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Local Wine Makers Toast New State Law

MONROE COUNTY — For the first time, Pennsylvanians will soon be able to buy a bottle of wine in grocery and convenience stores, restaurants and hotels. Go...
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MONROE COUNTY -- For the first time, Pennsylvanians will soon be able to buy a bottle of wine in grocery and convenience stores, restaurants and hotels. Governor Tom Wolf signed the measure into law Wednesday afternoon.

Wine drinkers are lifting a glass to the changes.

"It's a big deal because you know it's not always convenient riding to a winery. If you're going to dinner and you want a bottle of wine, so being able to do that at the grocery store is really convenient, really awesome for a lot of people in the area,” said Jill Yetter of Saylorsburg.

Winemakers across the state are also thrilled.

The folks at Mountain View winery in Jackson Township, Monroe County started talking with local grocery stores about getting their wines on the shelves.

The new rules also allow winemakers to ship wine.

Mountain View Winery has many customers in New York State who until now, couldn't get their favorite bottles shipped across state lines.

"We had set up an online store recently and New York, said absolutely not, you cannot ship your wine into New York because Pennsylvania will not allow New York to ship into Pennsylvania and now we will have reciprocity,” said Linda Rice of Mountain View Vineyard and Distillery.

There will be new grants for marketing and increasing production of Pennsylvania-made wines, too.

The law also creates tax savings for small distilleries in the state.

Mountain View is both a winery and a distillery, so that's good news.

"There's still room, room for change, but we're excited with this. This is going to be a huge impact,” said Rice.

The changes are scheduled to take effect in 6 months.

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