Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/742839
106 WINES&VINES November 2016 WINE INDUSTRY NEWS WINE EAST H arrisburg, Pa.— Pennsyl- vania's new wine legisla- tion, Act 39, was signed by Gov. Tom Wolf in June and went into effect Aug. 8. Under this law, a wine producer now may sell 36 cases per year to a Pennsylva- nia resident of legal drinking age, provided that producer has ac- quired a direct wine shipper li- cense and a sales tax license. By Sept. 21, the total number of direct shipping licenses was up to 355, with California at 241 and Pennsylvania with 43. Wine pro- ducers in 12 other states hold the rest of the licenses. The number of licenses increased to 537 by Oct. 6. Act 39 also permits grocery and convenience stores that al- ready sell take-out beer, restau- rants and hotels to sell 3 liters (four bottles) of wine to go per transaction. Restaurants, hotels, bars and delis that are appropri- ately licensed will be permitted to sell the same quantity of take- out wine and, the first time, Pennsylvania wineries will be able to sell their wine in grocery stores if they get the direct wine shipper license. As of Sept. 26, a total of 186 facilities had applied for wine ex- panded permits. While getting the wine into the stores to begin sales to the public may take some stores longer than others, a few retailes are moving quickly. Weis Markets, a mid-Atlantic food retailer with 171 stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and West Vir- ginia, to date has applied for 34 permits and started selling wine at its store in Mechanicsburg, Pa., on Sept. 20. New York New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed two laws Sept. 13 that continue the modernization of New York's Alcoholic Beverage Control Law. Under the new leg- islation, farm wineries, brewer- ies, cideries and distilleries will be able to sell any New York- made alcoholic beverage by the glass at their production facility or off-site branch store. Until now, farm manufacturers could only sell products by the glass that they produced on site. A third bill signed Aug. 24 granted a farm winery license to the Grape Discovery Center in Westfield, N.Y. The center, an edu- cational facility that focuses on the local grape, grape juice and wine industries, already sells glasses of locally made products to visitors, including wine; under the new law, the center will also be able to sell wines by the bottle. —Linda Jones McKee Wine East Covering Eastern North America Recent Legislation Liberates Pennsylvania, N.Y. Wineries A wine producer may sell 36 cases per year to a Pennsylvania resident of legal drinking age, provided that producer has a direct wine shipper license and a sales tax license.