Will wine, galleries mix?

What's likely to be a controversial attempt to make it easier to serve wine at art gallery openings and similar events is one of several bills dealing with Utah's liquor laws expected to surface during the 2007 Legislature.

"This is not a challenge to Utah's liquor laws but an enhancement," the sponsor of the legislation, Sen. Pete Knudson, R-Brigham City, said of his effort to accommodate what he said would be a "very limited" distribution of alcoholic beverages.

"These are not events where people go to drink. These are wine and cheese events," Knudson said, adding that he's seen attendees carry the same glass of wine all evening. "People who attend these are very responsible individuals."

The bill is one of three liquor-related pieces of legislation that Knudson said he has requested be drafted for the session. All are protected, or secret, bill files so no information about them is available publicly.

Knudson, though, said two other liquor bills are not likely to draw much attention. One would make permanent a program aimed at curbing underage drinking, he said, and the other would "tweak" liquor laws on behalf of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

DABC Director Ken Wynn said the department is asking for "some pretty insignificant things" already approved by the State Liquor Commission, such as allowing state-operated liquor stores to be listed in the Yellow Pages of telephone books.

Wynn said the department was not involved with Knudson's wine bill. "I don't know whether there's a need for it or not. There may well be. I really don't know," Wynn said. "What I would do personally is not get involved in it at all, just let it sink or swim on it's own."

Currently, he said only four single-event permits a year are available to organizations that want to offer alcoholic beverages at events. He said the only complaint he's heard came from Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson, a longtime critic of Utah's liquor laws.

Brett Clifford, DABC wine purchasing coordinator, said the law is often ignored by art galleries and others who host frequent events. "Our understanding is it's going on all the time," Clifford said. "It's illegal, but they're doing it."

Gus McCain, a Salt Lake-based wine broker, said he's heard talk about changing the law. "In other states, that's a common thing for an art gallery to do — invite people, pour wine and look at art," McCain said. "Here we're not allowed to let people taste what we sell."

Knudson said he intended to make sure The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has monitored bills dealing with liquor and other issues it considers morale, would not oppose the bill.

"I understand the dynamics of these issues," Knudson said.

A spokesman for the LDS Church, Scott Trotter, said, "The church hasn't taken a position on the bills. They're currently under review."

Knudson isn't the only lawmaker tackling liquor laws. Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem, has already introduced a bill dealing with liquor licensees and gambling. HB104 would prohibit "a contest, game, gaming scheme or gaming device" at private clubs in most instances.

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