Wine Not Coming To New York Grocery Stores Anytime Soon

Having lived in several other states in the Northeast before New York (Maine and New Hampshire specifically), there was one big shopping adjustment I had to make when my family moved here.

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If my wife and I wanted a bottle of wine with dinner, instead of making the pairing at our local grocery store, we now had to make an extra stop at a liquor store to buy that bottle of red or white. Not a huge inconvenience, but it just seemed a little silly considering you can buy beer at a New York supermarket.

So when a bill was introduced this year to allow wine sales in supermarkets, it seemed promising that it would happen. Especially when a 500-foot rule was put into place. This would protect liquor store sales by disqualifying any supermarket within 500 feet from selling wine.

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But alas, it looks like the bill will not be approved before the current legislative session ends.

New York Bill To Allow Sale Of Wine In Supermarkets Tabled For Now

According to a Spectrum News report, lawmakers leading the charge to approve the bill say it "...needs more work when the session ends." The passing of the bill does have the potential to hurt smaller liquor stores, so lawmakers' pause to get it right is understandable, as cannabis sales have already dipped into the profits of those who sell spirits.