(a) A retail food store wine license holder engaging in the business regulated under this part, or any employee thereof, shall not make or permit to be made any sales to minors. Prior to making a sale of wine for off-premises consumption, the adult consumer must present to the license holder or any employee of the license holder a valid, government-issued document, such as a driver license or other form of identification deemed acceptable to the license holder that includes the photograph and birth date of the adult consumer attempting to make a wine purchase. Persons exempt under state law from the requirement of having a photo identification shall present identification that is acceptable to the license holder. The license holder or employee shall make a determination from the information presented whether the purchaser is an adult. In addition to the prohibition of making a sale to a minor, no sale of wine for off-premises consumption shall be made to a person who does not present such a document or other form of identification to the license holder or any employee of the license holder in a face-to-face transaction; however, it is an exception to any criminal punishment or adverse administrative action, including license suspension or revocation, for a violation of this section if the sale was made to a person who is or reasonably appears to be over fifty (50) years of age and who failed to present an acceptable form of identification.

Attorney's Note

Under the Tennessee Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
class A misdemeanorup to 11 monthsup to $2,500
For details, see Tenn. Code § 40-35-111
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 57-3-808

  • License: means the license issued pursuant to this chapter. See Tennessee Code 57-3-101
  • Minor: means any person who has not attained eighteen (18) years of age. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Wine: means the product of the normal alcoholic fermentation of the juice of dried or fresh, sound, ripe grapes, fruit, or other agricultural products, with the usual cellar treatment and necessary additions to correct defects due to climatic, saccharine, and seasonal conditions, including champagne, sparkling, and fortified wine of an alcoholic content not to exceed twenty-one percent (21%) by volume. See Tennessee Code 57-3-101
(b) A violation of subsection (a) is a Class A misdemeanor.
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