WineLovers Discussion Group

Liquor stores in Oklahoma (the ONLY stores allowed to sell wine) have to close at 9:00 PM. Yet another stupid blue law.

From what I've been able to read, the part of the NY liquor laws that the shop ran afoul of is the prohibition on liquor stores running a secondary business. The intent of the law is that liquor stores be licensed to sell exclusively alcoholic beverages. This prevents supermarkets from having a liquor aisle, for example. To this end, the statute and the regulators have designated certain items (such as corkscrews) that are OK for sale as accessories, but other items, and specifically in this case wine gift bags, have been explicitly prohibited. I haven't read the chapter and verse, but I suspect that the law leaves it up to the commission to decide what's acceptable and what's not. And they decided a while ago that wine gift bags are in the "not" category. I suppose because if you are going to require liquor stores to sell only liquor and a small set of accessories, you have to draw the line somewhere.

As the business owner himself admits, it's his responsibility to know what's in the regulations that go with his license, and to obey them.

It's too bad that US society can't make up its mind whether booze is a foodstuff or a vice.

-Paul W.

Here's a good law - Bars in DC can stay open until 5:00 AM during Inauguration Week then it switches back to 2:00 AM.

Wow! This one wins the prize. I guess they could give them away free to those who asked for them.

Tom T.

Dale wrote;
In NY retailers are not allowed to sell anythng else (no lotto, cigarettes, food, etc).

If the State could make some money they do make exceptions. I believe if the liquor retailer gets a license from the NYS Division of Lottery or a license from the NY State Racing and Wagering Board they do make exceptions to the "no gambling of any type on the premises" ruling. I don't know about Up-State NY but here Down-State quite a few of the smaller liquor stores do sell NY Lottery tickets and games.

Salute

It's insane of course but does make you wonder what rhyme or reason the Liquor Authority has for some things, but not others, being deemed "acceptable accessories". It no doubt has less to do with logic than lobbying, but it's always fun to embarrass pompous bureaucracies by pointing out how they really work. I'll look more carefully now to see what else besides wine and liquor is being hawked in our local stores.