A FINAL DECISION IS LOOMING IN ILLINOIS

On Thursday, March 2, the Illinois Senate voted unanimously in favor of legislation meant to end a controversy between the state’s beer wholesalers and wineries. The House is next in line to vote on the proposal which could be sent to the governor as early as Friday. Under SB 2180, winery owners must use a distributor to sell their wine to restaurants and liquor stores, and may continue to sell their products at the winery and two retail locations off-premise. This is down from the 10 retail locations wine-makers initially lobbied for, as well as a 12-case yearly limit to individual internet orders. Originally, winery owners sought a 36-case limit. Beer distributors also gave up some of their demands, including a proposal that would have limited wineries to only sell mail-order wine to previous customers.