(1) There shall be a license for bonded wine warehouses which shall authorize the storage and handling of bottled wine. Under this license a licensee may maintain a warehouse for the storage of wine off the premises of a winery.

Terms Used In Washington Code 66.24.185

  • Board: means the liquor and cannabis board, constituted under this title. See Washington Code 66.04.010
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Domestic winery: means a place where wines are manufactured or produced within the state of Washington. See Washington Code 66.04.010
  • Importer: means a person who buys distilled spirits from a distillery outside the state of Washington and imports such spirituous liquor into the state for sale to the board or for export. See Washington Code 66.04.010
  • Liquor: includes the four varieties of liquor herein defined (alcohol, spirits, wine, and beer), and all fermented, spirituous, vinous, or malt liquor, or combinations thereof, and mixed liquor, a part of which is fermented, spirituous, vinous or malt liquor, or otherwise intoxicating; and every liquid or solid or semisolid or other substance, patented or not, containing alcohol, spirits, wine, or beer, and all drinks or drinkable liquids and all preparations or mixtures capable of human consumption, and any liquid, semisolid, solid, or other substance, which contains more than one percent of alcohol by weight shall be conclusively deemed to be intoxicating. See Washington Code 66.04.010
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • Permit: means a permit for the purchase of liquor under this title. See Washington Code 66.04.010
  • Person: means an individual, copartnership, association, or corporation. See Washington Code 66.04.010
  • Wine: means any alcoholic beverage obtained by fermentation of fruits (grapes, berries, apples, et cetera) or other agricultural product containing sugar, to which any saccharine substances may have been added before, during or after fermentation, and containing not more than twenty-four percent of alcohol by volume, including sweet wines fortified with wine spirits, such as port, sherry, muscatel, and angelica, not exceeding twenty-four percent of alcohol by volume and not less than one-half of one percent of alcohol by volume. See Washington Code 66.04.010
  • Wine distributor: means a person who buys wine from a domestic winery, wine certificate of approval holder, or wine importer, or who acquires foreign produced wine from a source outside of the United States, for the purpose of selling the same not in violation of this title, or who represents such vintner or winery as agent. See Washington Code 66.04.010
  • Winery: means a business conducted by any person for the manufacture of wine for sale, other than a domestic winery. See Washington Code 66.04.010
(2) The board shall adopt similar qualifications for a bonded wine warehouse license as required for obtaining a domestic winery license as specified in RCW 66.24.010 and 66.24.170. A licensee must be a sole proprietor, a partnership, a limited liability company, or a corporation. One or more domestic wineries may operate as a partnership, corporation, business co-op, or agricultural co-op for the purposes of obtaining a bonded wine warehouse license.
(3) All bottled wine shipped to a bonded wine warehouse from a winery or another bonded wine warehouse shall remain under bond and no tax imposed under RCW 66.24.210 shall be due, unless the wine is removed from bond and shipped to a licensed Washington wine distributor. Wine may be removed from a bonded wine warehouse only for the purpose of being (a) exported from the state, (b) shipped to a licensed Washington wine distributor, (c) returned to a winery or bonded wine warehouse, or [(d)] shipped to a consumer pursuant to RCW 66.20.360 through 66.20.390.
(4) Warehousing of wine by any person other than (a) a licensed domestic winery or a bonded wine warehouse licensed under the provisions of this section, (b) a licensed Washington wine distributor, (c) a licensed Washington wine importer, (d) a wine certificate of approval holder (W7), or (e) the *liquor control board, is prohibited.
(5) A license applicant shall hold a federal permit for a bonded wine cellar and may be required to post a continuing wine tax bond of such an amount and in such a form as may be required by the board prior to the issuance of a bonded wine warehouse license. The fee for this license shall be one hundred dollars per annum.
(6) The board shall adopt rules requiring a bonded wine warehouse to be physically secure, zoned for the intended use and physically separated from any other use.
(7) Every licensee shall submit to the board a monthly report of movement of bottled wines to and from a bonded wine warehouse in a form prescribed by the board. The board may adopt other necessary procedures by which bonded wine warehouses are licensed and regulated.
(8) Handling of bottled wine, as provided for in this section, includes packaging and repackaging services; bottle labeling services; creating baskets or variety packs that may or may not include nonwine products; and picking, packing, and shipping wine orders direct to consumer. A winery contracting with a bonded wine warehouse for handling bottled wine must comply with all applicable state and federal laws and shall be responsible for financial transactions in direct to consumer shipping activities.

NOTES:

*Reviser’s note: The “state liquor control board” was renamed the “state liquor and cannabis board” by 2015 c 70 § 3.
Effective date1997 c 321: See note following RCW 66.24.010.