Squishing a grape business

Lord knows there is no small number of states that have bizarre or archaic alcoholic beverage laws.

But Oklahoma’s are ridiculous:

J.L. Gilbert has the awkward job of explaining to people who book their wedding at his winery that they cannot buy cases of wine from him to consume at their event.

Sparks Vineyard & Winery started in 1998, but the owners opened a wine-tasting center called The Wine Village on Route 66 in downtown Stroud in 2005. The wine-tasting facility boasts an elegant European-style banquet center.
But events scheduled at the winery present some legal difficulties if customers plan to open and consume the bottles of wine they purchase on premises. Gilbert has been playing it safe by not allowing bottles purchased at the winery to be consumed on site, though the law was considered vague.

Gilbert got it right, according to a recent opinion issued by Attorney General Drew Edmondson, in response to a question posed by state Sen. Kenneth Corn, D-Poteau. Corn asked if consumers who legally purchase a bottle of wine on the premises of a winery can open and consume that bottle at the winery. Corn also asked if a whole bottle of wine may be considered a “sample.”

Edmondson’s opinion notes the holder of a mixed-beverage license may sell a bottle of wine to a consumer for on-premises consumption. But the law that allows wineries to sell their product on premises does not say anything about on-premises consumption. Edmondson relied on a rule of statutory construction to decide that if the law does not specifically grant such authorization, it cannot be implied.

“We have a place away from the winery where they can go and sit,” said Gilbert.

This is crazy. Oklahoma has a growing wine industry, and you can’t drink more than a swallow or two of the product on the premises. Nor can you ship Oklahoma wine to your home address.

I’m told that the Sooner State’s thicket of alcohol laws is because of a large number of teetotalling Baptists residing there.

Regardless, this is just foolish. Wine imbibers aren’t the type who chug-a-lug a bottle and then wrap their cars around telephone poles. There are at least a half-dozen wineries that have sprouted up along Oklahoma Route 66, but the state’s bizarro regulations threaten to strangle them.

Teetotalers or not, state legislators needs to bring a truckload of common sense into its alcohol laws.

2 thoughts on “Squishing a grape business

  1. Ron I totally agree. I never understood the laws when we lived in Tulsa, now that we are in Texas it’s a little more simple. Cold beer and wine at the store is awesome.

  2. Judging from the way Oklahoma voters turned out to open up Oklahoma’s wine industry in 2000, I don’t think it is valid to blame Baptist voters for the lack of legislation supporting free trade for our 50-some Sooner State winemakers.

    The blame rests squarely on the shoulders of our state congress, courts and the liquor wholesalers who own them. Oklahoma voters are NOT crazy… their leaders are corrupt. Free trade is supported as long as it protects big pocketed multi-national corporations.

    Small businesses like the Oklahoma wineries can put-up or shut-up.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.