New wine law will double sales limit

Gov. Mitch Daniels signed wine-sale legislation March 13, increasing the limit on sales by Indiana wineries. The legislation will raise the limit on annual wine sales in Indiana from 500,000 to 1 million gallons of wine.\n“We scraped right at the cap last year,” said Bill Oliver, president of Oliver Winery. “We sold 497,000 gallons of wine in the state of Indiana last year. Everything hinged on the bill.” \nSenate Bill 107, which permits the increased limit, was introduced in January. \n“There were a couple of months of a little anxiety and hoping for the best,” Oliver said. “We had a few obstacles but we’re grateful.” “We’ve got some great senators who were really good.” \nOliver Winery would have had to move its business to other states if this bill had not been passed because it pushed up against the legal limit so closely. \n“We’re extremely excited and we were very much behind the bill,” said Valerie Pena, senior vice president of Oliver Winery. “We needed to have this bill increased in order to keep momentum going forward.” \nThe original idea for the bill came from Oliver Winery, but it will benefit wineries across the state.\n“It’s a wonderful thing for Oliver, and not just Oliver; we now have 35 or 36 wineries in the state of Indiana,” said state Sen. Vi Simpson, D-Ellettsville, co-author of the bill. “Oliver is the oldest and biggest, but we’re hoping the wine industry grows and is a job creator and it is a vital part of the agricultural community.” \nJim Butler, owner of Butler Winery, agrees the bill will help the industry, but said not many other wineries were close to the 500,000-gallon limit. \n“Personally, it won’t affect us, but it is a good thing,” he said. “I was in favor of it.” \nPena said the bill will allow Oliver Winery to make public new products that they were not sure if they were going to be able to do. \n“It gives us room in Indiana to bring some new stuff forward and bring some new wines,” Pena said. “The bill is a tribute of how well the industry is doing in the state.” \nSimpson agreed that the industry is expanding rapidly. \n“(The wineries) can work together to promote and improve their products,” Simpson said. “Wine is a very big thing for Indiana for tourism and agriculture and very important for the state.” \nWhile the majority of people were in favor of the bill, there were slight problems to fix. \n“Most people were supportive of the bill, but we had a few wrinkles to iron out with the beer and wine distributors around the state,” Simpson said. “We had to be sure we were doing the right thing.” “We took care of the opposition, I believe, and we hope that Oliver is bumping up against this new limit very soon.” \nOther co-authors of the bill include state Sen. Vaneta Becker, R-Evansville; state Sen. Marvin Riegsecker, R-Goshen; state Sen. Brent Steele, R-Bedford; and state Sen. Richard Young, Jr., D-Milltown. The law will go into effect July 1.