Florida lawmaker wants to make it legal to buy gigantic bottles of wine

A Florida lawmaker has filled a bill that would allow you to purchase gigantic wine bottles, effectively making late-night emergency pinot noir runs a thing of the past.

SB 220, filed by St. Petersburg Republican Sen. Jeff Brandes, gets rid of a Florida statue that prohibits retailers from selling wine in individual containers holding more than 1 gallon. A standard wine bottle holds 750 milliliters – about a fifth of a gallon.

Without this restriction, there's nothing stopping retailers from selling something like the Midas-sized bottle, a 30-liter wine bottle that looks about the same size as a small child and reportedly costs more than Porsche.

Aside from eliminating restrictions on wine containers, the measure would also allow restaurant patrons to take open wine bottles without having to buy food. Current statue requires people who want to take an open wine bottle they've bought to also purchase "a full course meal consisting of a salad or vegetable, entree, a beverage and bread" and get a dated receipt.

Under the new proposal, patrons would not have to purchase a meal to take their partially consumed wine bottles, but restaurants would still have to reseal it, and the bottle has to be placed in "a locked glove compartment, a locked trunk, or the area behind the last upright seat of a motor vehicle that is not equipped with a trunk."

Brandes, who told News 13 the current law was "stupid," said he filed the bill after "learning how a restaurant could gift an 'illegal size' bottle of wine but couldn’t sell it."

Stay on top of Orlando news and views. Sign up for our weekly Headlines newsletter.