§60-8-6c. Winery and farm winery license to sell wine growlers and provide complimentary samples prior to purchasing a wine growler.
(a) Legislative findings. — The Legislature hereby finds that it is in the public interest to regulate, control, and support the brewing, manufacturing, distribution, sale, consumption, transportation, and storage of wine and its industry in this state to protect the public health, welfare, and safety of the citizens of this state, and promote hospitality and tourism. Therefore, this section authorizes a licensed winery or farm winery with its principal place of business and manufacture located in this state to have certain abilities to promote the sale of wine manufactured in this state for the benefit of the citizens of this state, the state’s growing wine industry, and the state’s hospitality and tourism industry, all of which are vital components for the state’s economy.
(b) Sales of wine. — A licensed winery or farm winery with its principal place of business and manufacture located in the State of West Virginia may, when licensed under this section, offer only wine manufactured by the licensed winery or farm winery for retail sale to customers from the winery or farm winery’s licensed premises for consumption off of the licensed premises only in the form of original container sealed wine kegs, wine bottles, or wine cans, or also a sealed wine growler for personal consumption, and not for resale. A licensed winery or farm winery may not sell, give, or furnish wine for consumption on the premises of the principal place of business and manufacture located in the State of West Virginia, except for the limited purpose of complimentary samples as permitted in subsection (c) of this section or unless separately licensed as a private wine restaurant or a private manufacturer club.
(c) Complimentary samples. — A licensed winery or farm winery with its principal place of business and manufacture located in the State of West Virginia may offer complimentary samples of wine as set forth in §60-4-3b of this code.
(d) Retail sales. — Every licensed winery or farm winery under this section shall comply with all the provisions of this article as applicable to wine retailers when conducting wine growler sales and is subject to all applicable requirements and penalties in this article.
(e) Payment of taxes and fees. — A winery or farm winery licensed under this section shall pay all taxes and fees required of licensed wine retailers, in addition to any other taxes and fees required, and shall meet applicable licensing provisions as required by this chapter and by rule of the commissioner.
(f) Advertising. — A winery or farm winery under this section may advertise a particular brand or brands of wine produced by the licensed winery or farm winery and the price of the wine subject to state and federal requirements or restrictions. The advertisement may not encourage intemperance or target minors.
(g) Wine Growler defined. — For purposes of this section and section §60-8-6d of the code, “wine growler” means a container or jug that is made of glass, ceramic, metal, or other material approved by the commissioner, that may be no larger than 128 fluid ounces in size and is capable of being securely sealed. The growler may be used by an authorized licensee for purposes of off-premises sales only of wine for personal consumption, and not for resale. The wine served and sold in a sealed wine growler may include ice or water mixed with the wine to create a frozen alcoholic beverage. Any frozen alcoholic beverage machine used for filling wine growlers shall be sanitized daily and shall be under control and served by the licensee from the secure area. Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, a securely sealed wine growler is not an open container under state and local law. A wine growler with a broken seal is an open container under state and local law unless it is located in an area of the motor vehicle physically separated from the passenger compartment. For purpose of this article, a secure seal means using a tamper evident seal, such as: (1) A plastic heat shrink wrap band, strip, or sleeve extending around the cap or lid of wine growler to form a seal that shall be broken when the container is opened; or (2) A screw top cap or lid that breaks apart when the wine growler is opened.
(h) Wine Growler requirements. — A winery or farm winery licensed under this section shall prevent patrons from accessing the secure area where the winery or farm winery fills a wine growler and prevent patrons from filling a wine growler. A licensed winery or farm winery under this section shall sanitize, fill, securely seal, and label any wine growler prior to its sale. A licensed winery or farm winery under this section may refill a wine growler subject to the requirements of this section. A winery or farm winery shall visually inspect any wine growler before filling or refilling it. A winery or farm winery may not fill or refill any wine growler that appears to be cracked, broken, unsafe, or otherwise unfit to serve as a sealed beverage container.
(i) Wine Growler labeling. — A winery or farm winery licensed under this section selling wine growlers shall affix a conspicuous label on all sold and securely sealed wine growlers listing the name of the licensee selling the wine growler, the brand of the wine in the wine growler, the alcohol content by volume of the wine in the wine growler, and the date the wine growler was filled or refilled. All labeling on the wine growler shall be consistent with all federal labeling and warning requirements.
(j) Wine Growler sanitation. — A licensed winery or farm winery authorized under this section shall clean and sanitize all wine growlers it fills or refills in accordance with all state and county health requirements prior to its filling and sealing. In addition, the licensed winery or farm winery shall sanitize, in accordance with all state and county health requirements, all taps, tap lines, pipelines, barrel tubes, and any other related equipment used to fill or refill growlers. Failure to comply with this subsection may result in penalties under this article.
(k) Fee. — There is no additional fee for a licensed winery or farm winery authorized under this section to sell wine growlers, but the licensee shall meet all other requirements of this section.
(l) Limitations on licensees. — To be authorized under this section, a licensed winery or farm winery may not produce more than 10,000 gallons of wine per calendar year at the winery or farm winery’s principal place of business and manufacture located in the State of West Virginia. A licensed winery or farm winery authorized under this section is subject to the applicable penalties under this article for violations of this section.
(m) Rules. — The commissioner, in consultation with the Bureau for Public Health, may propose legislative rules concerning sanitation for legislative approval, pursuant to §29A-3-1 et seq. of this code, to implement this section.
