Category: WWI News

In 2015 WWI worked with the Washington State Department of Licensing and the Washington State Patrol to come to an agreement that winery owners and their employees fall under the federal definition of “farmer” and therefore do not need to have a Commercial Drivers License while hauling their own grapes from vineyard to winery. Some important qualifications to this agreement are that wineries must still obey all traffic laws including not surpassing the 26,000 lbs maximum limit allowed as well as being a safe driver at all times.

If you are a current WWI member and would like us to send you the documentation we’ve created that will help you understand your rights under this exemption and how to talk to a State Trooper or other type of officer if pulled over, please send us an email at josh@wwi.wine.

UPDATE: (Thanks to the hard work of our national Association WineAmerica, TTB has agreed to extend the “alternate process” until 12/31/2019) As we reported in our March newsletter as well as direct email communication, the TTB released a notice (known as a circular) on March 2nd announcing that they are interpreting the new tax code in a way that prohibits bonded wine cellars (BWC’s) from taking tax credits, meaning all untaxpaid wine removed from a BWC will be taxed at the full rate. A winery that uses a BWC will now be forced to either cease usage of a BWC, or pay the full tax rate on their wine. In order for this to be “less burdensome” on small wineries, the TTB is allowing the credit to be applied to wine stored in a BWC until June 30, 2018 through an alternate paperwork process. As a reminder, The alternate process for claiming tax credits for wine currently in a bonded wine cellar (BWC) is done by the winery, not the BWC. The TTB is, for a limited time, allowing producing wineries to tax determine and tax pay, upon removal from bond, wine of their production stored untaxpaid at a bonded wine cellar (BWC), as if it were removed from the producing winery’s bonded premises. The full ruling, including how to utilize the alternative process for wineries, can be found by clicking on this link: https://www.ttb.gov/industry_circulars/archives/18-1.shtml

WWI is working with our national trade association WineAmerica on a myriad of solutions that range from TTB reversing their decision, to a short-term fix through extension of the “alternate process” for BWC’s to claim the tax credit for a winery, with a long-term fix through legislation the ultimate goal.

Do you have live and/or streaming music in your winery or tasting room? Have you been contacted by one or multiple music licensing agencies (BMI/ASCAP/SESAC) recently requesting that you purchase a license?

The world of music licensing is complicated and knowing if you need a music license is not simple nor straightforward. To make matters worse, the three national music licensing companies that own rights to all copyrighted music are communicating with our wineries in a very aggressive, negative manner that often ends with anger and frustration for all parties.

Recognizing that every member deserves to have a strong, dedicated resource helping them navigate the complexities of music licensing, WWI’s staff has become educated on the ins-and-outs of this issue and so far helped many wineries over the past year understand what they do (and equally importantly what they do not) need to do to make sure they are in compliance with federal copyright law.

So, if you have live and/or streaming/recorded music playing in your winery or tasting room and would like to make sure you are fully educated on how music licensing works and what you need/do not need in this arena, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Additionally, if you are contacted by any of these companies, do not hesitate to reach out to us and become educated so you do not allow them to intimidate or push you into purchasing licenses you may not need. Simply contact WWI at josh@wwi.wine.

Note: WWI does not provide legal guidance. However, we are happy to provide a list of local attorneys that may be able to assist you if you feel a legal interpretation of your music licensing situation is necessary.