SC Senate passes bill paving way for wine giant’s $400M headquarters in Chester Co.

A California-based alcohol company promising a $400 million investment and nearly 500 new jobs in Chester County won a key victory among lawmakers who have been skeptical about granting the company special favors critics say will give the wine giant an unfair advantage.

The South Carolina Senate voted 31-6 Thursday on legislation that would allow Gallo Winery to open three satellite tasting rooms in areas of the state that have high foot traffic and sell up to six bottles of their product to each customer per day. The tasting rooms also would have to close at 5:30 p.m. so they wouldn’t compete with restaurants.

Senators pushed the measure through the chamber on the final day of crossover, a self-imposed deadline the Legislature gives itself to get legislation across the State House. After one last perfunctory reading Friday, the bill goes to the state House next, a chamber that has traditionally aligned itself with Gov. Henry McMaster — who supports the legislation — and who has with ease passed legislation to lure large investments to the state.

The proposal has its opponents, who have not entirely been persuaded to back the bill even though the number of bottles has been reduced and Gallo agreed to remove liquor and beer from its tasting rooms.

Wholesalers, retailers and advocates for restaurants and bars have argued the tasting rooms would cause undue competition, disrupting the state’s three-tier alcohol system that regulates the distribution and licensing of alcohol. Likewise some lawmakers have voiced uncertainty about why the Legislature would give special favors to one company, especially when similar legislation to do nearly the same for distilleries has failed to pass in past years.

The Senate did, however, add additional measures, increasing the amount micro-distilleries could serve for tasting and allow them to have a restaurants on site.

South Carolina has an alcohol system that is working, said state Sen. John Scott, D-Richland, asking not to destroy it.

“I don’t think it jeopardizes it,” said state Sen. Scott Talley, R-Spartanburg, when asked about the state’s alcohol regulation system.

Lawmakers pointed to a provision that Gallo would have to buy its own bottles through the state’s three-tier system, rather than bringing it in. The state’s Department of Revenue also would have oversight powers to ensure Gallo’s investment comes through.

Talley acknowledged, however, “It is new, it is different.”

Gallo Winery’s investment in Chester County would be sizeable for the state.

The Chester County location would be Gallo’s East Coast home on roughly 600 acres in Fort Lawn, a former mill town.

Gallo representatives told senators the facility would handle bottling, canning, warehousing and distribution and, down the road, manufacturing of its own cans. Though the bill would require Gallo to add at lest 300 jobs, the company testified it’ll be closer to 500.

“This is a world player choosing to locate only its second (bottling and distribution center) in this teeny town,” state Sen. Mike Fanning previously told The State. “This is breathing life, not just in Fairfield, but breathing life in the heart of textile territory.”

But senators expressed deep skepticism of the bill, particularly whether Gallo’s plans to build an East Coast hub in Chester County really did hinge on the tasting rooms.

Senators also demanded to know what incentives the state would pay to bring Gallo to South Carolina, and, at one point, put a pause on Senate proceedings until representatives with the South Carolina Department of Commerce came to the State House and told them what the state would be giving.

“They answered the questions that we had,” said Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield.