WOODFORD COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — Wine lovers soon may have a reason to celebrate as the state legislature considers a bill that would allow Kentuckians to have wine shipped directly to their doors.
Cynthia Bohn, owner of Equus Run Vineyards in Midway, tells LEX 18 this is the next step in the continued growth of the alcohol industry in the commonwealth.
She’s been working with lawmakers for years to improve the industry’s regulations.
She said it’s well-known in the wine world that Kentucky isn’t shipping-friendly. She said she was recently at a California winery wearing a UK sweatshirt.
“I had to fold over my emblem because they were going to chuckle at me and it is a little bit. I mean you’re immediately branded a felony state. It’s like, ‘Oh, we don’t even want to deal with you,'” she said.
Senate Bill 99 would change that. The bill was overwhelmingly passed by the state Senate and now is in the House.
The relaxed law would allow wineries to offer more to their customers in state. It also gives wine lovers the opportunity to receive up to 24 cases annually.
“I get to join some of the wine clubs of these small, little, quaint, hard-to-get wineries and hard-to-get wines, that’s like little treasure finds,” said Bohn.
The state benefits too, by receiving the taxes.
