An Act To Clarify Wine Auction Licenses
Maine Legislature, Session 127, LD 0983
Committee: Veterans and Legal Affairs
Sponsors: PATRICK, GIDEON, ALFOND, CYRWAY, DUTREMBLE, GRATWICK, LIBBY, MILLETT, LUCHINI, PETERSON
Amends: 28-A MRSA §1209, 32 MRSA §299-A

Legislative Document 
No. 983 
S.P. 345 
In Senate, March 18, 2015 
An Act To Clarify Wine Auction Licenses 
Reference to the Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs suggested and ordered printed. 
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST 
Secretary of the Senate 
Presented by Senator PATRICK of Oxford. 
Cosponsored by Representative GIDEON of Freeport and 
Senators: ALFOND of Cumberland, CYRWAY of Kennebec, DUTREMBLE of York, 
GRATWICK of Penobscot, LIBBY of Androscoggin, MILLETT of Cumberland, 
Representatives: LUCHINI of Ellsworth, PETERSON of Rumford. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  28-A MRSA §1209 is enacted to read: 
§1209.  Sale of privately held wine by auction 
Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in section 1201, chapter 55 or chapter 
57, this section governs wine auctions. 
1.  Definitions.  As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the 
following terms have the following meanings. 
A.  "Auction permittee" means a person licensed under Title 32, section 285 who is 
issued a permit pursuant to this section. 
B.  "Fine and rare wine" means a wine that is not available for purchase in this State 
through a licensed retailer or wholesaler. 
C.  "Privately held wine" means fine and rare wine owned for consumption or 
investment purposes by a person who is not licensed as a liquor manufacturer, 
retailer, distributor or wholesaler in any state or by the Federal Government. 
D.  "Wine auction" means an event at which an auction permittee auctions privately 
held wine owned by or consigned to the auction permittee. 
2.  Wine auctions.  A wine auction may be held by an auction permittee only in 
accordance with this section.  A person legally owning privately held wine may sell or 
commission for sale the privately held wine to an auction permittee by means of an 
auction pursuant to this section. Privately held wine may not be auctioned under this 
section to a person who holds a license under this subpart or subpart 3. 
3.  Permit; fee.  Subject to the conditions in subsection 4, the bureau may issue a 
permit to conduct a wine auction to a person licensed under Title 32, section 285 who 
applies for a wine auction permit.  A permit issued pursuant to this subsection is valid for 
the length of the auction, which may not exceed 2 days.  The permit fee for a wine 
auction is $250. 
4.  Conditions.  The following conditions apply to a wine auction and a wine auction 
permit under this section. 
A.  The auction permittee shall submit to the bureau an inventory of the privately 
held wine to be sold at the auction on a form determined by the bureau. The inventory 
form must include the owner of the privately held wine and identifying information 
as to where the privately held wine was purchased by the owner. 
B.  The auction permittee shall notify the bureau of the address, date and time 
scheduled for the wine auction. 
C.  The auction permittee shall obtain written verification of the identity of each 
successful bidder who purchases privately held wine at the wine auction. The 
information must include, at a minimum, the name and address of the person. 
D.  Privately held wine sold at the wine auction may not be opened or consumed on 
the premises of the wine auction. 
E.  The auction permittee shall notify the bureau of each sale of privately held wine at 
the wine auction. 
F.  The privately held wine to be sold at auction may not be stored on the premises 
where the wine auction is conducted except while the wine auction is being 
conducted. 
G.  The auction permittee shall ensure that each recipient of privately held wine sold 
at the wine auction is 21 years of age or older. 
H.  The auction permittee shall ensure that each bottle of privately held wine sold at 
the wine auction has a permanently affixed label stating that the wine is privately 
held wine. 
5.  Excise tax; sales tax.  An auction permittee shall comply with the provisions of 
chapter 65 and Title 36, Part 3 including all requirements relating to the collection, 
reporting and remittance of the excise and sales and use taxes of the State on sales of 
privately held wine sold at a wine auction. The bureau may refuse to issue a wine auction 
permit to an auction permittee who has violated this subsection. 
6.  Beverage container deposit.  A container of privately held wine auctioned under 
this section must comply with the provisions of Title 32, chapter 28. 
7.  Rules.  The bureau shall adopt rules to implement this section. Rules adopted 
pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, 
subchapter 2-A. 
Sec. 2.  32 MRSA §299-A is enacted to read: 
§299-A.  Wine auctions 
A person licensed under section 285 may not auction privately held wine without a 
permit issued by the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of 
Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations according to Title 28-A, section 1209. 
SUMMARY 
This bill allows the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of 
Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations to issue to a holder of an auctioneer license 
a permit to conduct a wine auction for privately held wine. The bill establishes the fee for 
and sets specific conditions on the wine auction permit.