The Wine Institute

Introduction

Complaints about wine advertising of Wine Institute members will be reviewed initially by Wine Institute staff to determine whether a complaint has merit. In order for a complaint to have merit, it must meet the following requirements:

• The advertising must be about a member's products
• The advertiser must be a Wine Institute member or an agency or firm under the control of a Wine Institute member
• The advertising must occur in the United States
• The complaint must identify the name and address of the complainant
• The complaint must indicate the reasons why the complainant believes the advertising violates the Code

To the extent possible, the complaint should include a copy of the advertising, although we realize that electronic advertising may be more difficult for some to capture.

Internal Review Committee

Each complaint about an ad will be reviewed by an internal panel of 3 of the 5 Wine Institute officers. The panel will rotate through the officers and will change for each complaint received. There may be occasions when multiple complaints about a single ad of one advertiser, or multiple ads by a single advertiser, may be joined into a single complaint for purposes of review, or when may be joined into a single complaint.

If the Internal Review Committee finds that an advertisement or advertising series is in violation of the Code, the Wine Institute member will be notified of this finding and the member will be given the option of having the advertisement in question reviewed by the Independent Third Party Reviewer. Similarly, if the Internal Review Committee cannot decide whether a violation has occurred, the Committee may exercise the option of having the advertisement reviewed by the Independent Third Party Reviewer. The Independent Third Party Reviewer will consist of one reviewer who may employ no more than two additional reviewers. If the Internal Review Committee determines that no violation has occurred, the advertiser and the complainant will be notified of this finding.

A Wine Institute member who is notified of the appeals process utilizing the Independent Third Party Reviewer may decline third party review or exercise its option for third party review. Regardless of whether the advertisement is reviewed by the Third Party Reviewer, the findings of the process will be published on Wine Institute's web site regardless of the outcome and will remain on the site for no less than six months.

Third-Party Review Flowchart

Third Party Review Flowchart
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