Wine bills help nonprofits
Motorcycle shop owner, sheriff's captain among 11 arrested in federal probeWine has a way of loosening money from donors for a lot of worthy causes.
Just look at all the fund-raisers in the Modesto area that involve wine, one of our top products.
Last fall, for instance, Habitat for Humanity of Stanislaus County raised money with an auction of fine wines at the Gallo Center for the Arts.
Wine tastings have benefited the Girl Scouts, the Humane Society and ag students at California State University, Stanislaus, to name just a few.
Now, thanks to a bill signed last month by Gov. Schwarzenegger, it could get easier.
The measure, by Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, increases from one to three the number of temporary alcohol licenses a nonprofit group can obtain each year from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverages Control.
The bill also allows nonprofits with pending license applications to temporarily store wine leading up to the event, in order to ease organization.
"Californians have a generous spirit and a love of wine," Evans said in a news release. "With so much need in our state, we need to expand partnerships between nonprofits and their supporters in the wine industry."
The governor also signed an Evans bill that eases a rule at winery tasting rooms. Previously, patrons could not open the bottles they bought and enjoy them in the sites' picnic areas. Now they can.
Silkwood Wines of Modesto is a small producer, but it's flying high.
The red wines are on the select list offered to passengers on Japan Airlines. The airline has twice won the Cellars in the Sky award, recognizing the quality of in-flight wines.
Silkwood owner John Monnich noted that 741 of the 1,000 flight attendants are certified sommeliers. That means they are as adept at recommending and pouring wines as they are at pointing out the emergency exits.
"This is reportedly due to the spare time during trips abroad and the intense desire to emulate Western sophistication," Monnich said in a news release.