An Act To Allow Wine Retailers with 2 or More Licensed Facilities To Freely Transfer Wine between Approved Facilities
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 1914
Committee: Veterans and Legal Affairs
Sponsors: CROCKETT, McCREIGHT, RIELLY, WOOD, SANBORN
Amends: 28-A MRSA §1201, 28-A MRSA §1201-B

Legislative Document
No. 1914
H.P. 1420
House of Representatives, January 12, 2022
An Act To Allow Wine Retailers with 2 or More Licensed Facilities 
To Freely Transfer Wine between Approved Facilities
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
203.
Received by the Clerk of the House on January 10, 2022.  Referred to the Committee on 
Veterans and Legal Affairs pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint 
Rule 401.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative CROCKETT of Portland.
Cosponsored by Representatives: McCREIGHT of Harpswell, RIELLY of Westbrook, WOOD 
of Portland, Senator: SANBORN of Cumberland.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  28-A MRSA §1201, sub-§3-A, as amended by PL 2013, c. 476, Pt. A, §26, 
is further amended to read:
3-A.  Sale of liquor for off-premises consumption to retailer prohibited.  A person 
licensed under this section, or an agent or employee of the person, may not knowingly sell 
liquor to another retailer licensed under this section for resale except as provided in section 
or 1201-B.
Sec. 2.  28-A MRSA §1201-B is enacted to read:
§1201-B.  Transfer wine between retail locations
1.  Authority to transfer wine between retail locations.  Notwithstanding section 
1201, subsection 3-A and any other provision of this Title to the contrary, a retailer licensed 
to sell wine for off-premises consumption may sell or transfer wine by the case or by the 
bottle to another retailer licensed to sell wine for off-premises consumption under the 
following conditions:
A. The same person or persons must hold a majority ownership interest in both 
retailers; and
B. The retailers must be located within the territory that has been allocated under 
section 1401, subsection 8 to a single wholesale licensee for the purposes of making 
wholesale sales of the specific wine product being sold or transferred.
2. Notice; approval. A retailer licensed to sell wine for off-premises consumption shall 
seek approval from the bureau, on a form designated by the bureau, in advance of making 
an initial sale or transfer of wine to another retailer licensed to sell wine for off-premises 
consumption under subsection 1.
3.  Penalty.  In addition to any penalty that may be imposed under chapter 33, the 
bureau may prohibit a retailer licensed to sell wine for off-premises consumption that 
violates any provision of this section or of any rule adopted by the bureau to implement 
this section from engaging in the activities authorized by subsection 1.
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes a licensed off-premises retailer of wine to transfer wine by the case 
or by the bottle to another licensed off-premises retailer of wine located within the same 
wholesaler's territory as long as the same person or persons hold a majority interest in both 
off-premises retail licenses.