(A) Permitted wineries that produce and sell wine produced on its premises with at least sixty percent of the juice from fruit and berries that are grown in this State may sell the wine at retail, wholesale, or both, and deliver or ship the wine to licensed retailers in this State or to consumer homes in and outside the State, and are eligible for a special permit pursuant to Section 61-4-550. Wine must be delivered between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Gross income from wine sold at events for which a special permit has been issued must not exceed ten percent of a permitted winery's gross income per year from wine sales and that income must be derived from sales at events that are promotional in nature.
(B) Permitted wineries that produce and sell wine produced on their premises with less than sixty percent of the juice from fruit and berries that are grown in this State may retail from the winery and ship the wine directly to consumer homes in and outside the State, but these wineries are not wholesalers of the wine. These wineries shall use a licensed South Carolina wholesaler to deliver or ship the wine to licensed retailers in this State.
(C) The South Carolina Department of Agriculture shall periodically inspect the records of permitted wineries for verification of the percentage of juice from fruit and berries grown in this State used in the manufacturing of the wineries' products. Within ten days of conducting an inspection, the South Carolina Department of Agriculture shall report its findings to the South Carolina Department of Revenue. If a winery is found to be in violation of this statute, the owner of the winery is subject to penalties pursuant to Section 61-4-780.
HISTORY: 1996 Act No. 415, Section 1; 2004 Act No. 267, Section 2.B; 2012 Act No. 121, Section 2, eff February 22, 2012; 2020 Act No. 167 (S.993), Section 1, eff September 29, 2020.
Effect of Amendment
The 2012 amendment, added the subsection identifiers; in subsection (A) substituted "at least sixty percent" for "a majority", and substituted "licensed retailers in this State or to consumer homes in and outside" for "the purchaser"; and added subsections (B) and (C).
2020 Act No. 167, Section 1, in (A), in the first sentence, inserted ", and are eligible for a special permit pursuant to Section 61-4-550" at the end, and added the third sentence.