California Department
of Alcoholic Beverage Control
State Liquor Commission
The governmental agency regulating liquor and wine in California is called
the "California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control". According to the
website for this agency, their Mission is:
"to administer the provisions of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act in
a manner that fosters and protects the health, safety, welfare, and
economic well being of the people of the State."
When the United States Congress repealed prohibition in 1933 and returned
power over the production, consumption and distribution of alcoholic beverages
to the states, the State of California created the State Board of Equalization.
Then in 1955 the state turned the duties of the board of equalization over to
what is now known as the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.
And Alcoholic Beverage Control Agents (AKA ABC Agents) were given three main
duties:
Administration of the state department of Alcohol Beverage Control as well
as tax collection.
The power to license individuals and companies involved with alcohol in
California.
The power of compliance and law enforcement. According to the website for
the state,
"ABC Agents are peace officers under Section 830.2 of the California
Penal Code and are empowered to investigate and make arrests for
violations of the Business and Professions Code that occur on or about
licensed premises."
Every year all licenses issued by the State of California have to be renewed
by going to the nearest office of the State Department of Alcoholic Beverage
Control prior to the end of the entities licensing period. Licensees must also
register with the United States Treasury Department,
Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.
"If a Federal basic permit or a special Occupational Tax Stamp is
required, it should be applied for by and issued to the same persons
applying for a license with this department and at the same address."
Entities are also required to register with and apply for business licenses
within the community where they will operate their business. The state also has
escrow requirements if there is a transfer of ownership to another party prior
to contacting the Alcoholic Beverage Control.
For more information please visit:
How the law has affected wine making in Connecticut
Connecticut State Liquor Commission
Back in the 1800's the production of liquor in New England started with the
making of not wine but hard cider. Because apple orchards were all over
New England as well as the State of Connecticut, there were ample opportunities
to make the alcoholic drink that was consumed by all every Fall and Winter. In
addition to that, wild grape vines grew all over and settlers started to
propagate the vines on arbors covering terraces and walk ways. Due to the
abundance of the harvest many decided to produce their own wine. As a matter of
fact, the beverage was consumed for varying reasons by everyone from preachers,
to sick children, hunters and at funerals. The consumption at a funeral could be
as many as eight gallons to one barrel. It's not surprising that laws started to
be adopted affecting wine making in Connecticut. This is part of the
history of wine making in the United States (For
more history of wine making CLICK HERE)
When the 21st amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America
was enacted it left the regulation of the production and consumption of alcohol
to the states. Provisions in that amendment also say that the states have the
right to regulate the production of alcohol for personal consumption. Due to
that amendment, the Connecticut State Liquor Commission was born. The
laws of the liquor commission regulate all matters regarding alcohol and enacted
a tax that is collected every time Connecticut wine is commercially made, sold
and purchased. Over the years the laws that have affected wine making in
Connecticut have changed.
Based on a survey, in 1859-60, by the British consul in Washington measuring
the first 50 years of wine making in the U.S. It was determined that the State
of Connecticut produced twenty thousand of the over one million gallons of wine
produced in the nation's vineyards. The reason for this high number was the fact
that vineyards were first planted in the state in the 1830's that helped provide
the mature vines that helped increase the wine making and production. In recent
years with the decline of dairy farming, farms have turned to wine making in
Connecticut with the approval and guidance of Connecticut's Department of
Agriculture. In 1978 the state passed a law that has affected wine making
in Connecticut, the Connecticut Winery Act. And Litchfield’s Haight-Brown
Vineyard became the first commercial winery in Connecticut. The law made it
legal for wine to be produced and sold commercially.
Today the state permits individuals to produce 100 gallons or less of wine in
a calendar year if there are two people who have attained the age of twenty-one
residing in the household. And individuals can make 50 gallons or less in one
calendar year if there is only one person, age of 21 or older, that reside in
the home. Regulations of the Connecticut State Liquor Commission can be found
here:
The laws affecting the shipping of wine made is regulated here:
S178 -> Public Act No. 99-237 - Provision
436
states that
"(1) any individual may import alcoholic beverages purchased by him within the
territorial limits of the United States to an amount not to exceed five
gallons in any sixty-day period for his own consumption".
The laws affecting the shipping of wine in
Complete Web Page on
IP99(37) are available from the State of Connecticut.
For more information on the State Liquor Commission visit: State Alcoholic
Beverages Control Agency
Liquor Division
State Office Building
165 Capitol Ave
Hartford, Connecticut 06106
Phone: 860.713.6200
Fax: 860.713.7235 For a more complete picture of how the laws of Connecticut have affected
wine making in Connecticut you may want to purchase the following book:
“A History of Connecticut Wine: Vineyard in Your Backyard” (The History
Press; $19.99) by University of Bridgeport
professors-turned-husband-and-wife-writing-team, history writer Eric D. Lehman
and award-winning poet Amy Nawrocki.
For more information on the state's wine stores and liquor stores you may
also want to visit the Vineyards, Wine and Cheese website.
Visit the following link to find out about the Connecticut Wine Trail,
Connecticut Wine Tasting, Connecticut Vineyards Winery, Connecticut Cheese
Trail, Connecticut Wineries, Connecticut Wine & Liquor Stores:
http://CTwineTrail.VineyardsWineAndCheese.com
The history of wine making in Connecticut is a long one. But in our opinion,
once the laws changed that affected wine making in Connecticut in the 1970's and
farms turned to wine making with the blessing and help of the Department of
Agriculture, Connecticut wine is destined to become a state known for it's
unique and award winning wines.
Connecticut senate finally approved Sunday off-premises sales effective last May 20, 2012. The compromised measure would allow retail sales of alcohol on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Supermarkets, which already sell beer, would be able to sell beer on Sundays, as well.
With the signing of Public Act 12-17 by Governor Malloy, certain sections of the new law take effect immediately. Package stores may now be open on Sundays from 10:00am to 5:00pm. It also allows for package stores to now be open on Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day from 8:00am to 9:00pm. It also allows package stores to be open on the Mondays following any Independence Day, Christmas, or New Year’s Day which falls on a Sunday.
Grocery stores licensed to sell beer may now sell beer on Sundays from 10am to 5pm. Grocery stores may now sell beer from 8:00am to 9:00pm on Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day. The public act also allows grocery stores to sell beer on the Mondays following any Independence Day, Christmas, or New Year’s Day which falls on a Sunday.
Meanwhile, off-premises alcohol also available at 8 a.m.–9 p.m from Monday to Saturday in any grocery store/supermarkets; On-premises liquor sale hours still active at 9 a.m.–1 a.m. (Mon.–Thurs.), 9 a.m.–2 a.m. (Fri.–Sat.), and 11 a.m.–1 a.m.(Sun.). Sunday on-premises sales subject to local ordinances; Beer can be purchased at grocery/convenience stores. Spirits and wine can be purchased only at liquor stores.
In the United States, each state has a governing body
that regulates the production, distribution and taxation of wine and alcoholic
beverages. That governing body is called the state liquor commission. This blog
will explore the liquor commissions found all over the United States from the
states of Connecticut to California. We will talk about the history, purpose
and differences between liquor commissions found in the United States and
around the world.
When the United States was settled by the colonialists,
the governments of Europe looked for ways to tax the colonies and bring some
money back to the seats of power in the old country. The King of England taxed
everything from tea to alcoholic beverages. Today, liquor commission’s major
responsibility is not only the regulation of the beverages but for the collection
of a tax on wine as well as taxes on the liquors sold in the state’s wine and
liquor stores.
When the Volstead
Act
(AKA the National Prohibition Act or the 18th amendment of the U.S.
Constitution) passed, Congress overrode the veto of President Woodrow Wilson
and it was made into law. The law stated that "no person shall
manufacture, sell, barter, transport, import, export, deliver, or furnish any
intoxicating liquor except as authorized by this act." Exempt from this
law was the production of wine for personal consumption by farmers because wine
was thought “it was a non-intoxicating fruit-juice for home consumption".
Many farmers circumvented the law by turning their grape crops into “wine
bricks” or “wine blocks” that were sold with the warning that it should be put
into a jug of water but if it were allowed to sit for twenty days or more, it
would turn into wine. That would be illegal. Today, many of the farms in the
Northeast have been turned into vineyards and produce wine for local
consumption and the State of Connecticut levies a tax on wine sold in
vineyards, wine stores and package stores.
Between 1920 and 1933 during prohibition, many people
around the country disobeyed the laws and became bootleggers. It was during
this time that many family fortunes were made by families like the Joseph
Kennedy family in Boston, Massachusetts. Organized crime made millions by
providing alcoholic drinks to the public. One infamous public figure, Al
Capone, was also sent to jail on Alcatraz Island for the distribution and sale
of alcoholic beverages when the Feds were looking for a way to put the criminal
in jail.
When Prohibition ended (Wikipedia entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prohibition_in_the_United_States )
due to the repeal of the eighteenth amendment of the U.S. Constitution on December
5, 1933, state liquor commissions in the Northeast grew in importance as a
bureaucratic organization in each state’s government. And today, some of the
laws from that time have been held over from the 18th Amendment due
to the influence of the prohibitionists and Puritans.
In Connecticut, the “Blue Laws” still prohibit the sale
of alcoholic beverages in wine and liquor or package stores on Sundays and
after 8:00 PM every other evening during the week. The State of Connecticut
Liquor Control Commission (http://www.ct.gov/dcp/cwp/view.asp?a=1623&q=273660)
also dictates that minors under the age of twenty-one cannot buy any alcoholic
beverages and it is illegal to sell to them.
