Homemade Wine Prohibitions

Winemaking is fun and easy. So why not try it at home? Since its re-legalization by the Internal Bureau of Revenue in the summer of 1920, homemade wine became and remains a popular U.S. hobby. Some prohibitions still restrict the production of homemade wine, though. Chances are these prohibitions will not affect the average citizen.

Hammurabi's Code

Detail of Code of Hammurabi/Conspiracyofhappiness/Flickr.com

If you do opt try your hand at the wine press, you will join a grand tradition. Winemaking began 10,000 to 8,000 years ago. Archaeologists have placed its origins in Iraq. The first written laws concerning wine occur 4,000 years ago, however, in Hammurabi's Code. This code applied strict laws to the manufacture, sale and consumption of wine. Curiously, the three laws all refer to women. For instance, if a wine merchant is proved to be selling wine below cost, then authorities can "throw her into the water". Violation of the two other laws exact execution and burning, respectively. With the passage of time wine has become more sophisticated and so have the laws.

Prohibitionists and Abolitionists

'Thomas Jefferson'/Cliff1066/Flickr.com

The history of wine in the U.S. has interesting turnings. Spanish missionaries produced the first American wines in the 17th Century. New York's Hudson Valley acquired vineyards shortly after, cultivated by French immigrants. By the 18th century, however, the abstemious Protestant populations became vocal. Beer and whiskey drinking were a real problem in the early, colonial days, but those who cried out against alcoholism and its effects on domestic stability made no allowance for wine. Wine, too, was seen as a threat. After the colonies began their transformation into a republic, the teetotalers began to find more than a voice. Realistically, alcoholism's prevalence threatened the stability of the burgeoning nation; moreover, the rum trade's tie to slavery gained the Prohibitionists an ally in the Abolitionists.

The 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act: Prohibition

Seattle Police Dry Squad/Seattle Municipal Archives/Flickr.com

Seen as an effort to stabilize society and improve morals, women's societies, religious societies and political progressivists rallied behind the temperance movement. By the beginning of the 20th Century temperance societies had sprung up throughout the country. Between 1905 and 1917 local governments and several states were passing laws prohibiting the manufacture and sale of "intoxicating beverages". The driving force, however, for Prohibition was the Anti-Saloon League, founded in 1893. By working with voters and law-makers, the league convinced the House of Representatives in 1917 to make the 18th Amendment a reality. In 1919 they succeeded. By January 1920, all the necessary states had voted the amendment into the U.S. Constitution. The Volstead Act, as drafted by Wayne Wheeler of the Anti-Saloon League, enforced the jurisdiction of the amendment.

Homemade Wine

James Earl Carter, Jr./Cliff1066/Flickr.com

Initially, Section 29 of the Volstead Act prohibited the home manufacture of anything exceeding 0.5 percent in alcohol content, as this amount had been deemed non-intoxicating. In July 1920, merely six months later, the Internal Bureau of Revenue struck down Section 29, thereby allowing individuals to produce wine, provided that its consumption took place in the home and was not for commercial distribution; moreover, production could not exceed 200 gallons per year in a given household. Homemade wine became exceptionally popular and the extant vineyards immediately began producing grapes again to furnish demand. The Zinfandel grape was commonly used amongst winemakers nearest the vineyards, but the hardiness of the Alicante Bouschet made it more popular throughout the rest of the country. Then in 1978 Jimmy Carter signed a law into effect exempting home-brewed wine from taxation.

Today

Today under federal law any household (in most states, one exception being Alabama) can produce up to 200 gallons of wine per person within a household. Some states do impose their own restrictions. To find out what your state's restrictions might be, check their websites and search their existing statutes. Most of these statutes restrict only the transportation and distribution of homemade wine and the quantities that can be stored. So, chances are, you will not run foul of the law.

If you are interested it's cheap and easy to find the kits and recipes necessary to get started. Start with some of the resources listed below.

References

• Wine History
• The Law and Wine Making Supply Items
• Reading About the World, Volume 1, eds. Paul Brians et al.

Resources

• New York Laws: Alcoholic Beverage Control : (75 - 85) Special Provisions Relating To Wine
• Grandma's Best Homemade Wine