any federally recognized viticultural region within Napa County) appears on a brand label, at least 75 percent of the grapes used to make that wine must be from Napa County. (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 25241 (hereafter section 25241).) We granted review to consider the Court of Appeal’s conclusion that federal law preempts the state law. We conclude that the state labeling…