Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 917 by Sen. John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) on Aug. 27, one of 35 bills signed that day. The bill rewrites Section 23399.4 of the Business and Professions Code, which governs the Type 79 certified farmers’ market permit that wineries use to sell at markets.
Under the law as it stood, a winery could sell at a certified farmers market only wine made from grapes it grew itself. That excluded most small and boutique producers, who buy fruit from other growers. SB 917 removes the estate-grown requirement, so any Type 02 winegrower can hold a Type 79 permit and sell — and offer instructional tastings — at certified markets. It also raises the cap on tasting participants from one permit holder per market to three, subject to the section’s other conditions. The change takes effect Jan. 1, 2027.
The bill was sponsored by Family Winemakers of California and the California Association of Winegrape Growers and passed the Senate unanimously in April. Laird described it as relief for wineries “hurting” from declining national wine consumption. Market operators retain discretion over which vendors participate; the bill expands eligibility, not access. Whether individual Southern California markets add wine vendors is a decision for each market’s operator and, in some cases, the host city. Nothing in the bill changes local rules on alcohol at market sites.
Santa Barbara County’s six certified markets are covered day by day in the Santa Barbara farmers market guide. Markets in San Luis Obispo, Riverside and every other county in scope are in the farmers market directory.
Why this matters for SoCal: Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Temecula and Ramona all have small wineries that buy fruit and have been shut out of their own local markets — this opens the booth to them from January.
Rules on what may legally be made and sold direct kept moving after this bill. On Sept. 30 the governor signed the law replacing California’s 1925 cannery license, which changes what a vendor jarring salsa or pickles has to register and validate, and a federal petition on warning labels for raw-milk cheese is open for comment through Oct. 15.
Sources: Governor Newsom signs legislation 8.27.2026 — Office of the Governor; From Vine to Stand: How SB 917 Expands Farmers’ Market Access for All Winemakers — Dickenson, Peatman & Fogarty, Aug. 28, 2026; SB 917 passes Senate — Sen. John Laird, April 29, 2026