More Ground Rules Sought on Wine Tastings at Gelson's

A vote toward allowing to host wine tastings was pushed back on Thursday when the city Planning Commission during a meeting decided that more ground rules needed to be established on how such events would be supervised.

The grocery store already has a permit to sell alcohol, but is seeking a modification to the document to let wine manufacturers or importers hold events offering samples of their merchandise to customers who are age 21 or older.

Art Rodriguez, a liquor license broker representing the store, told the commission that all 18 Southland Gelson's Markets want to put on wine tastings and that three have already been given approval by their local governments.

At the Calabasas location, wine tastings would take place in an area of the store that would be enclosed by rope, said Talyn Mirzakhanian, a city planner.

But commissioners were in agreement that a cap should be imposed on the number of people allowed to attend a wine tasting event.

Gary Klein, commission vice chairman, said there also needed to be a limit on how many servings can be poured per customer.

"I've been to many wine tastings, and the samples are very small, but they can add up very quickly as well," he said.

Commissioner Bob Lia said clarification was needed on whether it would be a Gelson's employee who would be pouring the samples, or a winery representative.

Commissioner Mark Sikand added that wine tastings should not go past 10 p.m.

The revised item is to be considered by the commission on Nov. 3. If approved, the item would go to the for final approval.