99-g. Sale of privately held wines and liquors. 1. (a) Any nonlicensed person legally owning wine and/or liquor is authorized to sell that wine and/or liquor to a licensed person or through a licensed person to an individual or group of individuals by any lawful method of sale or by means of an auction by a licensed person conducted pursuant to this section. The licensee involved in such sale shall ensure that each bottle of wine and/or liquor sold from a private collection has a permanently affixed label stating that the wine and/or liquor were acquired from a private collection.
(b) For purposes of this section, if wine is offered at an auction, "licensed person" means any person licensed under section sixty-three or seventy-nine of this chapter, if liquor is offered at an auction "licensed person" means any person licensed under section sixty-three of this chapter, and in any auction a "licensed person" shall have been so licensed for a period of ten years or more.
2. (a) The liquor authority is hereby authorized to issue a wine and liquor auction permit to a licensed person to conduct auctions of wines and/or liquors. The wine and liquor auction permit shall be in addition to any permit requirements imposed by local law, ordinance or resolution by any municipality in which the auctioneer seeks to operate.
(b) A wine and liquor auction permit shall be issued for a calendar year. A wine and liquor auction permit shall allow the holder to conduct twenty-four auctions of wine and/or liquor during the period the wine and liquor auction permit shall be in effect.
(c) The fee therefor shall be thirty-two hundred dollars for each year or part thereof.
(d) The permit shall be in the form prescribed by the authority.
3. A person owning, controlling or possessing wines and/or liquors may ship the wines and/or liquors from within or without New York state to a wine and liquor auction permittee or licensee; provided that such permittee or licensee shall ensure that each bottle is labelled in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (a) of subdivision one of this section. Although the wines and/or liquors to be offered at auction may not be owned by a wine and liquor auction permittee, upon receipt of the wines and/or liquors the permittee shall be responsible for the storage and warehousing of the wines and/or liquors, as well as be responsible for the delivery of the wines and/or liquors to the purchasers at auction and shall be responsible for the payment of all applicable state and local taxes.
4. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, any person authorized to sell wine at wholesale or retail may purchase any wine offered at an auction conducted pursuant to this section and may resell any wine so purchased in accordance with the terms of his or her license, and any person authorized to sell liquor at wholesale or retail may purchase any liquor offered at an auction conducted pursuant to this section and may resell any liquor so purchased in accordance with the terms of his license; provided that such licensee shall ensure that each bottle is labelled in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (a) of subdivision one of this section.
5. A wine and liquor auction permittee shall be permitted to hold wine tastings at an auction at which wine is offered, and to hold liquor tastings at an auction at which liquor is offered, on the premises of any location approved by the authority for conducting an auction.
6. A wine and liquor auction permittee shall be subject to all restrictions, regulations, and provisions heretofore set forth in the appropriate sections of this chapter governing the sale of wine or liquor for off-premises consumption, provided those provisions are not inconsistent with the provisions created pursuant to this section.
7. (a) Wine tastings which are conducted under this auspices of an official agent of a farm winery, winery, wholesaler or importer and where such agent is physically present at all times during the conduct of the tasting, then, in that event, any liability stemming from a right of action resulting from a wine tasting as authorized herein, and in accordance with the provisions of sections 11-100 and 11-101 of the general obligations law, shall accrue to the farm winery, winery, wholesaler, importer, or licensee.
(b) Liquor tastings which are conducted under the auspices of an official agent of a distiller, wholesaler or importer and where such agent is physically present at all times during the conduct of the tasting, then, in that event, any liability stemming from a right of action resulting from a liquor tasting as authorized herein, and in accordance with the provisions of sections 11-100 and 11-101 of the general obligations law, shall accrue to the distiller, wholesaler, importer, or licensee.
8. The authority shall adopt any rules consistent with and in furtherance of the implementation of this section.
Last modified: February 3, 2019