Home wineries okay to share their wares

On June 6, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger made legal what many considered legal all along. Senate Bill 607, which take effect immediately, makes it okay for home winemakers to share their wares at tasting competitions.
The bill, presented by Senator Pat Wiggins (D. Santa Rosa), who chairs the Senate Select Committee on California’s Wine Industry, and co-sponsored by the Family Winemakers of California (FWC) and the Western Fairs Association, became necessary after a law enforcement official with the State Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control said a provision in the California business and professions code made it illegal for home winemakers to share their products with others, even at county fairs or other long-standing, traditional events.
Wiggins said that though the provision had not been widely enforced, “the growing legions of home winemakers did not deserve to have an arcane section of state law hanging over them.”
Previous law had defined a “winegrower” as any person who has the facilities and equipment for the conversion of fruit into wine and is engaged in the production of wine, except for those persons who produce less than 200 gallons of wine per year for their personal consumption. SB 607 expands the definition of a winegrower by removing that exception.
Existing law also authorized a person to manufacture beer for personal or family use without the need for a license or permit. It further allows for homemade beer to be entered into competitions at organized affairs, exhibitions, or competitions, including homemakers’ contests, tastings, or judgings.
Senate Bill 607 now enables individuals to manufacture wine for personal or family use up to 200 gallons per household per calendar year without the need for a license or permit. And it also authorizes the removal of wine from the premises where it has been manufactured for use in competition at organized affairs, exhibitions or competitions, including homemakers’ contests, tastings, or judgings.
Stephen Chambers, executive director of the Western Fairs Association, said, “Over 50 fairs host these competitions, and with the peak of the fair season almost underway, SB 607 was in fact an urgency issue. We realize that amateur wine competitions are a small piece of the puzzle, but they are, nonetheless, a piece that completes the picture for many fairs throughout the state.”