In the news: Possible Good News for VA Wineries

The Virginia Wineries we love to visit may soon regain their right to self distribute to stores and restaurants if the General Assembly passes legislation that is supported by two local lawmakers. If you recall, in 2006 Virginia Wineries were dealt a low blow by losing their right to self distribute. Well, it is a new year and Senator John Watkins and Delegate Chris Saxman have proposed a bill that would allow Virginia wineries to self distribute up to 3000 cases per year. This would be very good news for local wineries and especially benefits the majority, which are smaller family run operations.

One of the consumer benefits of this, which Vine Spot looks forward to, should be improved price stability for the Virginia juice we so enjoy. Also, as a consumer who loves good food and wine, this should assist in getting Virginia Wines in some of those nearby local restaurants we all enjoy dining at. This move would greatly help an upcoming Virginia Wine industry, which in turn is good for agriculture, tourism, and the consumer. Virginia wineries have positive influence over nearby restaurants, hotels, Inns, B&B’s, stores, etc., thus I hope to see a sweet and happy ending here.

One cloudy area is the mention by Senator Watkins that this is merely a break for Virginia Wineries until they can become a large enough producer to need and/or afford the services of a distributor. Only problem here is that from talking with some of the owners and growers at these wineries, the vision and scope of their operation was to produce a finite number of cases per year with no plans for near future growth spurts. Most of these talented people turned passion into reality and developed their plan around the laws that were intact at that time and what happened in 2006 appeared to catch a great many off guard. Do not get me wrong, this is indeed a move in the right direction, but it will be interesting to see how it forms around the Virginia Wine industry.

So what can we do as consumers? We can contact our legislators and press the need to support Virginia’s farm wineries.

Also, fellow blogger Allan, at Cellar Blog has posted an interview with Delegate Chris Saxman that I am sure you will find interesting. In addition, Sonadora, over at the Wannabe Wino blog site offers her views on this, as well as some nice food pairings and wine reviews, including Virginia Wines.

Also, a big Thanks to Ryan over at CalWineries blog site for sending me the following 2 links that discusses this story: link1 link2

Happy Sipping!

Dezel