Local winemakers present Senate Bill 28 for self-distribution

ROCKFIELD, Ky. (WBKO) - This morning, Senate Bill 28 was presented in Frankfort to the Senate Licensing and Occupations Committee. It was passed by the committee and will be moving forward on its path to the Governor’s desk.

Local winemaker and Senator Mike Wilson of Bowling Green and Kentucky Wineries Association Vice President Derrick Huff were before the committee that will give small farm wineries the ability to self-distribute their products.

“It’s going to allow us to go directly to a store, liquor store, or restaurant and actually sell our wine directly to them,” said Deserae Huff, owner of Traveler’s Cellar Winery in Rockfield.

The alternative is for stores and restaurants to place orders through wholesalers who then pick up the wine from the farmers and make the deliveries. Direct sales between farms and retailers will also help lower costs to consumers.

Historically, distributors in Kentucky have refused to move wines from small farm wineries because their product output is too low to justify costs.

“We’re so small that we can’t get a national distributor to come out here and pick up a case or two of wine to sell to a liquor store,” Huff said. “They’re too big and we’re too small and they won’t come out to do that.”

It is this difficulty with the distribution of their wine that has inspired wineries across the commonwealth to advocate for themselves by creating this bill.

If you would like to support small farm wineries, you are encouraged to contact your representatives and senators to express your support of the bill.

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