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Continuing his efforts to help our local wine industry thrive as an engine for tourism and economic growth, State Senator Mike Nozzolio announced that legislation (S.4143A) he strongly supported and fought to enact to reduce the regulatory burdens on farm wineries has been signed into State law.

The legislation will implement several of the recommendations made by the New York State Wine Grape Task Force to expand New York’s wineries and grape growers, which are critically important to both agriculture and tourism in our State.

“The Finger Lakes and Lake Ontario region  is home to outstanding wineries crafting high-quality wines. Farm wineries are a key component of our regional economy and it is essential that we continue to capitalize on the Finger Lakes Region’s natural advantage in the wine market,” said Nozzolio. “This legislation will allow our local wineries to operate more efficiently and cut costs, continuing the Finger Lakes Region’s transformation into the Napa Valley of the East.”

The legislation, which was recently signed into law by Governor Cuomo, includes the following measures to help New York’s farm wineries expand and create jobs:

Branch Store Capability: The legislation gives farm wineries the ability to operate up to five branch stores. While farm wineries can currently operate up to five "satellite stores," those stores are required to obtain separate licenses. The new "branch store" system would allow such stores to be considered extensions of the farm winery, not as separate entities, making it much easier for such stores to be opened up around the State.

Custom Crush Capability: The bill clarifies the ability of farm wineries to provide and/or utilize custom crush services for purchasers of New York grapes, thereby encouraging smaller vineyards to enter in the industry.

Direct Shipper's Report Efficiencies: New York wineries are currently required to produce a very costly, time consuming and underutilized report in order to ship to customers in other states. This legislation now allows them to maintain reports on-site and provide them to State Liquor Authority only upon request.

License Consolidation: Wineries that manufacture less than 1,500 gallons of wine annually are no longer required to apply for a separate micro-winery license. Rather all farm wineries will have the same license.

Charitable Events Filing Efficiencies: New York wineries seeking to participate in charitable events are no longer restricted to five per year. Now, wineries can obtain an annual permit and notify the Liquor Authority of the event, greatly reducing the amount of burden on both wineries and the Liquor Authority, while ensuring the same oversight.

There are over 300 farm wineries in New York State and nearly 1,400 vineyards. The wine and grape industry contributes nearly $3.8 billion every year to the economy. New York is now the third largest wine producing state in the country, behind California, and recently Washington. More than 5 million tourists also visit New York wineries annually.

“The wine industry is one of the fastest growing and most profitable areas of New York State agriculture,” said Nozzolio. “I am pleased that we have rolled back some of the intrusive State regulations that have burdened our local wineries and grape growers and provided greater opportunity for expansion of the wine industry in our area.”

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