The bill SB285 amends the Code of Alabama 1975 to introduce changes to wine festival licensing, wine manufacturer operations, and the excise tax rate for mead. It allows nonprofit organizations to obtain licenses for hosting wine festivals, streamlines the application process, and reduces the application fee for wine festival participant licenses from fifteen to ten dollars. The bill also permits wine manufacturers in dry counties to transport and sell wine to retailers within limits and allows small farm wineries to produce mead. Insertions in the bill define the application process for wine festival licenses and the conditions for liquor liability insurance, while deletions remove the previously higher application fee. The bill aims to maintain the three-tier system of control over alcoholic beverages and promote the health, safety, and welfare of Alabama residents.

Additionally, SB285 outlines that wine festival participant licensees who are already retail or manufacturer licensees of the board can include the collection and remittance of all state taxes due on the sale of wine at the festival in the same method as other retail sales. They must also collect county and local sales and use taxes and may remit them to the wine festival licensee in a method established by the festival licensee. The bill exempts wine festival participant licensees from needing additional county or municipal business or alcoholic beverage licenses to participate in a wine festival, provided the wine festival licensee complies with registration requirements. The bill also includes provisions for audits and enforcement of tax remittance and clarifies that "table wine" includes mead for legal purposes.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 28-3A-20, 28-6A-2
Engrossed: 28-3A-20, 28-6A-2
Enrolled: 28-3A-20, 28-6A-2