Illinois Wine and Beer Associations Work Together To Improve Regulations
A legislative reception in the Illinois state capital of Springfield last week was jointly sponsored by the Illinois Grape Growers Association (IGGVA) and the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild according to a letter from IGGVA President Bruce Morgenstern in the November 14th Illinois Wine Weekly Newsletter. According to the letter, there are four legislative issues both organizations would like to pursue in 2012:
- Increase the limit at which a winery can self distribute from 25,000 to 50,000 gallons and also increase the self distribution limit from 5,000 to 10,000 gallons.
- Create an annual special use license for wineries. Currently, wineries in Illinois must apply for a separate state license for each festival in which they participate.
- Increasing the 100,000 gallon cap on tasting room sales. Currently there is no provision that would allow wineries over 100,000 gallons to sell directly to the public via a tasting room. IGGVA reports two wineries in Illinois are approaching 100,000 gallons but did not specify the wineries.
- Limit the use of the term “Illinois Winery” to address concerns that retailers and out-of-state wineries are misleading visitors by calling themselves Illinois wineries.
