In most states, you can take a bottle of wine home from a restaurant if you didn’t finish it, as long as the restaurant reseals the bottle for you and you transport it correctly. Roughly 42 states permit the practice, often called “cork and carry.”1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 23 USC 154 Open Container Requirements The rules differ enough from state to state that the safest step is to ask your server before assuming you can walk out with the leftover wine.
What the Restaurant Has to Do
Even where cork and carry is legal, the restaurant decides whether to offer it. Some keep tamper-evident bags behind the bar and handle the request routinely. Others pass. If the restaurant agrees, expect a server or bartender to take the bottle to the back, reseal it, bag it, and attach a receipt. The process takes a couple of minutes, and some places charge a small recorking fee.
A few requirements show up in most state statutes:
The Wine Was Ordered With a Meal
Many states require that the wine was purchased alongside food, not just ordered at the bar. The statutory language ranges from “purchased with a meal” to “partially consumed with a full-course meal.” California doesn’t require a meal for certain to-go alcohol sales, but it is an outlier. At a wine bar with no food service, this requirement alone may disqualify you in most states.
A Staff Member Reseals the Bottle
Nearly every state requires a restaurant employee to reseal the bottle before it leaves the premises. You cannot push the cork back in yourself. Standards typically require the bottle to be “securely resealed” or recorked so that tampering would be visible. Some states specify the cork sit flush with the bottle top, or require a replacement cap or closure.
A Tamper-Evident Bag and Receipt
Many states go further and require the sealed bottle to go into a tamper-evident bag that will show obvious signs if someone opens it. Several states specify the bag must be transparent, and many require a dated receipt attached to or placed inside the bag. The bag-and-receipt combination proves the wine came from a licensed establishment and hasn’t been opened since you left.
One Bottle, Partially Consumed
Cork-and-carry provisions almost always apply to a single partially consumed bottle. You cannot buy two bottles, drink half of each, and leave with both. The point of the law is salvaging what you already opened, not creating a workaround for off-premises sales.
How to Transport the Bottle Legally
Getting the bottle home legally takes more than tossing it on the back seat. Federal open container standards define the “passenger area” as anywhere accessible to the driver or passengers while the vehicle is in motion, and most states follow that definition closely.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 23 USC 154 Open Container Requirements A resealed wine bottle still counts as an “open container” under the federal definition, because the seal has been broken and some contents removed. Cork-and-carry laws exist to carve out an exception, but only when you follow their requirements.
Practical placement:
- If your vehicle has a separate trunk, put the sealed bottle there. This is the simplest way to stay compliant in every state.
- In an SUV, hatchback, or wagon with no separate trunk, place the bottle behind the last row of upright seats. Most states exclude that cargo area from the passenger-area definition.
- Do not use the glove compartment. Many states specifically define it as part of the passenger area, and a bottle stored there can draw an open container citation.
Keep the tamper-evident bag sealed for the entire drive. A torn bag sitting in a cup holder undoes the restaurant’s work, no matter how carefully the bottle was recorked. The bag is the visual signal that nothing has been touched since you left.
What a Mistake Can Cost
An open container violation is usually a traffic infraction or low-level misdemeanor. Fines for a first offense generally run from $25 to several hundred dollars, and in some states can reach $1,000. The violation may appear on your driving record and affect your insurance.
The bigger risk is what the bottle does to a traffic stop. An accessible, poorly sealed bottle in the cabin gives an officer reason to investigate further, and the stop can escalate into field sobriety testing even if you’re sober. Two extra minutes putting the bottle in the trunk avoids that scenario. These penalties apply to how you transport the wine, not to what the restaurant did; once the bottle leaves the restaurant, where it rides in the car and whether the bag stays intact are on you.
Wine Only, Not Cocktails or Beer
Traditional cork-and-carry laws cover wine, and in many states only wine. The typical statute references the remains of a bottle of wine with no mention of spirits, cocktails, or beer. A leftover cocktail or the rest of a beer flight does not qualify.
Cocktails-to-go is a separate legal framework that became widely available during the pandemic. Over two dozen states have made those rules permanent, and others operate under temporary extensions, each with their own requirements around sealed containers and sometimes quantity limits. If you want to take a mixed drink home, ask whether the restaurant participates in its state’s to-go cocktail program rather than assuming the wine rules carry over.