A new state law is causing some confusion for the owners of small shops that offer wine tastings. The law was intended to protect children from exposure to alcohol tasting events at large stores, but it's having some unintended consequences.

Beth Hudson says she's always followed the legal requirements for holding a wine tasting at her shop, the Bacchus House of Wine, In Belgrade Lakes. "You have to send in an application to the Department of Public Safety, stating the time, the day, how many staff people will be there, what area of the store the wine tasting will be held at, and that has to be approved and signed and sent back to you."

But as of September 12th, the law will add new restrictions, designed to assure that wine tastings are conducted in a manner that "precludes the possibility of observation by children."  Hudson says she was unclear what that meant, so she asked a liquor inspector whether she could simply draw the blinds over her doors and windows during a wine tasting.

She says initially she was told no, as an under-aged passerby still might be able to catch a glimpse.  "If a door opened, even though there was a blind on the door, if a door opened in such a way that a child walking by -- and a child is defined as someone under 15 -- would be walking by and happened to glance in, they might be able to look into the store at that moment when the door is open and see an adult with a glass of wine in their hand."

But the sponsor of the amendment that required the new restrictions says it's all a mistake.  "Inadvertantly, by the way that Public Safety is interpreting the law, the small specialty wine and cheese shops that were supposed to be omitted from this wound up being included," says state Rep. David Webster of Freeport.

Webster says the orginal bill allows not only wine tasting, but beer and liquor samplings at retail locations, including grocery stores. He says he worked with others, including a representative of the beverage industry, to craft an amendment aimed only at the grocery stores.

"And you know my feeling was if parents decide that they want to go to a wine tasting in a specialty store and they have a two-year-old or infant in a stroller, that's their choice, it's their children, you know?  But when families go into grocery stores and they don't want their children exposed to that they have a right to that too, and so that's what we were trying to do."

Webster says he's submitted legislation to correct the problem for small wine shops that will be taken up in January. In the meantime, the new law will be enforced by the state, and Beth Hudson isn't sure what she's supposed to do next.

"I don't know.  I'm not sure what I have to do.  I guess I have to get an inspector to come up and go over what I'm doing and say 'Yes that's going to work' or 'no it's not,' and if they have to do that to every store in the state, they're going to be busy."

A call to the State Liquor Licensing and Inspections Unit was not returned by airtime.