Alcoholic beverages: tied-house restrictions.

The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act contains limitations on sales commonly known as "tied-house" restrictions, which generally prohibit a manufacturer, winegrower, manufacturer's agent, California winegrower's agent, rectifier, distiller, bottler, importer, or wholesaler from furnishing, giving, or lending any money or other thing of value to any person engaged in operating, owning, or maintaining any off-sale licensed premises. Existing law provides that, for purposes of these provisions, the listing of the names, addresses, telephone numbers or e-mail addresses, or both, or Internet Web site addresses, of 2 or more unaffiliated on-sale retailers selling wine or brandy, or both, and operating and licensed as bona fide public eating places selling the wine or brandy produced, distributed, or imported by a nonretail industry member in response to a direct inquiry from a consumer received by telephone, by mail, by electronic Internet inquiry or in person does not constitute a thing of value or prohibited inducement to the listed on-sale retailer, if specified conditions are met. This bill would revise the direct inquiry provisions to include any electronic inquiries from consumers, and would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.