(TheGuardian) - If you are under 21 and want to study brewing or wine production, there's one reason to avoid California: it doesn't let you taste the stuff.

The Golden State has long belied its mellow reputation by applying the legal drinking age to industry apprentices, in contrast to Colorado, New York, Florida and Vermont, not to mention France and Spain.

Young people taking degrees in viticulture or enology in the Napa valley and other California winelands could merely smell the fruit of their labour – a competitive disadvantage.

Enter the “sip and spit” bill. The measure, which passed a state senate panel on Tuesday and is headed for the senate floor, would allow those under 21 to taste – but not swallow – alcohol under instructors' supervision.

“By not being able to taste they miss a huge part of the experience of learning. They do pick it up but usually on the job as an intern after they graduate,” Andrew Waterhouse, a UC Davis professor of enology who campaigned for the legislation, told the Los Angeles Times.

The restriction had obliged his course to delay tastings to the senior year so that at least some, though not all, students would qualify. “That's completely backwards. We should be teaching those upfront.”