2023 California Code › Business and Professions Code - BPC › DIVISION 9 - ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES › CHAPTER 2 - Authorized Unlicensed Transactions and Exemptions › Section 23104.1.

23104.1. A retailer may return wine to the seller or to the successor of the seller and the seller or his or her successor may accept the return thereof, except that the seller or his or her successor may not sell wine to the retailer for a period of one year after the date the returned wine is accepted or received unless any of the following exists:
(a) The wine is returned in exchange for the identical quantity, brand, and item of wine.
(b) The wine is returned pursuant to court order.
(c) The returned wine is a brand or item of wine that has been discontinued by the seller or his or her successor, and the wine is exchanged for the identical quantity of a brand or item of similar quality.
(d) The wine delivered was other than that ordered by a retailer or was in a quantity other than that ordered. In these cases, the retailer may, within 15 days after delivery, return the wine to the seller or his or her successor for exchange for the wine actually ordered, or may return the wine delivered in excess of the wine actually ordered. Returns under this subdivision may also be made after 15 days from the date of delivery upon written approval of the department.
(e) The wine has deteriorated in quality or the container thereof has been damaged, or the label or container for the wine has been changed, and the wine is returned and exchanged for the identical quantity of the same brand and type of wine and size of container. For the purpose of this subdivision, “wines of the same type” means wines that are within the same class as provided in Article 14 (commencing with Section 17001) of Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations and bear the same rate of state wine excise tax.
If wine or the container thereof is damaged or deteriorated, and the seller thereof has ceased to carry on a business licensed under this division and there is no successor to the business, the wine may be returned by a retailer to a winegrower or wholesaler who handles the same brand or item of wine, upon the same terms and conditions provided in this section for the return of wine to a seller or his or her successor, after receiving approval from the department.
The approval of the department shall be required only for returns made after 15 days from the date of delivery under the provisions of subdivision (d), or returns made under the provisions of the immediately preceding paragraph.
(f) As used in subdivisions (a), (c), and (e), the term “identical quantity” includes wine in metric measure containers and wine in United States standard measure containers that contain substantially the same amount of wine.
(g) Notwithstanding the above provisions, a seller may accept the return of wine from a seasonal or temporary licensee if, at the termination of the period of the license, the seasonal or temporary licensee has wine remaining unsold, or from an annual licensee operating on a temporary basis if, at the termination of the temporary period, the annual licensee has wine remaining unsold.
(Amended by Stats. 1996, Ch. 124, Sec. 5. Effective January 1, 1997.)