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An Act Regarding the Sale of Hard Cider
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 28-A MRSA §1355-A, sub-§4, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 629, §22, is amended to read:
 
4. Wineries; small wineries.   Except as otherwise provided in this section, the following provisions apply to wineries and small wineries. For the purposes of this subsection, wineries and small wineries include manufacturers of hard cider licensed by the bureau as wineries and small wineries in accordance with this section.
 
A. A holder of a winery license may produce more than 50,000 gallons per year of wines, sparkling wines and fortified wines.
 
B. A holder of a small winery license may produce not more than 50,000 gallons per year of wines, sparkling wines and fortified wines.
 
(1) A holder of a small winery license may sell or deliver its products to licensed retailers or wholesalers. The licensee may sell, on the premises for consumption off the premises, wine produced at the licensed premises by the bottle, by the case or in bulk to licensed retailers, including, but not limited to, off-premises retail licensees, restaurants and clubs. Notwithstanding section 1361, the licensee may sell its products directly to a retail licensee under this paragraph without selling to a wholesale licensee.
 
(2) A holder of a small winery license, upon application to and approval of the bureau and payment of the license fees, may obtain licenses for off-premises consumption for up to 2 additional locations other than the location of the in-state manufacturer licensed under this section. The holder of the licenses is not required to conduct any bottling or production at the additional licensed locations but may conduct all activities permitted by this section at the additional licensed locations. For the holder of a small winery license who manufactures only hard cider, one of the additional locations may be at the site of the orchard or farm from which fruit is harvested in the production of the hard cider. The orchard or farm must be owned by the holder of the small winery license who produces hard cider, but the orchard or farm may be a corporation that is separate from the small winery.
 
C. A holder of a winery or small winery license may fortify wine produced by the winery license holder and import spirits solely for this purpose.
 
(1) If a small winery license holder produces fortified wine pursuant to this paragraph, the combined total of wine, sparkling wine and fortified wine produced at the small winery may not exceed 50,000 gallons per year.
 
For purposes of this subsection, "fortified wine" means wine to which spirits have been added as long as the resulting liquor does not exceed 24% alcohol by volume.
 
SUMMARY
This bill clarifies that hard cider manufactured by the holder of a winery or small winery license is subject to the same provisions as wine. The bill provides that one of the additional locations where a small winery may sell its product, including hard cider, may be at the farm or orchard where the fruit used to make the cider was harvested. It also provides that the farm or orchard must be owned by the license holder but may be a corporation that is separate from the winery.