Board hears proposal for a wine “accessory” license; debate highlights enforcement and market concerns

At the Liquor Control Board’s Sept. 1 meeting, staff presented a draft proposal for a wine accessory license — an add-on license intended to let certain on-premise licensees sell a limited number of bottles to customers for off-premise consumption when purchased in conjunction with food or on-premise service. The proposal would allow holders of specified license classes to sell up to two bottles of wine per customer as an accessory to an on-premise sale, staff said. The draft included eligibility, quantity limits and food-sale percentage safeguards. Steve Sprague, the presenting staff member, called the draft an “add on license” and described it as “wine accessory license or WAL.” He said it would be available to existing license-holders in certain classes and that sales would be subject to the licensee’s food-percentage requirements. Sprague and board members read the draft license-class language into the record using the license codes provided in staff materials. Business owners in the audience, including Nikki Bergland, told the board the license would remove burdensome workarounds — such as opening a bottle and recorking it — and create a convenient option for hotel guests and small retail-market concepts. Bergland said these rules make it difficult for smaller operators: “The only reason we started why I started it is because we already do this. We just open the bottle and then they have to bring it home with them.” Several commissioners expressed concern about enforcement and fairness. One commissioner said the proposal risks blurring the long-established on-sale/off-sale separation and could undercut retailers who paid for full off-sale licenses. Another voiced enforcement worries: “For the police to try to enforce this…that would be an impossibility, especially if you’re a police officer going in and counting bottles of wine.” Board members also criticized potential workarounds—pouring a single glass and recorking a bottle to avoid off-sale rules—and said the proposal required clearer guardrails. Several members suggested convening a small working group with staff and stakeholders to simplify and tighten the proposal. The board agreed that staff (Steve Sprague), the board chair and a limited number of industry representatives should meet to refine the draft before bringing it back to the full board. No formal vote was taken on the WAL at the meeting. Staff was directed to schedule the smaller group meeting, with notice and limits to avoid creating a quorum for the full board. — This article is based on statements in the Liquor Control Board meeting transcript and comments from business owners who spoke at the meeting.