The good news is that one of our favorite TABC agents has been tapped to be Interim Chief.  Memphis SAC Bond Tubbs is the heir apparent to be Chief.  We wish Chief Tubbs well as he assumes the new role.

Calls to mind the traditional Presidential song “Hail to the Chief,” which has surprising lyrics

Hail to the Chief we have chosen for the nation,
Hail to the Chief! We salute him, one and all.
Hail to the Chief, as we pledge cooperation
In proud fulfillment of a great, noble call.

Yours is the aim to make this grand country grander,
This you will do, that’s our strong, firm belief.
Hail to the one we selected as commander,
Hail to the President! Hail to the Chief!

All Hail to the Chief

Compliments of one of our favorite liquor licensing experts, Burr & Forman partner Tucker Herndon, the following is a preliminary list of places where WIGS was approved last night, broken down by county.

• Benton – Countywide
• Claiborne – LaFollette and Tazewell
• Cheatham – Kingston Springs
• DeKalb – Smithville
• Gibson – Humboldt
• Giles – Elkton and Pulaski
• Hamilton – Soddy-Daisy and an Unincorporated Area
• Hardeman- Bolivar
• Humphreys – Waverly
• Jefferson – Dandridge, Jefferson City and White Pine
• Lawrence – Lawrenceburg
• Lewis – Countywide
• Lincoln – Fayetteville
• Madison – Humbolt
• Marion – Kimball and Jasper
• Marshall – Chapel Hill
• Maury – Columbia
• Monroe – Madisonville, Sweetwater and Vonore
• Overton – Livingston
• Putnam – Baxter
• Rhea – Dayton
• Roane – Rockwood
• Robertson – Portland and Springfield
• Rutherford – LaVergne
• Shelby – Unincorporated Area
• Sumner – Portland
• Unicoi – Erwin and Unicoi
• Warren – McMinnville
• White – Sparta

Local residents can look forward to grocery and other food stores in these Tennessee cities and counties adding wine to their selection, although it will take a few weeks.

For those wondering how Trump will be president, even though Clinton got more votes, the ABC classic Saturday morning cartoon Schoolhouse Rock is right on point:

I’m gonna send your vote to college
When you vote for president,
And now the electoral college
Will work the way our founders meant.

For the eggheads in the audience, the video explains it all.  https://youtu.be/oyIFqf3XH24

Nonetheless, we recommend that Tennessee restaurants, bars, nightclubs and venues make calling the cops a part of routine policy for handling intoxicated customers that refuse a safe ride.  Owners have too much invested to risk a drunk driving lawsuit or an investigation from the Tennessee ABC.

Every Tennessee liquor license holder should have a policy and training about how to handle customers that have too much to drink.  We advise that the policy require servers and bartenders to promptly turn this over to a manager.  The manager should employ traditional strategies: lots of water, food and time to sober up.

Most importantly, the manager should either make sure that the intoxicated customer has a sober friend at the restaurant or bar for a safe ride home.  If not, the manager should offer to call a cab or Uber ride.  We think a safe ride is important enough to recommend that the ride be on the house.

Bruce Springsteen’s haunting classic “State Trooper” comes to mind:

License, registration, I ain’t got none
But I got a clear conscience ’bout the things that I done

Mister state trooper, please don’t stop me
Please don’t stop me, please don’t stop me

____________________________________________________

Old dogs can learn new tricks.  Today, we found out that the Tennessee ABC has been quietly advising that hotels can sell spirits by the bottle at gift shops, with some conditions.

Tennessee law generally prohibits the sale of bottles of spirits at any business holding an on-premise liquor license, like a restaurant or bar.  You cannot order a bottle of Jack Daniels to your table at a honky tonk.  Only wine can be sold by the bottle.

Hotels are a little different.  You have a room.  What you do in your room is your own business.  The ABC apparently recognized this difference.

Here are the rules for bottle sales, as we understand them:

1. The bottle must be opened by a hotel employee.  Guests cannot purchase a sealed bottle.
2. The bottles must be priced at or above cost.  Ensure that the bottle is scheduled on your price schedule filed with Revenue.
3. The hotel must pay the liquor-by-the-drink tax.
4. The bottle must be consumed on property. We strongly encourage hotels to post signage instructing that alcohol must be consumed in the hotel and cannot be taken off property.
5. The hotel must ID check to ensure the purchaser is 21 or over.

It logically follows that a hotel can also sell a bottle of spirits through room service.  We are cautiously advising hotels that it is legal to sell a bottle of Jack to a room, using the same guidelines.

Instead of signage, we recommend that the room service include a card that says that alcohol must be consumed in the hotel and cannot be taken off property.  We think most hotels will prefer to include a card that says that alcohol must be consumed in your room.  Who wants guests wandering around the property with drinks from their room?

Brings to mind a Van Halen classic, Take Your Whiskey Home:

Well, my baby, she don’t want me around
She said she’s tired of watchin’ me fall down
She wants the good life (ow) only the best
But I like that bottle better than the rest

According to our friends at The Tennessee Journal, the liquor wholesalers topped the list of all PACS with $106,000 contributed in the second quarter.  Although retail liquor stores were 11th on the list at $39,500, their stellar lobbyists – McMahan Winstead – donated an additional $45,250.

In comparison, the second highest contributor are the Teachers at $63,450.  The hotel restaurant association logged $42,500.

Reminds us of one of our favorite lines from a movie – Richard Pryor in the 1970’s classic “Car Wash”

Cause money walks…..and bullshit talks…

There are no final rules yet from the ABC – its early and we do not expect final rules yet – but here is our summary of what wine we believe a grocery store can sell in Tennessee:

1. Wine.  The law defines wine as being the product of fermented grapes.  Think Chardonnay, Merlot, Champagne.
2. Blackberry and other Fruit Wines.  As long as the wine is made from fermented berries, groceries can sell it.  Flavored fruit wines are probably not allowed.
3. Wine Coolers.  This is a product being discussed, but for now, wine coolers can be sold by grocery stores.
4. Beer up to 5% by weight, which is roughly 6.4% by volume.  This goes up to 8% by weight, roughly 10% by volume, starting January 1, 2017.

A grocery cannot sell:

• Fortified alcoholic beverages, like port alcoholic beverages and sherry, unless the wine is under 18% alcohol by volume
  • MD 20/20, Thunderbird, Night Train and Wild Irish Rose are all under the maximum strength of alcoholic beverages and can be sold at food stores
• Alcohol derived from alcoholic beverages that has had substantial changes to the alcoholic beverages due to the addition of flavorings and additives
• Sake
• Spirits like whiskey, vodka and run
• Liqueurs and cordials like Frangelico, Schnapps, Baileys and Grand Marnier
• Beer over 5% alcohol by weight or 6.4% alcohol by volume

Our buddy Willa reminds us of the Gordon Lightfoot tune Blackberry Wine:

There’s a new moon risin’ and the wind sings its old song
Pass it on over it’s a sin to be sober too long

The statutory 20% minimum markup has been a constant source of questions for grocers.  Here is one of our favorites:

When the wholesale price of wine drops, what is the minimum price that can be charged?

For example, say you have purchased wine at $10 per bottle.  You price the wine at $12, the lowest legal price.

The wholesaler offers you the same wine for $9 a bottle.  You can price this at $10.80.  You buy the $9 wine, but have wine on the shelves that you purchased at $10.

Can you sell the all of the wine at $10.80, including the wine you purchased at $10?

Our best guess is yes.  We think the last invoice price will be the rule for WIGS pricing.  Look to the last invoice price and make sure the price is marked up at least 20%.

The Eagles comes to mind:

Wastin’ our time
On cheap talk and wine

There is no guidance from the ABC yet.  Given the huge number of WIGS questions, we do not fault the ABC.  Things are moving at the speed of light.

WIGS has been live for consumers for 11 days, but the euphoria is still palpable.  We hear the Pointer Sisters classic:

I’m so excited, and I just can’t hide it
I’m about to lose control and I think I like it

Earlier this year, Metro quietly eliminated the dance permit requirement.  If you have a dance permit in Nashville, you do not have to renew it.

For decades, if your business had live music, a dance floor, or even a random drunk dancing to a song on the juke box or radio, you had to have a dance permit in Nashville.  Although not a complicated process, most saw it as an unnecessary bureaucratic requirement.

Although the antithesis of a Tootsie’s song, we cannot help thinking about the classic early ’80s hit by Canadian one-hit wonder Men Without Hats:

We can dance if we want to
We can leave your friends behind
‘Cause your friends don’t dance and if they don’t dance
Well, they’re no friends of mine

Zack Blair – Assistant Director, Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission

Zack Blair has been named Assistant Director of the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission.

Previously, Assistant Director Blair served as Director of Legislation for the Department of Children’s Services for the State of Tennessee.

Assistant Director Blair whet his appetite for the alcoholic beverage industry while working as Legislative Assistant to Senator Bill Ketron. Assistant Director Blair’s first experience with alcoholic beverage law was during the second year of the WIGS struggle, back in 2008, when he served as a legislative intern during college while a student at Lipscomb University. Senator Ketron is generally known as the godfather of liquor legislation in the State Senate.

Assistant Director Blair is a native Middle Tennessean and a third generation graduate from Smyrna High School.

Although a truly native Tennessean, the classic Eagles “New Kid in Town” comes to mind:

There’s talk on the street; it sounds so familiar
Great expectations, everybody’s watching you
People you meet, they all seem to know you
Even your old friends treat you like you’re something new

We wish Assistant Director Blair well in his new role.