DeSantis Approved Making Wine Bottles Legally Larger In Florida

Photo for illustrative purposes only. Photo by Andrey Haimin on Unsplash

Calling all wine-lovers! Your favorite after hours beverage is now available for purchase in glass bottles up to nearly four times the size as previously legal in Florida through House Bill 583.

Approved by Governor DeSantis on March 28, 2024, and effective as of July 1, 2024, this new law allows for the legal sale of five larger standard sizes of glass wine bottles: 4.5 liters, 6 liters, 9 liters, 12 liters, and 15 liters at the largest.

Previously, an individual wine container could hold a maximum of 1 gallon, or 3.78 liters, of liquid. The exception was if the container was reusable. In this case, the containers could legally hold up to 5.16 gallons of wine. 

This law is also not applicable to “qualified distributors and manufacturers”. They are permitted to sell wine containers of any size between each other. 

In addition, licensed vendors selling wine that is intended to be consumed off of the premises are required to sell it in its original, unopened container. Anyone found in violation of this can be charged with a second degree misdemeanor. 

This bill was originally filed on November 20, 2023, prepared by the Regulated Industries Committee, and voted 38-1 in the Senate and 118-0 in the House before ultimately earning approval from Governor DeSantis and becoming a state law.

For complete details on this new law, click here to read the full page of House Bill 583. For the official summary of the bill, click here. 

Article by Ema Tibbetts