§ 18B-1204 — Cancellation

Notwithstanding the terms, provisions, or conditions of any agreement, no winery may amend, cancel, terminate, or refuse to continue to renew any agreement, or cause a wholesaler to resign from an agreement, unless good cause exists for amendment, termination, cancellation, nonrenewal, noncontinuation, or resignation. "Good cause" does not include a change in ownership of a winery. "Good cause" does include:
(1) Revocation of the wholesaler's permit or license to do business in this State;
(2) Bankruptcy or receivership of the wholesaler;
(3) Assignment for the benefit of creditors or similar disposition of the assets of the wholesaler; or
(4) Failure of the wholesaler to comply substantially, without reasonable excuse or justification, with any reasonable and material requirement imposed upon him by the winery, including a substantial failure by a wine wholesaler to:
a. Maintain a sales volume of the brands offered by the winery, or
b. Render services comparable in quality, quantity, or volume to the sales volumes maintained and services rendered by other wholesalers of the same brands within the State.
In any determination as to whether a wholesaler has failed to comply substantially, without reasonable excuse or justification, with any reasonable and material requirement imposed upon him by the winery, consideration shall be given to the relative size, population, geographical location, number of retail outlets, demand for the products applicable to the territory of the wholesaler in question and to comparable territories, and any reasonable sales quota set by the agreement. The burden of proving good cause for amendment, termination, cancellation, nonrenewal, noncontinuation, or resignation is on the winery. (1983, c. 85, s. 2.)