As with every other state in the country, alcohol distribution in the Commonwealth of Virginia is heavily regulated.
What that means for Virginia wineries is that they can’t sell win directly to the public, but must sell through distributors who, not surprisingly, have several allies in Richmond. As the new legislative session begins in January, wineries are again hoping to persuade the General Assembly to allow them to sell their wines without having to go through a middleman:
Lawmakers backing bills to restore self-distribution rights to Virginia wineries believe the legislation could succeed this year.
“The momentum we have been gathering is substantial,” said Del. Christopher B. Saxman, R-Staunton.
Sen. John Watkins, R-Powhatan, the bill’s other sponsor, said the measure would help keep small-businesspeople in business, promote tourism, preserve farms and maintain open land.
Virginia wineries lost their right to self-distribute after a federal judge ruled in 2005 that the practice unconstitutionally discriminated against out-of-state wineries. The General Assembly authorized self-distribution in 1980 to give the fledging wine industry a boost.
The proposed legislation would fix the constitutionality of state law by allowing both in- and out-of-state wineries to self-distribute up to 3,000 cases of wine annually in Virginia.
Watkins said he believes Virginians want lawmakers to support the state’s wineries and vineyards.
Ann Heidig of the Lake Anna Winery and president of the Virginia Wineries Association said the Virginia Farm Bureau, the Virginia Agribusiness Council, the League of Conservation Voters, the Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association, Virginia Retail Merchants Association, the Virginia Association of Counties and many other groups and individuals support the legislation.
Winery owners and wine retailers, who appeared at a news conference in Richmond yesterday, described how the loss of self-distribution rights have hurt their businesses.
There really is no good reason that wineries in Virginia should have to go through a distributor to sell their product to the public. The General Assembly needs to make this change as soon as possible.
January 5th, 2007 at 1:28 am
Great post. I totally agree.
Wonder if Al Weed has been involved in this effort?
January 7th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
[...] Allan Liska at CellarBlog alerts me to his interview with Virginia Delegate Chris Saxman, co-sponsor of the legislation I wrote about in this post that would allow Virginia wineries to bypass distributors and sell directly to the public. [...]