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San Diego Winery Stripped of National Award Amid Fraud Allegations

Tasting Room to Reopen after Federal Sanctions

SAN DIEGO, CA — APRIL 1, 2026—Just days after being crowned America’s Best Boutique Winery by the United States Wine Coalition (USWC), a San Diego winery was stripped of the prestigious award amid allegations of fraud.

San Diego’s beloved urban winery, Gianni Buonomo Vintners (GBV), was charged with fraud by knowingly and deliberately misrepresenting alcohol content on their wine labels over the past two years. After receiving an anonymous tip, authorities from the Federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) collected samples and submitted them to an independent laboratory for analysis.

The findings revealed that while their bottles state that the alcohol by volume (ABV) of the wine is between 13.5% and 15%, laboratory results measured the ABV to be only 0.01% and 0.03%.

As a result, the USWC stripped them of the award, and the TTB ordered the winery to shutter its operation for the entire month of March 2026 and pay nearly $10,000 in fines.

Dr. Laard VanAusdle, President of the USWC, explained the difficult decision he and his organization had to make. “We were so proud to present Gianni Buonomo Vintners with our highest award. Over the past 15 years they have exemplified the model of a successful boutique winery. Year after year they consistently checked all the boxes. We were as stunned as anyone to learn that their wines had virtually no alcohol in them.”

Winery owner and winemaker Keith Rolle and his legal team have cooperated fully with federal authorities. He justified his actions citing the explosion of health-conscious consumers. “In recent years there has been a seismic shift to alcohol-free lifestyles. The popularity of Dry January, Sober October and “mocktails” were killing my business.  For the past two years my wine has had virtually zero alcohol in it.  I hid that fact from my customers in the name of their own good health.“

“We’ve been duped!” fumed angry wine club member André Rahlkat.  “We thought we were drinking wine when we were only drinking grape juice. I guess that explains why we could plow through a couple bottles a night and still feel great the next day.”

But Rolle argues that his wine is real wine.

“To make dealcoholized wine, you need to start with real wine. The grapes are grown, harvested, and fermented in the same way they are for an alcoholic wine. I simply put it through reverse osmosis resulting in one solution being dealcoholized wine and the other a combination of alcohol and water.”

Sensing there could be some potential issues over his actions, Rolle retained all the alcohol that was extracted from the wines he modified. “I saved all the alcohol I took out of the wine just in case I got caught.” He added, “I will happily return the alcohol back to anyone’s wine, or they can just take home the alcohol to enjoy on its own.”

Rolle has since returned to only selling wine with alcohol in it.

Gianni Buonomo Vintners will reopen its winery and tasting room to the public on Wednesday April 1, 2026 at 1:00 pm.

Business hours are Wednesday – Sunday from 1:00 pm to 7:00 pm.

MORE INFORMATION:

Al Dorvinen, General Manager, (562.458.9477)

Gianni Buonomo Vintners
3492 Pickett Street
Rancho Point Loma, CA 92110

Located in the heart of the Historic Rancho Point Loma Winery District, Gianni Buonomo Vintners has been voted Best San Diego Winery for eight consecutive years. Grapes are sourced from the Sierra Foothills in California and from Washington state. The award-winning wines are produced, served and sold onsite.

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