CONNECTICUT — The Connecticut farm wine industry is asking state officials to throw them a lifeline by allowing grocery store sales of their products. The industry has faced a trifecta of challenges in the past year, one of course being the coronavirus pandemic. Local vineyard owners are also concerned about a new wine manufacturer permit that went into effect July 1 that makes it easier to import 100 percent of grapes from other areas for winemaking.
Gov. Ned Lamont visited Jonathan Edwards Winery in North Stonington to talk about the state's reopening. While there owner Jonathan Edwards who is also the head of the Connecticut Vineyard and Winery Association asked about allowing wine sales in grocery stores.
Gov. Ned Lamont indicated at least a willingness to look at allowing wine sales in grocery stores.
"I said it's something we'll look at. Let me talk to the legislature about that, see where they are. I know many other states have done that already," Lamont said.
Connecticut only allows beer sales at grocery stores. Some nearby states including Massachusetts allow wine sales in grocery stores as do at least 30 states across the country. New Jersey doesn't explicitly ban alcohol sales in grocery stores, but the state has a limit of two liquor licenses per grocery store chain.
Connecticut made major changes to its liquor laws under former Gov. Dannel Malloy who pushed for things including expanded sale hours and Sunday sales. The trend continued under Gov. Ned Lamont who signed a bill into law that greatly expanded the ability of beer manufacturers to directly sell to consumers. Beer manufacturers can sell about 72 cans per day to individual consumers. The law also allows permittees to sell other Connecticut-made alcohol for on-premise consumption; wineries can sell Connecticut beer and visa versa for breweries.
Not everyone thinks that grocery store wine sales would help Connecticut wine producers. Carroll J. Hughes, the lobbyist for the Connecticut Package Store Association told the Hartford Courant that local producers may be hurt by grocery sales because package stores have the expertise to recommend wines and showcase Connecticut-made products.
Edwards doesn't think that will be the case.
"He seemed open to it," Edwards said of Lamont. "And I will say we have a great partnership on package stores, this isn't an attack on package stores."
One of the main concerns of the Connecticut vineyard association is that millennials aren't being exposed to the plethora of wine options available when they go to the grocery store.
"I think it's unconsciously shifting people's buying patterns," Edwards said. "When you don't even have the option you are slowly going to shift in another direction,"
They are already able to pick from a variety of mass-produced and craft beers when they shop for the weekly groceries. The vineyard industry is looking for many of the same rights that have led to a booming craft beer industry in Connecticut, Edwards said.
New wine permit concerns vineyard owners
The association is also concerned about last year's liquor control bill that would give wine manufacturers many same rights as farm wineries.
The main issue is that farm wineries have to use at least 25 percent of their own grapes in wine production and are subject to the unpredictable nature and burdens of farming, Edwards said. The farm wine industry contributes around $150 million to the state economy through tourism, farming and manufacturing, according to Edwards. It also contributes thousands of acres of open space.
The new permit went into effect July 1 despite the association's lobbying efforts to delay its start by a year.
There wasn't a proper public testimony period for the new permit last year, Edwards said. Legislators need more information about the potential ramifications of the new permit.
The vineyard association isn't against a new classification, but thinks that some things should be scaled back, including the permit allowing a manufacturer to produce up to 100,000 gallons (40,000 cases) of wine a year. The association is advocating for a limit closer to 10,000 gallons per year.
"It upends the apple cart in our opinion, and we are really concerned about that," Edwards said.
The issue previously came up in February before the pandemic derailed the state's legislative session. General Law Committee co-chair Michael D'Agostino at the time said he didn't see a problem with the law and didn't plan to revisit it this year, according to CTNewsJunkie. He said only farm wineries are allowed to be part of the state's wine trail and there are other benefits to farm wineries.
COVID-19 hits wine industry too
The Connecticut farm wine industry also wasn't spared the wraith of the coronavirus. Foot traffic is down at vineyards throughout Connecticut; revenue from things like weddings and other large gatherings is virtually non-existent at this point, Edwards said.
Amid the grapes one can still get a short reprieve from the dire situation that plagues the country.
"In a lot of ways you can come to winery and still kind of feel like it was pre-Covid-19," Edwards said. "...on a farm, you can go out and pretty much enjoy the bucolic nature of it."
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