2021 Code of Alabama
Title 28 - Intoxicating Liquor, Malt Beverages and Wine.
Chapter 3A - Alcoholic Beverage Licensing Code.
Section 28-3A-20.4 - Wine Festivals - Licensure Requirements; Tastings and Sale of Wine for On-Premises or Off-Premises Consumption.

Section 28-3A-20.4

Wine festivals - Licensure requirements; tastings and sale of wine for on-premises or off-premises consumption.

(a) The Legislature finds and declares that this section has been enacted pursuant to the authority granted to the state under the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution and the powers reserved to the state under the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and the inherent powers of the state under the Constitution of Alabama of 1901. It is the intent of the Legislature that this section maintains the current three-tier system of control over the sale, distribution, purchase, transportation, manufacture, consumption, and possession of alcoholic beverages in the state and promotes the health, safety, and welfare of residents of this state.

(b)(1) Notwithstanding any other section of this title, including, but not limited to, Sections 28-3A-6, 28-3A-25, and 28-7-4, upon application made on a form provided by the board at least 25 days in advance of the event for which a license is sought and accompanied by a fee not to exceed fifty dollars ($50), the board shall issue a license for a wine festival to a manufacturer of wine licensed by the board manufacturing at least 500 gallons of table wine in this state annually; a retailer; an organization comprised entirely of grape growers, wineries, or grape growers and wineries; a municipality; a county; or an incorporated arts council, main street program, or downtown development entity upon such terms and conditions as the board may prescribe by rule.

(2) The wine festival license shall authorize the licensee to host a festival at which wine festival participant licensees may dispense tastings and sell at retail to individuals physically present at the festival for on-premises or off-premises consumption and for personal use and not for resale, subject to subsection (e).

(c) A wine festival licensed under this section may not operate for more than five consecutive days.

(d)(1) Upon application made on a form provided by the board at least 15 days in advance of the event for which a license is sought and accompanied by a fee not to exceed fifteen dollars ($15), the board shall issue a wine festival participant license to any retailer or any manufacturer of table wine licensed by the board that manufactures at least 500 gallons of table wine in this state annually.

(2) A wine festival participant license shall authorize the licensee to dispense tastings and sell at retail to individuals physically present at the festival for on-premises consumption or off-premises consumption and for personal use and not for resale, subject to subsection (e).

(e)(1) Wine sold at a wine festival for off-premises consumption shall only be sold by a wine festival participant licensee and shall be sealed, labeled, and packaged in accordance with local, state, and federal laws and regulations.

(2) A wine festival participant licensee may not sell more than one case of wine to any individual per festival.

(3) For purposes of this section, one case of wine means the equivalent of 12 750-milliliter bottles of wine.

(f) The sale of wine at any wine festival may not be permitted on any Sunday in a county or municipality that has not authorized alcoholic beverages to be sold on Sunday.

(g) If a wine festival is to take place entirely on the premises of the winery that was granted the license to host the wine festival or a winery that is a member of the organization granted the license to host the festival, then the board may not require any fee for the wine festival license or any wine festival participant license relating to that festival.

(h) Each wine festival participant licensee participating in a wine festival shall collect and remit all state and local sales and use taxes and all excise and other taxes due on the sale of wine by the licensee to customers at retail.

(i) The board may not limit or prohibit the serving or featuring of food at a licensed wine festival, provided that the person serving or featuring food complies with all applicable laws and rules.

(j) For purposes of this section, "retailer" means a retailer licensed for off-premises consumption of table wine.

(k) The board may adopt rules to implement this section, including, but not limited to, rules regarding the liability of a wine festival participant licensee.

(l) If any provision of this section or its application to any person or circumstance is determined by a court to be invalid or unconstitutional, that provision shall be stricken and the remaining provisions shall be construed in accordance with the intent of the Legislature to further limit, rather than expand, commerce in alcoholic beverages, including by prohibiting any commerce in alcoholic beverages not expressly authorized, and to enhance strict regulatory control over taxation, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages through the existing uniform system of regulation of alcoholic beverages.

(Act 2021-287, §§1-3.)