Beverages: alcohol permits: container labeling.

Assembly Member Rogers advances a package of beverage-policy changes that begins by clarifying licensing boundaries and then expands on off‑premises activities and labeling requirements. The measure clarifies that the storage or topping of wine barrels does not count as production or manufacture, narrowing the scope of activities that may be conducted away from the licensed premises. It also allows a winegrower’s license and a brandy manufacturer’s license held on the same premises—where one license is a master license and the other a branch license—to store, age, conduct tastings, and sell wine for off‑premises consumption.

A core licensing mechanism grants new flexibility for estate-level activities: a winegrower may apply for an estate tasting event permit that authorizes the winegrower to exercise tasting-room privileges for wine manufactured by or for the winegrower at locations adjacent to the licensed premises or at an adjacent vineyard owned or controlled by the licensee. Each estate tasting event requires department consent in the form of an estate tasting event authorization, which carries an event fee of one hundred dollars and may not exceed 36 events per licensee per calendar year. The estate tasting event permit also carries an annual fee of two hundred dollars and is transferable as part of the winegrower’s license. The licensee must obtain local land-use consent for approved events, and the authorization becomes void if local approval is not granted, with the authorization nonrefundable.

On the labeling and container-recycling front, the measure would extend and modify redemption-value labeling requirements applicable to beverage containers. It authorizes a beverage manufacturer to etch the required redemption value message on the container and maintains the option to print, emboss, stamp, or affix the required labeling. The department may require machine‑readable markings (such as a scan code, QR code, or UPC), with a minimum size of one‑half inch. In lieu of the text “DEPOSIT,” a chasing arrows symbol may be used inside the machine‑readable label if permitted by related regulations. The bill also extends exemptions for containers that began to fall within the division’s scope on certain dates, delaying labeling requirements to July 1, 2026 (with related exemptions for containers filled and labeled before a specified date), and defines certain containers as “empty” for purposes of the division as of January 1, 2024. In addition, the new labeling framework includes a provision that manufacturers shall self‑certify compliance with criteria provided by the department, rather than requiring department samples for every label approval, while preserving local regulatory latitude over land-use and permitting.

Implementation and fiscal provisions accompany these changes: fees associated with licenses and renewals would continue to fund the Alcohol Beverage Control Fund, with adjustments governed by an index tied to consumer-price movements and annual publication by the department. The measure also states that no reimbursement to local agencies is required for the costs associated with these changes, aligning with a broader framework that treats administrative costs as funding through the department’s fee structure rather than new state‑local funding obligations. Collectively, the proposals situate license flexibility, consumer-facing tasting opportunities, and modernized labeling within a single policy package, tying industry practices to updated regulatory standards and local review processes while preserving the department’s administrative oversight.