Although beer has taken a back seat at the 63rd Montana Legislature – at least for the time being – wine is getting set for a big show. Five bills pertaining to wine have been introduced recently, or are ready to be introduced, ranging in subject from selling wine at farmers’ markets to revising laws pertaining to sacramental wine. Given Montana isn’t big wine country, these bills may very well receive a better audience than those pertaining to beer.
House Bill 402 was introduced Feb. 7 and seeks to change the laws to allow direct shipment of wine, allowing wineries to ship “up to 18 9-liter cases of wine annually to an individual in Montana who is at least 21 years of age for the individual’s personal use and not for resale.” That’s a lot of wine. Presently, such direct shipments are only allowed if an individual obtains a “connoisseur’s” license, a process that is so cumbersome virtually no one goes through the trouble. (Plus, there are numerous wineries which interpret Montana law as allowing direct shipments now, anyway.) A winery would need to obtain a direct shipment endorsement for $50 and pay taxes on the shipment, among other requirements. Beer is not included.
Senate Bill 268 was also introduced on Feb. 7 and would permit wineries to sell wine at farmers’ markets located within 100 miles of the winery. The bill effectively eliminates any out-of state wineries from taking advantage of this provision though it is written in a way to try and avoid commerce clause/equal protection arguments.
Senate Bill 266 was introduced Feb. 6 and seeks to revise the laws pertaining to sacramental wine. As near as I can tell, the bill includes a variety of clarifications and would also allow sacramental wine to be distributed by contracting with a normal distributor or via direct shipment using common carriers.
HB 424 would permit off-premise retailers of beer and wine to hold up to twelve tasting events per year, but only for wine, and only if the retailer derives more than one-half of its revenue from the sale of wine. No limit on the amount that could be served is proposed. I don’t care for this bill for a couple of reasons. Only grocery stores and pharmacies can sell wine off-premise consumption (excluding certain provisions for on-premise retailers). Montana doesn’t allow pure wine stores, though a bill was introduced earlier in the session, and promptly tabled, that would finally permit them. Thus, this bill maintains the fiction that a wine store is a grocery store if it has $3,000 dollars worth of food items, but as long as it sells mostly wine, it can hold tasting events. Tell me why we didn’t just run with the boutique wine and beer bottle shop bill which would eliminate the grocery requirement and allow up to 12 tasting events for either beer or wine? My guess is that it had something to do with the beer part of it.
HB 425 would allow the distribution and sale of fortified wine, which it defines as “grape-based wine that is at least 16% alcohol by volume when bottled or packaged by the manufacturer but not more than 24% alcohol by volume.” Presently, the law provides only for “table wine” which contains not more than 16% alcohol by volume.
[Note: Updated to reflect the introduction of HB 424 and 425.]
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