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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 6241
January Session, 2023
AN ACT CONCERNING FARM WINERY PERMITTEES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (c) of section 30-16 of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 2
passage): 3
(c) (1) A manufacturer permit for a farm winery shall be in all 4
respects the same as a manufacturer permit, except that the scope of 5
operations of the holder shall be limited to wine and brandies distilled 6
from grape products or other fruit products, including grappa and 7
eau-de-vie. As used in this section, "farm winery" means any place or 8
premises that is located on a farm in the state in which wine is 9
manufactured and sold. 10
(2) Such permit shall, at the single principal premises of the farm 11
winery, authorize (A) the sale in bulk by the holder thereof from the 12
premises where the products are manufactured pursuant to such 13
permit; (B) as to a manufacturer who produces one hundred thousand 14
gallons of wine or less per year, the sale and shipment by the holder 15
thereof to a retailer of wine manufactured by the farm winery 16
permittee in the original sealed containers of not more than fifteen 17
gallons per container; (C) the sale and shipment by the holder thereof 18
of wine manufactured by the farm winery permittee to persons outside 19 Substitute Bill No. 6241
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the state; (D) the offering and tasting of free samples of such wine or 20
brandy, dispensed out of bottles or containers having capacities of not 21
more than two gallons per bottle or container, to visitors and 22
prospective retail customers for consumption on the premises of the 23
farm winery permittee; (E) the sale at retail from the premises of sealed 24
bottles or other sealed containers of such wine or brandy for 25
consumption off the premises; (F) the sale at retail from the premises of 26
wine or brandy by the glass and bottle to visitors on the premises of 27
the farm winery permittee for consumption on the premises; and (G) 28
subject to the provisions of subdivision (3) of this subsection, the sale 29
and delivery or shipment of wine manufactured by the permittee 30
directly to a consumer in this state. Notwithstanding the provisions of 31
subparagraphs (D), (E) and (F) of this subdivision, a town may, by 32
ordinance or zoning regulation, prohibit any such offering, tasting or 33
selling at retail at premises within such town for which a manufacturer 34
permit for a farm winery has been issued. 35
(3) A permittee, when selling and shipping wine directly to a 36
consumer in this state, shall: (A) Ensure that the shipping labels on all 37
containers of wine shipped directly to a consumer in this state 38
conspicuously state the following: "CONTAINS ALCOHOL —39
SIGNATURE OF A PERSON AGE 21 OR OLDER REQUIRED FOR 40
DELIVERY"; (B) obtain the signature of a person age twenty-one or 41
older at the address prior to delivery, after requiring the signer to 42
demonstrate that [he or she] such signer is age twenty-one or older by 43
providing a valid motor vehicle operator's license or a valid identity 44
card described in section 1-1h; (C) not ship more than five gallons of 45
wine in any two-month period to any person in this state; (D) pay, to 46
the Department of Revenue Services, all sales taxes and alcoholic 47
beverage taxes due under chapters 219 and 220 on sales of wine to 48
consumers in this state, and file, with said department, all sales tax 49
returns and alcoholic beverage tax returns relating to such sales; (E) 50
report to the Department of Consumer Protection a separate and 51
complete record of all sales and shipments to consumers in the state, 52
on a ledger sheet or similar form which readily presents a 53 Substitute Bill No. 6241
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chronological account of such permittee's dealings with each such 54
consumer; (F) not ship to any address in the state where the sale of 55
alcoholic liquor is prohibited by local option pursuant to section 30-9; 56
and (G) hold an in-state transporter's permit pursuant to section 30-19f 57
or make any such shipment through the use of a person who holds 58
such an in-state transporter's permit. 59
(4) No licensed farm winery may sell any such wine or brandy not 60
manufactured by such winery, except a licensed farm winery may sell 61
from the premises (A) wine manufactured by another farm winery 62
located in this state, and (B) brandy manufactured from fruit harvested 63
in this state and distilled off the premises in this state. 64
(5) [The] (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B) of this 65
subdivision, the farm winery permittee shall grow on the premises of 66
the farm winery or on property under the same ownership and control 67
of said permittee or leased by the backer of a farm winery permit or by 68
said permittee within the farm winery's principal state an average crop 69
of fruit equal to not less than twenty-five per cent of the fruit used in 70
the manufacture of the farm winery permittee's wine. An average crop 71
shall be defined each year as the average yield of the farm winery 72
permittee's two largest annual crops out of the preceding five years, 73
except that during the first seven years from the date of issuance of a 74
farm winery permit, an average crop shall be defined as three tons of 75
grapes for each acre of vineyard farmed by the farm winery permittee. 76
Such seven-year period shall not begin anew if the property for which 77
the farm winery permit is held is transferred or sold during such 78
seven-year period. In the event the farm winery consists of more than 79
one property, the aggregate acreage of the farm winery shall not be 80
less than five acres. 81
(B) If a farm winery permittee sustains a total loss of the farm 82
winery permittee's crop of fruit, such farm winery permittee shall, not 83
later than December thirty-first of the year in which such farm winery 84
permittee sustains such total loss, certify to the Commissioner of 85
Agriculture, in a form and manner prescribed by the Commissioner of 86 Substitute Bill No. 6241
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Agriculture, that such farm winery permittee has sustained such total 87
loss. If the Commissioner of Agriculture determines, in the 88
Commissioner of Agriculture's discretion, that such farm winery 89
permittee sustained such total loss through no fault of such farm 90
winery permittee, such farm winery permittee's crop of fruit for the 91
year in which such farm winery permittee sustained such total loss 92
shall not be deemed to constitute part of, count toward or be used to 93
determine whether such farm winery permittee's crop of fruit satisfies 94
the average crop requirement established in subparagraph (A) of this 95
subdivision. For the purposes of this subparagraph, the Commissioner 96
of Agriculture shall, in the Commissioner of Agriculture's discretion, 97
determine whether a qualitative or quantitative reduction in crop yield 98
suffered by a farm winery permittee constitutes a total loss. 99
(6) A holder of a manufacturer permit for a farm winery, when 100
advertising or offering wine for direct shipment to a consumer in this 101
state via the Internet or any other on-line computer network, shall 102
clearly and conspicuously state such liquor permit number in its 103
advertising. 104
(7) A holder of a manufacturer permit for a farm winery may sell 105
and offer free tastings of wine manufactured from such winery at a 106
farmers' market, as defined in section 22-6r, that is operated as a 107
nonprofit enterprise or association, provided such farmers' market 108
invites such holder to sell wine at such farmers' market and such 109
holder has a farmers' market wine sales permit issued by the 110
Commissioner of Consumer Protection in accordance with the 111
provisions of subsection (a) of section 30-37o. 112
(8) A holder of a manufacturer permit for a farm winery may, with 113
the prior approval of the Department of Consumer Protection, sell 114
wine, brandies, grappa and eau-de-vie manufactured by such farm 115
winery permittee at not more than three retail outlets in addition to 116
such farm winery permittee's permit premises, provided (A) each such 117
retail outlet is located on land that is leased or owned by the backer of 118
the farm winery permit and such farm winery permittee utilizes such 119 Substitute Bill No. 6241
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land to grow fruit or produce alcoholic beverages manufactured by the 120
farm winery, and (B) no such retail outlet is located within a grocery 121
store, as defined in section 30-20. 122
[(8)] (9) The annual fee for a manufacturer permit for a farm winery 123
shall be three hundred dollars. 124
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage 30-16(c)
GL Joint Favorable Subst.