Good News on the Moth?
2010 June 21
Home Winemakers Special Bulletin EGVM
Friday, June 11, 2010
In order to buy grapes from vineyards within the European Grapevine Moth quarantine areas of Napa and Sonoma Counties (or other quarantined counties), you must sign a compliance agreement with the County Agricultural Commissioner.
This requires grapes only be transported after covering the container, e.g. with tarp or screen, and all green material or stems must be properly disposed of.
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So the grapes have to be destemmed before transport? If so, that is not good news for me.
NO it does not say that it just says the stems need to be disposed of properly. Jeez you are the Club Lawyer. A little interpretation is required. By the way the larve of the moth are not on the stems they are in the berries.
That is why I ended that sentence with a question mark. It seemed a bit ridiculous that the grapes would have to be destemmed. However, the implication seems to be that the grapes will not be able to leave the county where they are grown, or for that matter leave the State of California. I say this only because the County Agricultural Commissioner may not have any jurisdiction over another county in California and certainly does not have any jurisdiction over someone in New York to insure the proper disposal of the stems.
Seems like a weak unenforceable requirement to me. I think that the key is the method of transport in the ruling. If they are covered they can be moved out of the county. Well anyway I am sure there will be more on this shortly.