Bffice of tfie I?lttornep dikneral 

&ate of Ciexae 

December 21994 

Honorable Rick Perry 

COmmissiona 

Texas Department of Agriculture 

P.O. Box 12847 

Austin, Texas 7871 l-2847 

Qpiion No. DM-306 

Be: Whether there is a gallonage limit on 

sales by a winery permit holder under 

subsection (d), section 16.01 of the 

Alcoholic Beverage Code (RQ-583) 

You ask about subsection (d) of section 16.01 of the Alcoholic Beverage Code, 

which subsection was added in 1993. Acts 1993, 73d Leg., ch. 934, 5 27 (eff. Sept. 

1, 1993). Section 16.01 pertains to authorized activities of holders of winery permits, 

Subsection (d) thereof provides: 

The holder of a winery permit may sell wine to ultimate 

consumers for consumption on or off winery premises and dispense 

t%ee wine for consumption on or off the winay premises if the winery 

is located in a city that: 

(1) is located in three or more counties, at least one of 

which has a population of 500,000 or more; and 

(2) has within its boundaries all or part of an international 

airport. 

Your specific question is whether the holder of a winery permit acting under subsection (d) is “subject to any limitation on the number of gallons of wine that may be sold 

annually for either on-premises or off-premises consumption.” Apart from the authorization in subsection (d), winery permit holders’ permitted activities are rather limited. 

The only other authority we find for a winery permit holder’s sale of wine directly to 

uhimate consumers in this state is in subsection (a)(4) of section 16.01, which provision 

restricts such sales to “unbroken packages for off-premises consumption in an amount not 

to exceed 25,000 gallons annually.” We note too that subsection (b) of the section-lie 

subsection (d), added in 1993--allows a permit holder to “manufacture and label wine for 

an adult in an amount not to exceed 50 gallons annually for the persona) use of the adult,” 

and further, provides that the “amount of wine produced under this subsection is included 

in the annual total amount that may be sold by the holder under Subsection (a)(4).” 

You suggest that the subsection (a)(4) 25,000 gallon annual limit might also be 

applied under subsection (d), the provision at issue here, for sales for off-premises 

consumption at least. We find no basis for applying the subsection (a)(4) iimit~ to 

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HonorableRickPerry - Page 2 (DM-306) 

subsection (d), especially as the legislature has made express in the case of subsection (b), 

quoted snpru, its intent to tie that provision to the subsection (a)(4) gallonage hmitation. 

Had the legislature intended to tie subsection (d) to the subsection (a)(4) gallonage limit, 

we think it would have done so expressly. 

Nor do we find any other basis in the Alcoholic Beverage Code or other law for a 

gallonage limit on subsection (d) sales for either on- or off-pmmises consumption. 

Asxmiingly, we conclude that there is none. 

SUMMARY 

There is no gallonage limit on sales, for either on- or offpremises consumption, by a winery permit holda under subsection 

(d) of section 16.01 of the Alcoholic Beverage Code. 

DAN MORALES 

Attorney General of Texas 

JORGE VEGA 

Fii Assistant Attorney General 

DREW T. DURHAM 

Deputy Attorney Genera) for Criminal Justice 

JAVIBRAGIJILAR 

Special Assistant Attorney Genera) 

RENEAHICRS 

State Solicitor 

SARAH J. SHIRLEY 

Chair, Opinion Committee 

Prepared by Willam M. Walker 

Assistant Attorney Genera) 

p. 1641