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Non-Alcoholic Wine Nonsense
Published: May 13, 2022
We are a big fan of saying that liquor laws often make absolutely no sense. Case in point.
Did you know that Tennessee liquor laws require your store to have a food store or retail liquor store license in order to sell non-alcoholic wine? Non-alcoholic wine requires a liquor license.
Who would have thunk?
State law specifically provides that “products or beverages containing less than one-half of one percent (0.5%)” are not alcoholic beverages. No license is needed to sell non-alcoholic beer, for example.
Except wine. For reasons unknown, wine containing less than one-half percent (0.5%) ABV is considered an alcoholic beverage, requires a liquor license, and cannot be sold to anyone under 21 years of age.
We find ourselves humming the infectious one-hit wonder by Looking Glass:
And there's a girl in this harbor town
And she works layin' whiskey down
They say, Brandy, fetch another round
She serves them whiskey and wine
Strangely so, non-alcoholic whiskey does not require a liquor license and can be sold to minors. Crazy liquor laws.
