Wholesale alcohol rules in Tennessee

Whether a producer may sell direct to a retailer here, by beverage class. Each row says how well sourced it is: whether we read the statute ourselves, or are still working from our own notes or a secondary summary.

This is the producer-to-retailer lane. Sales through a licensed wholesaler are the ordinary route and are not what these rows describe. Nothing here is legal advice — it is a record of what we read, published so you can check it.

Acting as a broker is a separate question. Whether you personally need a licence, permit or registration to solicit orders in Tennessee — and whether an independent commission broker can be licensed there at all — is answered state by state here.

Beer

Open, but conditional

Condition: The answer depends on WHICH COUNTY the retailer is in, and on whether the brewery wholesaler contract forbids self-distribution there - two facts about geography and private contracts that no order carries.

T.C.A. 57-5-101(g) — we have not recorded where to read this, or when it was last checked.

Wine

Open, but conditional

Condition: A SEPARATE self-distribution permit is required, the buyer must sit WITHIN 100 MILES of the winery, and the permit is barred outright if the winery has a wholesaler contract covering any county within that radius.

Producer must make no more than 50,000 gal/yr to qualify

T.C.A. 57-3-207(q) — we have not recorded where to read this, or when it was last checked.

Spirits

Closed

T.C.A. 57-3-202 — we have not recorded where to read this, or when it was last checked.

RTD / canned cocktails

Open, but conditional

Condition: An RTD follows its base, and the three bases do not agree here — beer: conditional, wine: conditional, spirits: prohibited. The order does not carry the base.

Derived from this state's beer, wine and spirits lanes (T.C.A. 57-5-101(g); T.C.A. 57-3-207(q); T.C.A. 57-3-202)

A class not listed above is one nobody has read yet — not even a secondary summary. It is not a finding that Tennessee forbids it. Every row above links the statute it rests on, so you can check the reading for yourself.