HB736 Alabama 2012 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Becky Nordgren

Republican

Session

Regular Session 2012

Title

Wine, Farm wineries, licensing, fees, distribution, and sale of wine, Secs. 28-3-1, 28-7-13, 28-7-18 am'd

Summary

HB736 would create and regulate a new farm winery license in Alabama, expanding how wine is produced, licensed, sold, and taxed.

What This Bill Does

It adds a farm winery license with specific production and sourcing rules, enables farm wineries to operate multiple locations, and allows direct sales to retailers, on-premises consumption, and sales outside Alabama. It also establishes a table wine excise tax structure, local license fee possibilities, and reporting requirements, while permitting limited wine sampling and fortification with brandy. Existing wine manufacturers may convert to a farm winery license if they meet the production cap, and Alabama grape sourcing rules apply to farm wineries.

Who It Affects

• Farm wineries and prospective licensees: new license category with an annual fee of $150, ability to operate up to two additional farm winery locations, sell table wine on premises and to retailers, freight wine outside Alabama, and conduct limited tastings.
• Other wine businesses and local governments: changes to license fees for existing categories (retailer, wholesaler, importer, manufacturer) and new local privilege taxes capped at half of the state license fee; farmers and Alabama grape growers due to requirement that at least 75% of grapes come from Alabama grown lands (with a seven-year compliance window for existing wineries).

Key Provisions

• Creates a Farm Winery license and sets a $150 annual fee; counties/municipalities may impose a local license tax up to half the state fee.
• Defines a Farm Winery as a limited manufacturer producing up to 125,000 gallons annually, with at least 75% of grapes grown in Alabama (existing wineries get seven years to meet this).
• Allows a farm winery to hold licenses for two additional locations and to engage in activities without requiring additional manufacturing or bottling.
• Permits farm wineries to sell table wine on premises, to transport/sell table wine outside Alabama, and to fortify wine with brandy up to 24% ABV.
• Allows farm wineries to sell up to 50,000 gallons of fermented table wine to board-approved retailers and to conduct up to five off-premises sampling events per year (with event listing and license display requirements).
• Authorizes direct retail sale of table wine produced at the winery to licensed retailers and clarifies labeling for fermented table wine.
• Imposes a table wine excise tax of 45 cents per liter (38 cents to the ABC board and 7 cents to local municipalities/counties); taxes are collected monthly with specified remittance rules.
• Provides that farm winery license holders are included in the manufacturer category for tax purposes and allows current wine manufacturers producing up to the farm winery cap to renew as farm wineries without reapplication.
• Effective date is the first day of the third month after enactment.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 24, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Alcoholic Beverages