New York Sen. Chuck Schumer made a stop in the Finger Lakes on Wednesday to push for a change in federal regulations that affect the types of cans that wine can be sold in.
The Senate minority leader gathered with some local winery owners and others involved in the industry at Fox Run Vineyards in Penn Yan.
Schumer said that buying wines in cans is a hot trend right now, but regulations enforced by the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) prevent vineyards from selling wine in regular-sized 12-ounce cans, the way that beer is sold. He said current regulations require wine in cans to be sold in less popular sizes, such as 12.7-ounce cans.
“It’s a complicated spider web of regulations, and for small winery owners, like the folks with me here, they’re impossible to comply with, and that has to change. So I’m calling on TTB to immediately cut through the bureaucratic red tape and implement these policy changes now,” Schumer said.
Erica Paolicelli is co-owner of Three Brothers Wineries and Estates in Geneva. She said if these regulations are changed, it will give a boost to Finger Lakes wine producers.
“This is great for our industry, it really opens up more doors for us to be able to sell and to market our products, and give consumers more choices to get what they want,” Paolicelli said.
Schumer says that the wine industry has a $4.8 billion impact in New York state and lifting what he says are unnecessary restrictions could help that industry see further growth.
