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General Assembly Committee Bill No. 5361
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 4613
Referred to Committee on GENERAL LAW
Introduced by:
(GL)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE SOURCE OF THE FRUIT USED BY FARM
WINERY PERMITTEES TO MANUFACTURE WINE.
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repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2
2025): 3
(c) (1) A manufacturer permit for a farm winery shall be in all respects 4
the same as a manufacturer permit, except that the scope of operations 5
of the holder shall be limited to wine and brandies distilled from grape 6
products or other fruit products, including grappa and eau-de-vie. As 7
used in this section, "farm winery" means any place or premises that is 8
located on a farm in the state in which wine is manufactured and sold. 9
(2) Such permit shall, at the single principal premises of the farm 10
winery, authorize: (A) The sale in bulk by the holder thereof from the 11
premises where the products are manufactured pursuant to such 12
permit; (B) as to a manufacturer who produces one hundred thousand 13
gallons of wine or less per year, the sale and shipment by the holder 14
thereof to a retailer of wine manufactured by the farm winery permittee 15 Committee Bill No. 5361
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in the original sealed containers of not more than fifteen gallons per 16
container; (C) the sale and shipment by the holder thereof of wine 17
manufactured by the farm winery permittee to persons outside the state; 18
(D) the offering and tasting of free samples of such wine or brandy, 19
dispensed out of bottles or containers having capacities of not more than 20
two gallons per bottle or container, to visitors and prospective retail 21
customers for consumption on the premises of the farm winery 22
permittee; (E) the sale at retail from the premises of sealed bottles or 23
other sealed containers of such wine or brandy for consumption off the 24
premises; (F) the sale at retail from the premises of wine or brandy by 25
the glass and bottle to visitors on the premises of the farm winery 26
permittee for consumption on the premises; and (G) subject to the 27
provisions of subdivision (3) of this subsection, the sale and delivery or 28
shipment of wine manufactured by the permittee directly to a consumer 29
in this state. Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraphs (D), (E) 30
and (F) of this subdivision, a town may, by ordinance or zoning 31
regulation, prohibit any such offering, tasting or selling at retail at 32
premises within such town for which a manufacturer permit for a farm 33
winery has been issued. 34
(3) A permittee, when selling and shipping wine directly to a 35
consumer in this state, shall: (A) Ensure that the shipping labels on all 36
containers of wine shipped directly to a consumer in this state 37
conspicuously state the following: "CONTAINS ALCOHOL —38
SIGNATURE OF A PERSON AGE 21 OR OLDER REQUIRED FOR 39
DELIVERY"; (B) obtain the signature of a person age twenty-one or 40
older at the address prior to delivery, after requiring the signer to 41
demonstrate that such signer is age twenty-one or older by providing a 42
valid motor vehicle operator's license or a valid identity card described 43
in section 1-1h; (C) not ship more than five gallons of wine in any two-44
month period to any person in this state; (D) pay, to the Department of 45
Revenue Services, all sales taxes and alcoholic beverage taxes due under 46
chapters 219 and 220 on sales of wine to consumers in this state, and file, 47
with said department, all sales tax returns and alcoholic beverage tax 48
returns relating to such sales; (E) report to the Department of Consumer 49 Committee Bill No. 5361
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Protection a separate and complete record of all sales and shipments to 50
consumers in the state, on a ledger sheet or similar form which readily 51
presents a chronological account of such permittee's dealings with each 52
such consumer; (F) not ship to any address in the state where the sale of 53
alcoholic liquor is prohibited by local option pursuant to section 30-9; 54
and (G) hold an in-state transporter's permit pursuant to section 30-19f 55
or make any such shipment through the use of a person who holds such 56
an in-state transporter's permit. 57
(4) No licensed farm winery may sell any such wine or brandy not 58
manufactured by such winery, except a licensed farm winery may sell 59
from the premises: (A) Wine manufactured by another farm winery 60
located in this state; and (B) brandy manufactured from fruit harvested 61
in this state and distilled off the premises in this state. 62
(5) (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B) of this subdivision, 63
the farm winery permittee shall grow on the premises of the farm 64
winery or on property under the same ownership and control of said 65
permittee or leased by the backer of a farm winery permit or by said 66
permittee within the farm winery's principal state an average crop of 67
fruit equal to not less than [twenty-five] twenty per cent of the fruit used 68
in the manufacture of the farm winery permittee's wine. An average 69
crop shall be defined each year as the average yield of the farm winery 70
permittee's two largest annual crops out of the preceding five years, 71
except that during the first seven years from the date of issuance of a 72
farm winery permit, an average crop shall be defined as three tons of 73
grapes for each acre of vineyard farmed by the farm winery permittee. 74
Such seven-year period shall not begin anew if the property for which 75
the farm winery permit is held is transferred or sold during such seven-76
year period. In the event the farm winery consists of more than one 77
property, the aggregate acreage of the farm winery shall not be less than 78
five acres. 79
(B) If a farm winery permittee sustains a significant loss of the farm 80
winery permittee's crop of fruit, such farm winery permittee shall, not 81
later than December thirty-first of the year in which such farm winery 82 Committee Bill No. 5361
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permittee sustains such significant loss, certify to the Commissioner of 83
Consumer Protection, in a form and manner prescribed by the 84
commissioner, that such farm winery permittee has sustained such 85
significant loss. If the commissioner determines, in the commissioner's 86
discretion, that such farm winery permittee sustained such significant 87
loss through no fault of such farm winery permittee, such farm winery 88
permittee's lost crop of fruit shall, for the year in which such farm 89
winery permittee sustained such significant loss, be deemed to satisfy 90
the average crop requirement established in subparagraph (A) of this 91
subdivision. For the purposes of this subparagraph, the commissioner 92
shall, in the commissioner's discretion, determine whether a qualitative 93
or quantitative reduction in crop yield suffered by a farm winery 94
permittee constitutes a significant loss. 95
(6) A holder of a manufacturer permit for a farm winery, when 96
advertising or offering wine for direct shipment to a consumer in this 97
state via the Internet or any other on-line computer network, shall 98
clearly and conspicuously state such liquor permit number in its 99
advertising. 100
(7) A holder of a manufacturer permit for a farm winery may sell and 101
offer free tastings of wine manufactured from such winery at a farmers' 102
market, as defined in section 22-6r, that is operated as a nonprofit 103
enterprise or association, provided such farmers' market invites such 104
holder to sell wine at such farmers' market and such holder has a 105
farmers' market wine sales permit issued by the Commissioner of 106
Consumer Protection in accordance with the provisions of section 30-107
37o. 108
(8) A holder of a manufacturer permit for a farm winery may, with 109
the prior approval of the Department of Consumer Protection, sell wine, 110
brandies, grappa and eau-de-vie manufactured by such farm winery 111
permittee at not more than three retail outlets in addition to such farm 112
winery permittee's permit premises, provided (A) each such retail outlet 113
is located on land that is leased or owned by the backer of the farm 114
winery permit and such farm winery permittee utilizes such land to 115 Committee Bill No. 5361
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grow fruit and produce alcoholic beverages manufactured exclusively 116
by the farm winery, and (B) no such retail outlet is located within a 117
grocery store, as defined in section 30-20, or any other retail outlet unless 118
otherwise permitted under the general statutes. 119
(9) The annual fee for a manufacturer permit for a farm winery shall 120
be three hundred dollars. 121
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2025 30-16(c)
GL Joint Favorable