Two state legislators have pitched a bill that would allow wineries to sell their stuff at farmers markets in Silver Spring and elsewhere, according to the Montgomery County delegation’s website.
Photo: If they can do it in Ann Arbor, Mich, then why can't we do it here? Courtesy of Flickr user Jens.
“We have an emerging wine industry in Maryland with a lot of potential to contribute to our state economy,” Del Brian Feldman, who drafted the bill with fellow District 15 Dem Craig Rice, wrote in an email to The Penguin. ”This bill will help them market their product directly to consumers.”
If the bill becomes law, vintners will be allowed to sell wine by the bottle but not by the glass at farmers markets, and they’ll only be given up to 12 special-event permits each year. “We have 35 wineries in Maryland, and I believe most of them would be eligible to apply for the permits,” Feldman wrote.
Each permit would be valid for three consecutive days, the bill stated. That might mean a single winery can hit the Bethesda farm women’s co-op on a Friday, then downtown Silver Spring’s FreshFarm market on a Saturday, and then wrap up the weekend at either the Takoma Park or Wheaton farmers markets.
However, Feldman said the bill’s language might need clarification before heading to Annapolis for the 2010 legislative session.
It’s likely the bill will face stiff opposition from the state’s wine distributors, who have blocked past efforts to funnel wine directly from the manufacturer to the consumer. Liquor distributors defeated bills in 2008 and 2009 that would have allowed direct-to-consumer wine shipments via mail, claiming the bills would make it impossible to collect sales and excise taxes. Others worried that such sales would open the door to minors looking to buy alcohol.
Maryland runs a three-tiered liquor distribution system, where producers must go through wholesale distributors before reaching the retail level. In Montgomery County, that middle man is the county itself.
The state legislative session begins Jan 13, 2010.
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Bring it!
The main thing that sucks about living in MoCo is the draconian wine and liquor laws. I hate that we have to go to county stores (which there are only a few of) to buy liquor. I hate that you can’t buy liquor on Sundays.
One Sunday morning I was going to make strawberry shortcake and macerate the strawberries with Gran Marnier, oops I forgot no liquor on Sundays. Grrr….
Maybe this move will be one step in the right direction in MoCo.
Excuse me, but this is complete bull-s**t! Are they serious?? The legislatures now trust us with a bottle of wine at a market! Wow, that’s mighty generous of them. The wine laws in this state, and particularly in this county, make us the laughing stock of not just the US but also many parts of the world. Other countries just can’t understand why people in the “home of the free” aren’t free to have wine delivered to their home, or can’t buy wine on Sundays, or many of the other arcane and inane laws that govern wine in this jurisdiction. Are the legislatures really afraid that teenagers are going to go online and order a case of Chateau Petrus and have it shipped to them just so that they can get wasted. Until they change all the wine laws in this state/county I’m not going to be happy with these condescending offers.
This is a ridiculously good idea, and I hope MoCo’s legacy of inane liquor regulation doesn’t stop it.
I’ll believe it when it happens. When Whole Foods sought a license to sell beer and wine a few years ago, the remnants of the temperance movement joined forces with small merchants to squash that. Someone even sent a letter to the Gazette worrying about winos drinking their hooch in the Whole Foods parking lot (and, presumably, using it to wash down their $7/box whole grain organic crackers topped with $8/jar organic small batch cashew butter).
MoCo is progressive, but its liquor laws seem devised by the Taliban.
Who are those two legislators? I want to party with those guys. Finally, a good idea from the Republic with loads of potential. Fingers crossed it becomes a reality.
Editor’s note: Dels Feldman and Rice represent Maryland’s 15th district, out somewhere in western Montgomery County. — JD (Dec 17, 2009)
Until the entire county as middle man system is upended, I will continue to purchase all of my wine/beer/liquer in Anne Arundel. For example, the prices in Montgomery vs Anne Arundel for a 6 pack of beer differ by $3-$4. 2010 will be the first direct to consumer year. I brew the beer on premises at home with no inflated alcohol tax.